Living Outside The Box

LIVING OUTSIDE THE BOX By Terri Andersen
When the title subject was suggested for our writing assignment this week, my first thought was, “what have I got to say about living outside the box - I've lived most of my life inside the box - followed the rules, obeyed my parents, worked as a secretary, then got married and raised a family. That's what was expected and that’s what I did. Then I made myself think back over my life and realized there were times I lived outside the box. For instance, at age 6 or 7, my friend Annie and I picked up trolley transfers that people discarded on the street and we rode to the end of the line and back without our parents having the slightest idea of what we were doing. From age 10 and throughout my teens, instead of doing what the average kid was doing, I was a salesgirl, a buyer for sheet music and greeting cards, plus a window display decorator at my parents music store. As a buyer for sheet music, it was my responsibility to keep track of what was selling and what was not, then order what we needed from a company on Broadway in New York City. I'd take the subway to New York by myself to pick up special orders and to see what was new that I thought might sell in our store. We also sold greeting cards as a side-line and it was my job to be sure samples were displayed and numbers were kept track of to reorder when the salesman came. I know some of them hated dealing with a kid, just by the way they'd ask where the owners were, but if they wanted an order they had to show me their merchandise and I was the one to give them their order. When I graduated high school and became a secretary, I decided to join the USO so I could dance often. It so happened the USO was held in a YMCA and in order to be a hostess I had to have a letter of recommendation from my boss. When he got the form to fill out, the first question he asked was how come I was joining the men's YMCA instead of the women’s YWCA. So I guess I could say that was a step outside the box for that day and age. When I got married and stayed home to raise a family, I guess I lived in the box by taking care of the kids, catering to my husband, going to church every Sunday, and pretty much doing whatever the average housewife did. As a senior citizen I figured I'm still living inside the box, but when I see what's going on in the World today, I have second thoughts about that. It seems somehow the box became inverted and the inside is now the outside. Today's norm seems to be casual sex, wearing clothing that almost completely exposes the breasts and barebelly buttons, dancing that emulates the sex act, hair that looks like Someone chopped it up with an ax, and couples living together without benefit of marriage. When a 14-year old girl laments the fact that she's the only one in her class who hasn't had sex yet, when her classmates are, and when college students feel it's okay to cheat on tests, something's twisted - in other words what my generation considered wrong is now considered right and the way to go. Being faithful in a marriage, going to church every Sunday, even dressing modestly has become opposite the norm. So I guess I’m living outside the box now.