Several years ago, one of my sons was running track and cross country. Climate change was already becoming an issue globally but the majority of us were blissfully ignorant of the ways our everyday life could be impacted. I was no different from anyone else until one Sunday morning in the spring. the grass was green but the air was still cool early in the day. The sun was shining when I arrived at the track facility. I walked from the parking lot to green space beside the bleachers. I didn't feel like crawling over the possessions (and outstretched legs) of other parents so I chose to sit in the grassy spot partially shaded by the bleachers. I kicked my sandals off and let the sun kiss my bare feet. By midday the sun had grown much warmer and I put my sandals back on. The straps were not as comfortable as they had been earlier so I put some lotion on my feet thinking that my skin was dry and the new sandals were rubbing the tops of my feet. By evening I knew how wrong I was! The tops of my feet were red, swollen, and quite tender to the touch. My immediate thought was that I had been near some poison ivy....but I hadn't seen any. Off I go to CVS and run into Jim the pharmacist. He looked at my feet and laughed at me while handing me some aloe gel. "Its kind of early but I think you are sunburned !" Imagine my shock....up until that moment I assumed black skin didn't sunburn. Along with the aloe gel I left CVS with sunscreen lotion. LESSON 1 LEARNED!
LESSON 2 hit me at a cross country meet that fall. I came from my job just in time to find my son being loaded in an ambulance! He had stumbled and nearly passed out while running! Off we went to sports medicine at a local hospital. He was still a little woozy and admitted to the doctor that he had run out of water and hasn't asked for more. The scathing lecture I got from the doctor remains in my mind to this day many years after the fact. Water, Gatorade, etc. should have been easily available to those runners! My kid was lucky....he got popsicles and I got chewed out! LESSON 2 LEARNED!
There was no way I needed to be knocked over the head again! A case of bottled water would be in my car and/or my husband's car for ANY future practice or meet! My kid would know that and his team mates would know it....you are thirsty....drink water. The car windows are down, reach in and get your water out of the cooler. No questions asked! Spring track began and the word was out.
LESSON 3 was coming down the railroad track like a speeding locomotive. My son was in high school and high school track meets can be lengthy. Early spring meets were reasonably okay but the weather turned hot early. An informal parent discussion in the bleachers resulted in the (parental) purchase of a sun shade canopy for the track team (boys and girls). The mothers thought the issue of hot and sunny afternoon track meets was solved (bottled water was available and the canopy would solve the hot sun problem). To our shock..the head girls' coach (a male newly appointed to the job) claimed the canopy for the exclusive use of the girls! The boys were totally BANNED from the canopy! The word flew through the boys' parents. The boys would be forced to use a tarp tied to a fence along with umbrellas provided by sympathetic onlookers. After our family's years of experience in CYO (Catholic Youth Organization) track...I would always carry a cooler with fruit (usually grapes and bananas) , yogurt, bagels and cream cheese, peanut butter, orange slices, cubed melon and Gatorade (for the kids) ...... and of course the tarp ( to shade parents in the bleachers). Of course my son knew what I carried so he came and picked up the cooler and the tarp supplies and the boys assembled THEIR camp. That day...parents had to "make do!"
In the vernacular of the day..I was smoking and the single eyebrow was raised ( trait inherited from my father) when he was .....shall we say....ANGRY ? This shenanigan was NOT acceptable and would be dealt with MY .....WAY. The meet day ended....round 2 would begin tomorrow after school. It was time for a Walmart visit....to the sporting goods department...my retaliatory mission had kicked in. I found the perfect tent....large enough to fit the fellows and their gear bags. A swipe of my debit card later...step 1 was done. Evil smirk on my face, I grabbed a copy of the school insignia as I left for work the next day. On the way out of the house the next morning.... woke my son and told him to watch for my car in the parking lot and meet me with a couple of buddies to carry "stuff." Did not explain further and admonished him not to forget.
Visited my friend (printshop instructor) as soon as I got to school and explained the banner I wanted and why. He would do the setup for me but couldn't print it....that was okay by me because I was leaving our school on time and could take the disk to a local (in my town) print shop! Later that afternoon, I walked into the local business....could they print a banner for me....well yes they could but if I wanted it today, they didn't have time to do set up.....no problem as I handed the owner the disk with the set up! He checked the disk format and yes....the print time in color would be 45 minutes. Think he was shocked for two reasons.....I handed him the set up already formatted and .....I did not blink at the price. We shook hands and I left to complete my devious plan. I had an extra Igloo cooler at home.....normal picnic size. Went to the grocery store and filled it with water, Gatorade, and ice. Then I filled the smaller cooler with the usual assorted fruit, my serving tongs and paper cups (so each kid could get what he wanted). Devious payback was almost complete....as I returned to the print shop to pick up the banner.
I pulled into the parking lot at the meet (in a nearby town) and several boys came running. First cooler , second cooler , tent bag from the trunk, banner bag and as I reached for my chair in a bag, that bag was grabbed by another young man. I handed him the rubber mallet. To his puzzled look, I simply smiled and said....."You will need it. Go set up your camp site!" My son looked at me, "Is that long bag what I think it is?" I nodded my head. To his teammates he simply said, "This is going to be fun." They flew back to their corner of the field. By the time I got there, their tent was being raised close but not too close to the girls' team and they were busy figuring out how to attach their banner which loudly proclaimed that this tent belonged to their school's MEN'S TRACK TEAM! They pounded the metal stakes into the ground, entered the tent (no spikes allowed), unzipped the screened windows and moved their gear bags into THEIR tent along with the two coolers. My chair was parked under the sun visor (guarding their space).
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