Jem and the Holograms

When I was in 2^nd grade, our teacher had a system to keep track of how “good” we were in class. It was your basic ploy to keep 7 year-olds in line, and I was drinking the Kool-Aid. Basically, if you followed all of the typical grade school rules (i.e. no talking while the teacher is talking), you would receive a gold star for the day (and on very special days, I believe they were apple-shaped stickers…which, needless to say, were totally awesome). She had a whole chart. One hundred and eighty days.  As I think back, this is my earliest memory of my competitiveness.  I hate to lose.  I hate to lose at anything, I hate to lose at anything, whether or not there is a prize at stake…. But I especially hate to lose when there are gold stars and apple stickers involved. So there I was sitting at my desk, NOT talking while the teacher was talking. And there was “Courtney”. (I have obviously changed her name for her own safety as well as the embarrassment this may cause her). Courtney sat in the desk in front of me.  Except at this moment, she sat backwards at her desk, blabbering on about Jem and the Holograms (yes, they are truly outrageous), and I knew it. I just KNEW it.   Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. And certainly do not get a gold star for the day. Ugh. My. Life. Is. Ruined. Permanent record destroyed.  I think it must have been somewhere around day 85 when this happened and that was it.

Now, present day. I dreamt about Courtney.  I’ve dreamt about her before.  This time, we were just riding in the car together.  I don’t know where we were going. I don’t think that necessarily matters. I think the whole point of this dream, is that some day, some time, somewhere, I’m going to run into Courtney and let her know just how I feel.  I’m going to let her know just what I went through that day.  I’m going to let her know, that she totally owes me an apple sticker.