Bazooka Joe Show
The Bazooka Joe Show
When I was a kid I tried everything to fit in with the groups. I was in sports like wrestling and soccer. I watched all the cool television shows everyone was talking about. I even got my parents to buy me a cool trapper keeper just like everyone else had. No matter what I did or changed, I always had the same three friends. Jeremy, Travis, Steve and I did everything together and we never had to pretend we were someone we weren’t.
It was a hot summer day, too hot for anything except swimming. When it started to get dark, my friends and I looked for other neighborhood kids to play a game of cops and robbers. We walked up and down the streets and called everyone we knew. Eventually, we met some of Travis’ friends who were older than Jeremy, Steve, and I. I was a little nervous because I had never met these kids before and I was very shy at that age. So, we split into groups and played cops and robbers for hours. Soon we were all tired, and decided to head to a little store in the neighborhood.
The store was about the size of a small classroom. It was a kind of place you went for a quick stop to get cigarettes, milk, or rent movies and games. For us kids it was mainly for soda pop and candy. The store had a small sign on the door that said, “2 people under 18 in the store at a time.” So as two of us went in, the others waited outside telling jokes and horsing around. The first set of kids to go in were part of the group I didn’t know. A few minutes later they came out and two other kids went in. As I waited for my turn, the two kids that came up to me. They talked about how they got away with stealing all this candy. I started to get nervous, my parents always told it was wrong and just hearing the word made me sweat. Then they asked me what I was going to steal, I told them I would never steal anything and I wasn’t going to. They told me it was super easy and I wouldn’t get caught. I still said no. Soon they started to harass me, calling me names like “little girl” or “pussy.” Finally it was my turn to go in. When I walked inside the first thing I noticed was the cashier glaring at me. I walked around the store for a little bit, when I came to a giant ten gallon bucket filled with Bazooka Joe Bubblegum. It was one of those buckets where you grab handfuls of five cent pieces of gum. I looked at the cashier, who was watching television. In less the three seconds, I took that huge bucket and ran out the door.
When the group saw me walk out with the bucket, their jaws dropped. They asked me how much I paid for it, I told them I stole it and we need to get away quick. We ran into the dark alley and celebrated. They celebrated; I wasn’t in the mood for gum. Out of the 1,000 plus pieces of gum I didn’t have one piece. I gave it away as quickly as I could and went home to sleep. A couple days later it turned out that the store caught one of the kids stealing again. In order to escape the heat, the kid told them who stole the big bucket. The store called my dad and he tore me a new one. I went back and apologized and had to pay fifty dollars.
That was the first and last time I stole. I learned trying impress someone by doing something that you find morally wrong will end up biting you in the ass. The harder I tried to fit in, the less I knew myself. After 19 years I’m proud of whom I am, and I feel that every kid goes though the same thing. Eventually you’ll find somewhere you’re comfortable. I know I did.