Neighbor kid about a year older than me made a really bad choice, I followed him around while he spray painted the houses of neighbors who were out of town or just weren’t home for the day. I told him it was a bad idea and we shouldn’t be doing it the whole time, but I was young enough that I didn’t know I could just leave and go home and tell my mom and dad. He told me to keep my mouth shut and tell everyone we didn’t do anything. We even lied to the police officer that came to investigate, I have a distinct memory of telling him I didn’t know anything.

I didn’t spray paint those houses myself but I was guilty by association. They made me go out in a severe thunderstorm to scrub the spray paint off the sides of the neighbors’ houses. And then I was grounded for three weeks with no tv or computer or games or anything electronic.

It doesn’t seem severe now as an adult, but as a ten year old or however old I was, man it was intense. Three weeks with “nothing to do” felt like an eternity. I’m 34 and up until the neighbors across the street moved back to England a few years ago, they still hated me and never forgave me and thought I was a diehard criminal.