While waiting for the subway this morning, I had to wait for the second train that passed, because the first was dangerously full. It's an all too familiar sight here in DC, the trains being unsafely stuffed with riders due to various kinds of delays. While waiting for the second train, I had one of my flashbacks...
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Aurora Ohio, c. 1982/1983
I grew up on a lake that had a marina nearby, and often times people/organizations would hold special events there. One summer when I was very young (I'm estimating 4 or 5 years old) I was at one of these events, and a group of lifeguards planned a "candy grab" for the kids, where they planned to throw pieces of candy all over the grass, and you get the idea.
I'm not sure how many kids were participating, but it couldn't have been too many. Once the lifeguards threw the candy, everyone went batshit crazy, or at least that's how I remember it. It was my first lesson in aggressive behavior - every time I reached for a piece of candy, some other kids hand would appear and snatch it away. I remember this one girl with pigtails specifically pissing me off because she was getting a real haul. When the dust settled, I was left with two pieces of candy, one yellow and one red. I remember the candy being mostly yellow, which doesn't seem that great to begin with.
While we were standing around comparing candy notes, this even younger boy in a red bathing suit started to cry because he was too slow to get any candy. Since I was standing next to him, I was encouraged to share. I gave him the red piece of candy, because his bathing suit was red. I wouldn't have minded sharing so much, except that I knew the other kids had WAY more candy to give away than I did, my older sister included. When I got home, I remember angrily staring at the mountain of yellow candy in my sister's room. I thought of the girl with the pigtails, and how I hated her greedy fucking guts...
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When the second train arrived, I made it my business to shove my way on to the car. I'm all about helping others whenever possible, but at the same time, fuck you. You people already have a ton of candy, I want to keep my damn piece. I don't know if this is directly applicable to the candy memory, but I was entertained.