Our neighborhood has a huge number of tweens between the ages of nine and eleven. Rita’s daughter Jasmine is nine and Rita’s son Gary is ten. Add to that Chloe who is ten and Veronica’s younger brother David who is eleven and at least four more kids within a short distance from our home. On any given day someone has at least one friend over after school to play.
Over the years people have moved in and moved out. Friendships have developed and gone stale and then developed again. This school year, there is a decided hub of tweens who choose to congregate after school in front of our house. It started with Chloe and Jasmine deciding to spend a lot of their time together on their scooters. They ride back and forth between our house and Rita’s house at the other end of the neighborhood. It didn’t take long before Chloe and Jasmine were getting more adventurous with their scooter riding, traveling together further out into the neighborhood.
With Chloe and Jasmine’s adventuring in safe numbers, others soon joined. Even boys began to join. But the neighborhood is only so big with a single exit leading out onto a major road headed out of town. By October of this school year the afternoons developed into ad hoc tween scooter socials in front of our house. The tweens would ride about seemingly aimless. They wouldn’t need to talk as long as they were focusing on their riding. But they were free to speak up to one another at any time. It was the perfect safe social environment for their developing social skills.
From my home office in the afternoon I can hear a clacking sound of scooters moving over the pavement. Occasionally, a tween or an older sibling will pull out a skateboard and join the scooter-riders. At times, Chloe will invite her friends behind our house to jump on the trampoline. If the crowd is large, they will sit around the edge of the trampoline and talk in a way not unlike her brother’s teenage friends talk. But eventually they run out of things to say. When they do, they either disperse or go back to riding scooters. In the end, it is usually Chloe and Jasmine who are the last ones riding. The enjoyed their ad hoc tween scooter social and then went back to their own private riding.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
No Summertime Blues
Besides babysitting, younger teenagers have little opportunity to earn money. This is especially true for boys, since most parents want a girl to do the sitting. Philip actually has a babysitting job. Rita, our friend down the street, pays him thirty dollars every other Thursday night when the kids are not with her ex-husband and she has her certification class. On a normal Thursday, Philip works from 5:00pm to just after 9:30pm to earn his thirty dollars. That works out to about $6.65 per hour. That is less than the $10 per hour most girls earn babysitting in Hernes. But given Rita’s kids are older (at ages nine and ten, respectively) he generally can do all his homework at the same time and once everyone’s homework is done watch TV that is age-appropriate for the nine-year-old, bur still reasonably appealing to him. And finally, Rita is a good cause.
For those who remember Rita from last Thanksgiving, her finances have improved as a result of some government-sponsored programs and taking a roommate, but she is not out of the proverbial woods just yet. This certification program will go a long way toward helping her attain a viable single mom’s income.
While babysitting has been a nice source of income for Philip, his truly lucrative job is refereeing. At twenty dollars per game to start, Philip is earning roughly fifteen dollars per hour. Like babysitting, refereeing is one of the few jobs available to younger teenagers. But it is not an easy job to secure. Officially, one can begin refereeing for pay at age thirteen. But the job requires certification, and the final certification exam is not easy. In Philip’s class, all the other fourteen year olds were taking the exam after failing it the prior year. Even some adults did not earn a passing grade. In Philip’s case, he barely passed. But barely passing was all it took.
Philip has taken on working for pay cautiously. In theory he could referee at ten games each weekend if he worked full days Saturday and Sunday. Gaining the experience would qualify him to referee in higher paying scenarios. But instead he chooses to only referee at one or two games each weekend. For Philip at fourteen, he leisure time is very valuable to him. His bank account is fat enough as far as he is concerned.
I am reminded of an old song called Summertime Blues about a teenager who cannot find a healthy balance between his job and his leisure time. In Philip’s case, he has no Summertime Blues.
For those who remember Rita from last Thanksgiving, her finances have improved as a result of some government-sponsored programs and taking a roommate, but she is not out of the proverbial woods just yet. This certification program will go a long way toward helping her attain a viable single mom’s income.
While babysitting has been a nice source of income for Philip, his truly lucrative job is refereeing. At twenty dollars per game to start, Philip is earning roughly fifteen dollars per hour. Like babysitting, refereeing is one of the few jobs available to younger teenagers. But it is not an easy job to secure. Officially, one can begin refereeing for pay at age thirteen. But the job requires certification, and the final certification exam is not easy. In Philip’s class, all the other fourteen year olds were taking the exam after failing it the prior year. Even some adults did not earn a passing grade. In Philip’s case, he barely passed. But barely passing was all it took.
Philip has taken on working for pay cautiously. In theory he could referee at ten games each weekend if he worked full days Saturday and Sunday. Gaining the experience would qualify him to referee in higher paying scenarios. But instead he chooses to only referee at one or two games each weekend. For Philip at fourteen, he leisure time is very valuable to him. His bank account is fat enough as far as he is concerned.
I am reminded of an old song called Summertime Blues about a teenager who cannot find a healthy balance between his job and his leisure time. In Philip’s case, he has no Summertime Blues.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Extremely Popular Girl and the First High School Dance
If Philip’s life in Hermes were a Hollywood movie, Erica would be cast as the villain. Her popularity is off the charts. And isn’t the most popular girl always the villain in a Hollywood movie? But this is not a movie, of course. It is real life. Only the names of people and places are fictitious substitutes. Erica is a real person with real, genuine feelings. As Philip entered Hermes High School, he became aware of Erica almost immediately. Erica was the other face in just about every girl’s profile picture on Facebook. Erica—who somewhat resembles starlet Victoria Justice—devotes large amounts of energy to her hair, makeup and clothing. She seems to enjoy pressing close to someone—girl or guy—and smiling for the camera. Somehow Erica’s presence in each girl’s profile pictures makes the girl in question look better. Erica is kind, charismatic and friendly. Nearly everyone likes her. And nearly all the guys have some kind of in love interest toward her. But most are too intimidated to even talk to her. At the first school dance, Erica split her three hours on the dance floor time between just eight guys. Philip was one of them.
Philip’s first high school dance was a new experience. Gone were the beach ball rules of middle school. In my day there were fast dances and slow dances. But at Hermes High School there was one other form of dancing the kids called Durty Dancin’. For those unfamiliar, Durty Dancin' takes place during rap songs. It has the guy standing behind the girl following her dance moves. However, the guy's hands are in front of her. Cautious guys (like Philip) put their hands on the girl's midriff and leave them there. The bolder guys will imitate the girls arm and hand movements which usually means several one inch drive-bys up and down (sometimes back and forth) in front of the girl's breasts never quite touching but following their shape. There is clearly a rush for the guy regarding the possibility of the girl stumbling forward. Likewise there is clearly a rush for the girl in trusting the guy during each drive-by. There were (of course) girls on the dance floor who would guide their dance partner’s hands to make direct contact with their clothed breasts. And there was at least one guy who was trying to grope his dance partners in an unwelcome manner. After just three Durty Dances, Philip decided to take a break whenever a rap song started.
Like the school dances in my day, there were only a few slow dances. For the first slow dance, Layla cautiously approached and asked Philip to dance. He accepted. They danced without saying much, but he fulfilled his break-up promise to dance with her at upcoming dances. Later that evening Philip learned that Layla had paired off with one of the football players. The one turn-down Philip received was for the second slow dance. He asked a girl who had been on his first grade baseball team. She smiled and shook her head. By the third slow dance an intense headache came upon him. He went outside to get some air and discovered Jocelyn, Charlotte and most of the girls soccer team had completely sequestered themselves to socialize with one another rather than dance.
Finally, the last dance of the evening came. It was Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing, and it proved to be an upbeat slow dance of sorts. Having been one of the guys Erica had been willing to dance with at other times, Philip approached, tapped Erica on the shoulder and said “Would you like to dance?” Her response surprised him. Erica gave some words of acceptance and quickly grabbed hold of him. She held him tight and close. Her face was perhaps just two or three inches from his. Their arms entangled around one another, with Philip’s arms wrapped around her small waist and Erica’s arms tightly wrapped around his torso. At the chorus, they spontaneously began to sing the song to one another face to face. Philip had put on sunglasses and he kept his gaze forward the whole time.
Over those last minutes of the first high school dance, Erica completely captured Philip’s heart. As the song and the dance ended, they released one another slowly and gently. She thanked him and then scurried off to go talk with her girlfriends. He let his shaded gaze linger on her retreating figure before exiting the dance.
The following morning was Saturday. Philip sent a short email to Erica’s Facebook account thanking her for making the last dance of the evening fun. There was no response Saturday. There was no response on Sunday. Monday was a school day he did not share any classes with her and he did not see her during any of the breaks. There was likewise no response on Monday. But late Monday evening, he took a look at her Facebook account. Bruce, one of the football players, had just asked her out and Erica had accepted.
Philip’s first high school dance was a new experience. Gone were the beach ball rules of middle school. In my day there were fast dances and slow dances. But at Hermes High School there was one other form of dancing the kids called Durty Dancin’. For those unfamiliar, Durty Dancin' takes place during rap songs. It has the guy standing behind the girl following her dance moves. However, the guy's hands are in front of her. Cautious guys (like Philip) put their hands on the girl's midriff and leave them there. The bolder guys will imitate the girls arm and hand movements which usually means several one inch drive-bys up and down (sometimes back and forth) in front of the girl's breasts never quite touching but following their shape. There is clearly a rush for the guy regarding the possibility of the girl stumbling forward. Likewise there is clearly a rush for the girl in trusting the guy during each drive-by. There were (of course) girls on the dance floor who would guide their dance partner’s hands to make direct contact with their clothed breasts. And there was at least one guy who was trying to grope his dance partners in an unwelcome manner. After just three Durty Dances, Philip decided to take a break whenever a rap song started.
Like the school dances in my day, there were only a few slow dances. For the first slow dance, Layla cautiously approached and asked Philip to dance. He accepted. They danced without saying much, but he fulfilled his break-up promise to dance with her at upcoming dances. Later that evening Philip learned that Layla had paired off with one of the football players. The one turn-down Philip received was for the second slow dance. He asked a girl who had been on his first grade baseball team. She smiled and shook her head. By the third slow dance an intense headache came upon him. He went outside to get some air and discovered Jocelyn, Charlotte and most of the girls soccer team had completely sequestered themselves to socialize with one another rather than dance.
Finally, the last dance of the evening came. It was Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing, and it proved to be an upbeat slow dance of sorts. Having been one of the guys Erica had been willing to dance with at other times, Philip approached, tapped Erica on the shoulder and said “Would you like to dance?” Her response surprised him. Erica gave some words of acceptance and quickly grabbed hold of him. She held him tight and close. Her face was perhaps just two or three inches from his. Their arms entangled around one another, with Philip’s arms wrapped around her small waist and Erica’s arms tightly wrapped around his torso. At the chorus, they spontaneously began to sing the song to one another face to face. Philip had put on sunglasses and he kept his gaze forward the whole time.
Over those last minutes of the first high school dance, Erica completely captured Philip’s heart. As the song and the dance ended, they released one another slowly and gently. She thanked him and then scurried off to go talk with her girlfriends. He let his shaded gaze linger on her retreating figure before exiting the dance.
The following morning was Saturday. Philip sent a short email to Erica’s Facebook account thanking her for making the last dance of the evening fun. There was no response Saturday. There was no response on Sunday. Monday was a school day he did not share any classes with her and he did not see her during any of the breaks. There was likewise no response on Monday. But late Monday evening, he took a look at her Facebook account. Bruce, one of the football players, had just asked her out and Erica had accepted.
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