Is it all just wasted time?

(With apologies to Skid Row)

There were a few times in my youth where people tried to be friends with me. One of the most memorable was “Scott”. For some reason I got stuck spending the night there. I have no recollection of how this was setup. I don’t know if our parents set it up or if he had asked me, see I told you getting old sucks.

I was only eight or nine years old at the time, forgive me if I can’t remember everything. What I do remember is their pet. Most normal people had a cat or a dog or even a goldfish, not these people though. They owned a raccoon. Before this I had never seen one except in pictures. I learned that they are obnoxious critters though.

Since they are nocturnal they tend to get active about the time you are trying not to be. There is nothing like feeling something nuzzling your ear at one in the morning, especially to an eight year old. Want to know something else? Even the most domesticated animal in the world doesn’t handle a screaming flailing child very well.

Needless to say, I was never invited to spend the night again!