When I Was 15

When I was 15 I was in high school with a bunch of boys, not at a tony girls' private school, but the behavior was not much different from what is reported as the norm in Maryland. Do I believe Dr. Blasey Ford over Kavanaugh. Yes, but it's not because I think he is a slimy liar. It's because as the Texas GOP mother said on camera yesterday, "That's what boys do." I don't mean all boys. I am positive my husband never behaved that way when he was 17 because he didn't behave that way when he was 19 and 20 when I met him AND he never drank--still doesn't.

But when I was 15 I was one of the few girls in my class who actually needed to wear a bra. I was a 34C and very conscious of that fact. If I wore anything even remotely low cut, say showing some collarbone, the boys all acted as if I had a "Kick Me!" sign on my butt. One morning before math class a boy in the class tried to throw wadded up paper down my front and grabbed at my chest. The teacher was not in the room yet but when he did come in he saw all the red marks on my neck and chest and asked me if I was all right. Everyone in the room had seen this kid, being an aggressive jerk so I certainly had witnesses and possibly support. And it's that "possibly" that is the sticking point even now when I think back about it. I didn't even want to have breasts at 15 and the thought of having to go to the office and tell the male principal and male vice-principal what had happened seemed too punitive to me, the innocent party. I would have done anything to avoid that scenario so I lied and said something about a rash.

Years later my mother played bridge with this kid's mother for the first time. The woman, who back when I knew her couldn't have melted butter in her mouth, told my mother that her son had such a crush on me but I was too sophisticated and mature for him. Oddly enough, that boy and I were the two youngest students in our grade because we had been promoted. We were both 15 and 16 as juniors in high school and 16 and 17 as seniors. Some sophistication.