Caught between a rock

Being a youngin and being watched by your grandmother had certain benefits. It was easier to get away with things as they never seemed to be as attentive as our parents might be, Bertha was no different.

I remember easily being able to coax money for the ice cream man, the corner store or what ever needed at any given time.

On one particularly hot summer afternoon I was out hanging around with my buddy Bob. Back then at the age of 8-10 one of the big rules was to leave the hose alone. My grandparents had lived through the depression and such and were always concerned about wasting money (The hose was attached to the water bill)

On this day I had gone against better judgment because I could get away with most things and decided to pull the hose out and basically have a water fight. Ever paid attention to a child with a hose and a pressurized nozzle? Anything and everything becomes a target.

I used to get a kick out of shooting the water straight up in the air and having it come down on me to cool off from the humid summer air. The thing that made this easy to get away with was the fact that we had the huge air conditioners in the window running and that pretty much drowned out anything from the water to kids screaming... Oh and the fact that the TV had to be turned way up to overtake the AC!!

After a period of time I needed to run in the house and go to the bathroom and upon my return ran into a minor issue ..

"Bertha"- Where are you going now?
"Me"- Outside
"Bertha" No your not
"Me" thinkin I'm busted now asks why not?
"Because it's raining outside and your mother doesn't want you out in the rain ..


Now have you ever been caught between a rock and a hard place? I guess that was it for a 9/10 yr old. In my haste of spraying the house directly up in the air I neglected to realize that the droplets hitting the air conditioner reverberate through the house like the sound of heavy rain ..


Geez what's a kid to do? Point out that it's not raining out or that you were using the hose and risk getting in trouble or just stay in .............