Face it, no little kid knew anything about sex when I was a child. I didn't know intercourse existed, nor any of the details. I could not have been more than eight years old when this incident occurred.
It was nighttime and we were on the way home from some forgotten event. Instead of going straight to the house, my dad steered the car toward a shopping center. I pestered him with questions. Why did he come here? Which store was he headed for? What did he want to get? Can I come into the store also? My dad made it very clear that I was to stay in the car with Mom. But I was not always an obedient little boy. So despite his orders I got out of the car and trailed him into the drugstore. He ordered me back to the car, but my childish curiosity was aroused and I intended to find out what he had come here to buy.
He went to the prescription counter and waited. A man came to the window. I was chattering again, curious to have all my questions answered and learn what he needed from a drugstore in the dark of night. Suddenly he turned, gave me a whack on the butt and told me again in a no-nonsense voice to go back to the car. Other people were now looking. The man behind the counter stared at us.
My father made a decision. He grabbed my hand and marched us rapidly out to the car. I climbed into the back seat, aware that he was mad at me. He drove us home without speaking a word. All this time my mother had remained silent.
That was one of the most puzzling things that ever happened during my childhood. It was not until I was in my mid or late teens that I learned what a "rubber" was and how it was used -- and what my parents must have had in mind that night.
By insisting on following my father into the drugstore, I had made him embarrassed to ask for what he wanted. The poor man simply could not do it in front of me. If he had made his purchase, I would have been full of even more questions.
It was an odd feeling when I realized what I'd done to my folks years earlier.
Anonymous
