Common sense is good to have
But never let it master you–
For then it might deprive you of
The foolish things it’s fun to do.
—The Cheerful Cherub
tammy’s post, may day, triggered a memory from 58 years ago. When I was at Stanford-in-Germany we went to Berlin to see the May Day parade in East Berlin (this was before the wall was built). Two of our group members happened to walk down an alley where they were organizing the parade and the fellow organizing it stuck flags in their hands and told them to get in line. They dutifully did and marched in the parade. No one asked them for the flags back afterwards, so they ended up with priceless souvenirs from the trip.
The problem was, a friend of mine wanted a flag too and decided he was going into East Berlin at night and steal one. One of the stupidest ideas in the world, right? Well, not quite. I unsuccessfully tried to talk him out of it, so of course I figured he shouldn’t go alone and went with him. In my defense as we wandered around looking at all the well-lit flags, I did try to convince him stealing was a foolish idea. Finally we saw some on the top of a railroad trestle. It was dark underneath, so he thought he might get by with climbing up and snagging one. Fortunately we then saw the light from a cigarette not very far away and even he had to admit defeat. So we hustled back to the train station to catch one of the last trains going back to West Berlin.
Foolish? Of course, but mostly I’m risk adverse and it was good to do a few crazy things while I was young. Might as well get them out of the way early. My friend didn’t get a flag, but I didn’t need one to remember the adventure after all these years.
Have you ever done anything foolish that you have never regretted?
It was usually my brother leading me into doing something foolish and I think I’ve regretted every one of them.
That’s too bad!
wow. the guy that ‘stole’ something recently … now i can’t remember. was it a flag or a banner of some kind? and wound up dead. communist countries are not generally the best places to have adventures!
the stupidest adventure i probably had was with the marine. i was 17. we had just moved here. he said we needed to climb the water tower out by OU campus. it was a very high water tower and the ladder went straight up.
he taught me how to hold onto it in case i slipped. the centrifugal force … or whatever that force of gravity that presses down on you the higher you go…
was terrible! I’ve never had great upper body strength. then… not to be outdone by my brother… i climbed up and over to the VERY TOP. we could see all of our city from there. and i’m sure we were trespassing BIG TIME!
i wasn’t as elated by the view as the fact that i actually had done it!!!
climbing down was easier. my arms ached for days after that little bit of adventure.
now i think about it. my mother had just lost our father to a sudden fatal heart attack and was in deep grief. can you imagine if she’d got a call from the police saying that her two children had fallen from the water tower and were also dead? teenagers can be very thoughtless!
That was Otto Warmbier in North Korea — he allegedly stole a propaganda banner. Yes, teens and young adults do take unnecessary risks sometimes.
I wouldn’t have had the courage to climb the water tower — I’m afraid of heights! But I agree, your poor mother if something had happened to you. I often think of the Cornell student doing a handstand on the side of a bridge overlooking one of the gorges in Ithaca. He was showing off for his girlfriend and fell the wrong way. Broken hearts all around.
I’m afraid of heights now too! isn’t that funny.
it’s only been since i fell and broke my wrist. up until then they didn’t bother me. now i can’t even really enjoy looking out skyscraper windows.
and yet i love living on the second floor in my apt! go figure.
and oh my.
the story of the boy in Ithaca. yes. broken hearts for sure.
We live on the second floor too, but that doesn’t bother me as long as I don’t have to climb a ladder. 😀 I have gone up ski lifts and cable cars and stood on high (enclosed) platforms. They made me nervous but they were doable. Actually I did climb some high ladders at Bandelier National Monument to get to some ceremonial caves and once walked across a “knife edge” when hiking. The fellow in charge was very encouraging and I felt safe with him talking to me. Unfortunately a year or so later he died by falling off a cliff, so maybe I shouldn’t have trusted him so much?! I was high for a week or so after I did that. I was doable, but a really big deal. Thanks for reminding me. I had forgotten about them.
I’ve never regretted trying out “smoking” – I had been let of the leash via parents and family and was living down in London. It was trendy to smoke, so I did too…I didn’t much like it but finally got the hang of it. I gave up smoking after I met Bob (who still smokes) because I wanted more money for trendy clothing…
But if I had never tried it I would never have known what it was all about…okay it didn’t truly affect me, but Bob is well and truly effected by it…many health issues!!! But not the ones that affect your lungs…
I’ve never regretted letting “Bobby go” even though it put a lot of pressure on my health, which has never really recovered; also a lot of pressure on being pressured into letting someone use my “split money” and never returning it…that I do regret. But there isn’t anything I can do about that….
I’ve never regretted changing my surname after Bobby and I formally split up – it was a very good decision. Bobby didn’t think so of course, and he kept writing up cheques in my married name until I finally got the bank to write him a letter!!!!
reason for continued cheques was to do with the business we continued to run until about 2 years after the split, and I had to have monthly cheques mailed to me…
I’m glad you weren’t hurt by the smoking, but am sorry you were hurt financially and that the stress hurt your health. 🙁
When I’ve been out walking I’ve often taken short cuts across farmers’ fields and unexpectedly faced menacing animals and growling dogs. But I’ve never actually been attacked or bitten so I don’t regret it and I still take short cuts if they present themselves.
Glad it has always turned out well for you. Fingers crossed!
http://rummuser.com/what-is-the-biggest-mistake-you-have-made-in-your-life-2-on-1-4/
It sounds as if that worked out well for you in the long run, even if it wasn’t so great for your brother.