Stranger Danger

 Growing up in rural Iowa affords parents a certain level of safety. The reason your children are safe is that the community is close-knit. If someone does something evil it will be remembered FOREVER and the shame that it brings upon the family won't magically disappear. 

When I was 6 my brother Marty - an 11 year old - and I went to the Newhall park while Mom and Dad spent time at Theresa's - Newhall's popular bar at the time. I loved the tornado slide. I could go down that over and over for hours.

On this particular day, the Claypool brothers = a bit older than Marty were there. They not good people. One of the first things they did was pee down the tornado slide. 

Not the Newhall Tornado slide, but an exact replica 

Oscar Wilde wrote, "Everything is about sex... except sex. Sex is about power." 

These older boys then tried to molest Marty and me. I don't think they were gay. I think it was about power. They were older and bigger than us so they wanted to assert their dominance. 

Marty and I escaped and returned to the bar much earlier than Mom & Dad expected. Marty didn't want to tell them what happened. Me? I told them exactly what happened. 

The rage Dad went into is something I will never forget. He tore off in the car to their house, ordered Marty to knock on their door and bring them out. (Mom, knowing Dad as well as she did insisted he stay in the car.) 

So the brothers came out and my father screamed louder than I have ever heard him scream. "If you ever lay a hand on either of my sons again, I will rip your balls off so help me God. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," they replied sheepishly.

*****

I am not a parent, but I understand the need to teach your children about stranger danger. Quite simply, there are a lot of bad people in this world. 

I have no regrets being single but when I think back to the story I just told...Dad was lucky he had Mom. If a six year old Steve had told me he had been molested? I'd have reacted exactly the same way as Dad did and without a Joyce in my life? I might well have ended up in jail that night. 

Oscar Wilde's quote is an interesting debate for another day. For today, Marty & I were lucky we had Dad. Dad was lucky he had Mom. 

And in honor of #PrideMonth, there is zero connection between being gay and being a pedophile. So teach your children to be aware of stranger danger. But don't teach them hate.