A Journal of Sorts

Sunday, 14 March 1999

The skateboard queen

Browsing journalists by region at Diarist.Net, I found the journal of a girl in Abilene. She called her journal Sadie: Daily Struggle of a 17-Year-Old Wife. I read the whole thing, though it hasn't been updated in awhile. I had to smile when she made an observation about being in the school cafeteria and listening to the other girls talk about their problems. She wrote with some disgust, ". . .they don't know what real problems are." I suppose real problems is as relative as anything can be -- depending on the problemee.

I married quite young as well (I was 15) and followed up a year and ten days later with my first child. I suppose I was too ignorant to know I had problems or to know I was poverty stricken. I sure knew I didn't have all the things my folks had, but I guess I just thought that I was living the lifestyle of a person who was just starting out. I loved walking so it wasn't a problem getting around except when I had to go to the navy base in Long Beach. Living in San Pedro, there was only one way there, across a bridge that had a rule about NO walking on the bridge. But, I wasn't a stranger to hitchhiking either.

Thinking about it, I suppose I did spend a LOT of time on a skateboard for a married woman. I was very good at it, although the skateboards in the mid 60's weren't nearly as sophisticated as the ones today. There are beautiful hills in that part of California.

I worked as a radiology assistant at Harbor General Hospital in Compton, Calif. I lied about my age in order to get the job. I gave barium enemas and wore a lead apron all the time. Since I lived in the slums (the projects), there was a free bus I could ride to work. It was part of the lets-keep-these-people-off-the-streets project going on at the time. I think it was called the Neighborhood Youth Corp or something like that.

All of the buildings where I lived looked exactly alike at night. You could tell them apart during the day as each was painted a different pale pastel color. Mine was pale green and it was between a pale peach and a pale blue. It was a normal occurrance for some drunk person to try to come home and get in my building instead of theirs. I finally learned to lock my door.

There are two pepper plant sprouts and the tomatoes are about six inches tall now. The peas seemed to have survived the cold weather outside. Still no sign of the carrots, but I read on Garden.Com that they take forever. It suggested I plant radishes with the carrots. I'll do that for the next crop, for sure.