As regular readers of this blog will know, I spend an inordinate amount of time looking back on my early years, and one of the things that recently struck me was just how differently some of my friends' parents treated me when I was a teenager, as compared to how my parents treated most of my pals.
For example, whenever any known member of my motley crew came to the door for me, they were invariably invited in, and quite a few times my mother would feed the fortunate individual if they called when she was just about to make something to eat. If I was having fish and chips then whatever pal had been fortunate enough to drop in was also treated to the same culinary delight as myself.
However, it seems to me that, whenever I called in to visit certain pals, I was kept waiting at the door if it was answered by a parent - and one time, calling in on one particular pal at a prearranged time in order to go somewhere, I was told "He's still in his bed!" and had the door closed in my face. Sorely tempted as I was to say "Well, get him out of bed then!", my somewhat lame "He's expecting me!" as the gap in the door narrowed had no effect. On the other hand, if ever I was in my bed when a friend called, they were still invited in and I would be told to rouse myself as quickly as possible.
I can't recall, with one possible exception, any of my friends' parents ever feeding me if I should mistime my visit and chap their door when they were fixing on getting around to eating. Usually I'd be told "He's just about to have his tea!" and find myself staring at a door. And I'd imagine it was the same for any other friends that called, not just me - although I can't prove it, so maybe I just gave off the wrong vibes. Can't see how though - I was never a ned and certainly didn't dress (or behave) like one.
Of course, this doesn't apply to everyone I know, as some pals never called at food-times - or vice-versa - but it happened in the case of a few long-term regulars. I guess I'll just have to put it down to my parents being better-mannered and more welcoming than those of some of my pals. Names are withheld, of course, to spare the blushes of the guilty parties.
I would travel on the bus to my friend Carl's house, he lived about 3 miles away and his mother (adopted mother to be precise) was very moody - sometimes she'd be really friendly and welcoming and at other times I was made to feel distinctly unwelcome - she once said to me "You're taking Carl away from all his friends" which is a charming thing to say to somebody who'd come three miles on the bus to visit her son. Carl's father was always extremely nice and he always remembered me and spoke to me right up till he died a few years ago. But when Carl's mother was in a good mood she was really kind and generous - she once made dinner for five of us all sat around the kitchen table. When people came to my house for a birthday party my father would cut the cake up into equal parts and give everybody a big chunk but when I went to other kids' parties I'd get a piece of cake so thin it was almost transparent - so much for mean Scotsmen !! My dad might have had an ulterior motive though - he didn't like sweet foodstuffs and he didn't want his kids eating them either so perhaps he divided the cake up among all the kids so as to get rid of it as fast as possible. But other people gave very thin slices so they could save most of it to scoff later.
ReplyDeleteI suppose it's always possible that those people cut thin slices so that there was enough left to give to other friends and relatives who weren't at the party. (Although they should just have made or bought a bigger cake to begin with.) I don't follow your friend's mum's logic. Did she accuse any of them of doing the same thing when one of them turned up at the door? The dad sounds quite sane 'though.
ReplyDeleteWe would have loved a thin slice of cake when we were kids.
DeleteIt would have been a feast to us.
And a cardboard box would've been a mansion, I bet. Monty Python fan, JP?
DeleteKid, she may have done the same to others I don't know, I wonder if she might have had some kind of bi-polar disorder to be honest so it probably wasn't her fault. Carl was adopted and he was an only child so his parents really spoiled him and bought him whatever he wanted it seemed to me.- I was rather envious.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe it was just the menopause? I had friends who seemed to get anything they wanted, too. Not fair, is it?
ReplyDeleteVery different from the PB&J generation I grew up in.
ReplyDeleteQuite enjoyed a peanut butter or 'jeely' piece (sandwich) myself on occasion, Chris.
ReplyDelete