Everyone has that one friend whose parents are strict. Not just strict as in “don’t sneak out” or “don’t drink.” But crazy strict, like “PARENTAL SUPER-VISION IS NECESSITY ALWAYS” strict.
For awhile, I thought that friend was me. Then, on a glorious fencing trip to Reno, I realized I was wrong.
Before I go any farther, let me give you some background.
There are five nationally competitive fencers at my club, two girls and three boys. The five of us are pretty close, we travel and train together, which leads to us spending a lot of time together. While traveling, the parents go off at night to do adult-y stuff and we get to hang out.
This story takes place in Reno, Nevada. We were finished with out events for the day and had all night. Reno is like a more relaxed Vegas. We stayed in the convention center where the NAC (North American Cup) was hosted. The hotel attached to the convention center had a casino. It was a pretty crappy casino (in the standards of a teenager), but it was also pretty cool, because unlike Vegas, we could go everywhere. We may have gotten lost a couple times, but that’s part of the fun.
The hotel, also had a pretty sick hot tub. Sadly, the hut tub was located outside so it required lots of running and towels to get into it without frost bite.
Back to the story.
It was the third night, we had finished our events and had the night to hang out before we went home. The adults were being boring adults and we simply could not be in the casino any longer, so we went to the hot tub
We went swimming the night before and the night before, so we had a routine (which didn’t include parents!) The difference between this night and the previous nights (and why my revelation took place), was the fact we invited our friend.
Our friend was another fencer, she lived in Idaho and was a couple years older. She wanted to come (hint: we were the cool kids in our league), so she had to do the unavoidable: ask her mom.
This was where my shocking revelation came in. Where my parents were cool with me running around the casino and going in and out of the hot tub (but not dye my hair because heaven forbid!), her mom was not.
The girl was allowed to join us, but on one condition: her mom supervise. Now let me tell you, nothing ruins the mood more than a parent chaperone.
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| don't we look cute???? (image source: actually this was taken by the strict parent so thank you for your photography) |
Picture this: it’s dark out, the only light coming fro the lights inside the hot tub. Steam is rising and the ripples of the water are illuminated. There is nothing in sight but the hot tub. The screaming from the inside kiddie pool is silenced as the last person walks out the door.
It’s the perfect place to for a bunch of teenagers to hang out. It’s also, apparently, the scariest place imaginable for strict parents.
It was impossible to have any fun, the girls mom’s eyes looking at us disapprovingly and “subtly” coughing any time she didn’t approve of the topic. But it was all cool, because the girl's chill (also a really cool fencer) and we got a pretty nice picture.
On this trip, I learned that I am not the friend with the strict parents. Because no matter how crazy I think it is I can’t have a snap chat or get a third piercing, there will always be the stricter parent.
Lots of Love,
Shaun
(for those who caught that this was a trip for fencing, (and to those who are curious) I did really well during that tournament!)
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