This article will probably seem corny to today's teenagers. I am glad that I grew up in the late 60's and early 70's. It was a time of innocence even though we were dubbed the "Free Love Generation" We did not have to worry about AIDS and Herpes and although there was other annoying conditions that were contracted, most of them were cured with antibiotic therapy. I can't imagine having the pressure of todays teens to be part of the "in crowd" and have to do something I wasn't ready to do and worry about the possibility of contracting a disease that could literally kill me or change my life forever. not to mention an unwanted pregnancy that would change that teens life forever. To all the Moms and Dads and teens out there, please talk to one another and don't do anything that you are not comfortable with and never, and I mean never let anyone pressure you into having a sexual relationship that you are not ready for. The beauty of being a teen is to enjoy life, not complicate it. Enjoy who you are and don't rush growing up. Believe me it comes fast enough.
Hi I'm Iris, try me and you get a belt in the mouth! Now, I ask you, how threatening can a girl be weighing in at 101 and only 5'3". How can that little girl actually overpower a guy who was trying to be cute?
I guess you can say it all started at the ripe old age of four, when my brother Fred thought it would be cute to teach his baby sister to take care of herself.
I'm a New Yorker and I guess living here is an experience by itself. Fred figured that in a tough city you have to learn to stand up for your rights so....I guess I got into my first fight with the paperboy who got his kicks out of throwing the daily paper at me rather than the front door. I finally got really angry, and one fine day, I went up to him, and started beating the daylights out of him. My Dad ran out of the house and had to break up the fight and when I got into the house, I got a lecture on how "Little girls are suppose to act like little ladies." At six you really don't think much about being a lady because you are usually having too much fun playing football, climbing trees, or my greatest achievement, outrunning any little boy on the block.
When my Dad died, we moved from Yonkers to Flushing and I noticed a strange thing was happening to my twelve year old body. All of a sudden I looked different from the guys and they now would rather play touch tackle, doctor or house with you so.... the featherweight of Yonkers strikes again, this time in Flushing. I now found myself fighting for dear life and what mother nature gives you.
I'll never forget my first real date. Mom finally decided it was time to have a long talk and she gives me a whole line up of what to expect. Don't let him do this or that or something might happen. You mean all those books I had read with my friends three years before were a fake? After all, Mother is always right, so by the time my date came to pick me up, I was afraid to even hold his hand thinking I might get pregnant or something. You can imagine how that date turned out. As I got older I sort of learned more about the so called "dangerous sex" and you either went along with their gestures or fought them off. Guess which one I decided to take? I just couldn't get used to being part of a baseball field. All the girls would hear the guys wispering to one another "Well, how far did you get, 1st, 2nd or 3rd base or were you lucky enough to hit a home run." I really wasn't quite sure what they were talking about, but you learn pretty darn fast when you are taken out by one of the baseball players and they found out just as fast as to how far they could get with me. 1st base was fine if I really liked the boy. Second base, (look Daddy, I'm a lady), they got a choice of either a black eye or a fat lip, so not too many ball players ever tried passed that. Guess word gets around really fast and it's not the most comfortable thing for a guy to tell his friends that a little girl weighing in at 101 pounds and only standing at 5'3" could do so much damage to one guy. That's how the legend of Iris or mightly 101 was brought about.
I think the funnist thing a boy ever said to me was that he really feels sorry for the guy who thinks he is brave enough to try and corner me in a dark alley for I would probably murder the guy but, that he would go down in history as a brave soul for trying.
By the time I reached sisteen, I figured I had to find a new approach in getting my message across rather than punching the fellow out, so I substituted a strong smack in the face, a real five fingered one if they were really trying to be cute and I found I had no trouble in getting my message across. I hated the oldest line in the book which was very popular in the mid sixty's and still probably popular today, "I love you and if you love me prove it by going to a hotel with me." If I wanted to play the meek, shy little girl, I would simply look at them with my innocent brown eyes and agree to meet them there and if for some reason I do not show up, they should start without me. I guess you can say in the long run that was the most effective method although not the most fun, for you would never hear from that guy again.
Even the tuffest cookie crumbles sooner or later, at least when Cupid shot his arrows at me at full power, I found myself to be purring like a kitten and before I knew it, I was at the alter saying "I do"
I have a young daughter of my own now, and with the changing times, what will I say to her when she is old enough to date? I have to admit I had a great time growing up and I had a lot of victims along the way to prove it, but, it was well worth it. The Ironic part is that little girl is all grown up and she now has a little girl of her own, Will she share my story with her? Who saiys women are the weaker sex? Whoever it was, he certainly didn't have a date with me.
Iris S. Taub |
