Firefly by the Story Teller

May 22, 2017,  World Record

While it has never been announced, I believe I hold a world record. My freshman year in high school, at age 13, I was dropped into a world of new cute girls. When a boy goes through 8 grades with the same girls – well, they are more like sisters, and I already had three at home. High school home room had several of those cute girls, and I took a fancy to one. Her name - Susie Snow.

My boy-girl social skills were limited so my understanding of what “going steady” meant was a bit hazy. I knew when a guy was going steady he hung out with the girl at lunch, and after school he could walk her home. Where, if the opportunity presented itself, the two might actually kiss.

How to get a girl to go steady was not covered in grade school. One day, while talking in home room, she gave me her phone number. This looked promising. The problem – what to do next? My friend Ken and I talked it over and came up with a plan. I would call her and ask her to go steady over the phone. With three listening sisters at home, the call needed to be somewhere else.

The answer – the phone booth down by the train station.  With heart pounding, and Ken standing next to me in the booth, I made the call. She answered – a good sign. We talked – another good sign. I have no idea how, but I asked and she said yes – a really good sign. After a few more minutes however, she told me she didn’t want to go steady anymore.

I believe we are the undisputed world record holders for the shortest “going steady” ever.

Moral – Claim your victories wherever they might be found.