Sexting

When I was a young girl, our way of letting a boy know we had a crush on him was to:

Pass a note to a girlfriend hoping she would let someone know who could pass the information along to him.
Or, call his house and hang up. This usually happened during sleepovers.

We did not have caller ID. Many of us still had party lines. Even so, teenagers are usually pretty transparent and it's not hard to figure out who has a crush on whom.

Technology has given us many gifts but it has also opened Pandora's box. A survey discussed on morning television today cited that one in five teenage girls admits to sending nude or semi-nude photos of herself to a boy. Apparently, boys are also photographing and posting their private parts.

I can be self-righteous about this because I have never done it and will never do it. But even in my carefree, pre-Internet, pre-social networking and naive days, I NEVER would have allowed a nude photo of myself. Even I was smart enough to realize there would still be negatives that could be redeveloped. There would still be break-ups where people forgot to gather the incriminating evidence.

What seems like a joke, a funny stunt or a dare can become life altering. I would hate to see a loved one denied law school admission because of some slutty photos on My Space. I would hate to see the look on the groom's face when his "friends" show him the wild and reckless days of the bride. I would hate to sit in a job interview and realize the person I am asking to hire me has seen me nude because he's linked in. This all happens. Seemingly, every day.

I've only recently learned to text. Once again, I'm way behind. Once again, I'm glad.

Naked

2:00 AM to 4:00AM is a dangerous time. There's nothing on television except infomercials, bad reruns, and quacks giving advice. I don't sleep well and I'm a sucker so I watch them all.

The other night, the quack of the moment made some profound announcement about learning to love and accept yourself. It involved standing naked in front of a full-length mirror. I have some advice of my own: Don't Do It! If you decide to ignore this advice, don't do it at 3:00 AM.

I'm not a prude. I find the human body beautiful in many forms. I've been skinny-dipping (in the dark.) Michelangelo's "David" is one of my favorite works of art. I change clothes in front of other women without giving it a thought. Here's a shocker: The husband has seen me naked.

But now that I know what he sees, those days may be over.

The Naked Guy

Here's another story about babysitting in the neighborhood. You may want to know where this wild and wacky neighborhood is but I will never tell.

I was very big on the prospect of earning money. At 12-15, babysitting was my best option. Truthfully, it was pretty lucrative for those days.

A couple lived a few houses down from my parents. They had a toddler. They both worked full time and the wife went to school at night. My job was to feed and play with the toddler, then bathe him and have him ready for bed when the husband came home. Easy enough.

Before I go any further, remember I was about 12 or 13 and totally naive.

One night, I am bathing the baby. I hear the husband come in so I yelled, "Hello, we're almost finished in the tub." When I walked out, he was completely nude. In a very nonchalant way, he said, "We don't wear clothes in our house."

*** Brain clicking *** Brain freaking *** Don't know what to do. By the way, I had never seen a naked man. But, I tried to be cool and pretend this happened to me all the time. Oh sure, lots of my friend's parents didn't wear clothes.

So, I put the baby to bed and returned home. My parents were lying in their bedroom, watching television. I tried to act normal. "Did you know that the Rxxxxxx don't wear clothes when they're at home?"

My father doesn't leap. He jumped out of that bed and was out the door before I could finish my sentence.

That family moved.

If I get really brave, I may try this on the oldies.