Who can dare to say that he/she never did anything crazy or stupid in his/her teenage years? Well, I guess nobody. Even psychologists say that teenage years are the years for mistakes and learning from these mistakes. It is a time for self-determination and defining the âvalues of lifeâ. When I was thirteen, I did one not really good thing, but this situation helped me understand that there is no place better than home and there are no people closer than parents. You should appreciate every moment that you spend at home and you should take care about the most important people in your life, your parents.
So, the story I am going to tell you about myself reminds me two essays about teens that also did something like me. These are the stories told by Langston Hughes “Salvation” and David Sedaris “Let it Snow”. These are the essays that describe the relationships of teens with their parents and society they live in. Ok, I guess it is enough of philosophy, you probably want to hear my story. But, let me warn you, the story is quite common. Every third teenage did it. Did you guess what I mean? Yes, I escaped. The reason was not serious, but at teenage age we are usually exaggerating everything and it was almost a tragedy to me.
So, when I was thirteen, I was in Valencia with my mother. We had great vocations. But, as usually, there is something that can spoil everything. Why did she decide to ask me about my grades? She definitely should not do it. Well, we had a dispute, I felt that my dignity was hurt. So, I decided to demonstrate my independence that I was worth respecting. When I recollect that situation, I consider it to be really funny. So, I could not find anything better but escape. Well another idea was to get myself hit by a car and imagine her life hanging by a thread as my mother paced the halls of the hospital, wishing she had been more attentive (Sedaris, 2010), like in âLet it Snow” by David Sedaris.
But, I imagined that it would be it is painful and there is another solution to a problem. I did not know where I was going, so I just changed transport and went to nowhere. Here comes the first hortatory part of a story. Wherever you are, when you feel disappointed, you want to go home. Suddenly I wanted to be in my bad and cry like Langston in the âSalvationâ, âI cried, in bed alone, and couldn’t stopâ (Hughes, 2002). Well, I realized that there is no place better than home. And that is where I wanted to be, at home.
At any rate, let me give you a piece of advice. When you are going to escape, take more money with you. The romanticism of a lonely traveler is great, but, the lonely traveler should by tickets and eat, at least sometimes. I did not think about it when I was leaving my mother at night. So, I spend all my money soon and I did hitchhiking. My journey to nowhere had a duration for three days. Of course, my mother noticed that I missed and called the police. The detected the place where I was and returned me home.
Actually, I was glad. Finally, I was at home. In addition, all my anger disappeared the first day of my journey and I really missed my mother and worried about her. I understood that she was the dearest person in my life and I behaved as a stupid thing. At any rate, the effect of my escape was great, my grades became better, I tried not to disappoint my mother anymore. Well, I was a good pupil not for a long time, indeed, but still.. May be I should escape one more time?
Works cited.
Hughes, L., and Hubbard, D. (2002) âSalvationâ in The Collected Works of Langston Hughes: Autobiography: The Big Sea. Missouri: University of Missouri Press. p. 41-43.
Sedaris, D. (2010). âLet It Snowâ in The New Yorker. Web.