I Never Touched The Hot Stove

I am twenty-one years old, and I feel like I missed out on those teenage years where I was supposed to do stupid things like sneak out of my house and make out with people and be a stupid teenager. I have always learned my lessons easily- like too easily. I learned not to touch the hot stove as a child not through experience, but because my parents told me not to, and I listened. I didn't date in middle and high-school because I knew it was stupid, it wasn't like any of these people were the love of my life, so what was the point. I learned from my friend's mistakes, my parent's stories, and the general lessons society teaches. So I really never made mistakes, and I really don't have any good stories of the stupid things I did. I din't even really have my first kiss until I was in college, and it was with my first (and only) girlfriend, who I was with for two years after that. And now that I am an adult, and have responsibilities and supposedly have all of that out of my system, now I feel like the only thing I want to do is make mistakes.

In contrast, my roommate was always one of those people who had to learn from her own mistakes. I tell her she is one of those people who has to touch the hot stove to learn. So is one of my best friends, and I envy them both to no end. My roommate was telling me a story tonight about her getting caught with her shirt off, making out with an old boyfriend on a bike path when she was 16, and she says to me "what? I was 16, we all did stupid stuff like that. You must have stories like that!" And I had to say 'no' because I really just never did. I was a straight A student who had a small circle of friends, and my mom was my best friend. I was always very grown-up for my age when I was a kid, so I didn't get along very well with kids my own age, so I guess there was no influence for me to do stupid things, which I was proud of when I was younger, but now I am disappointed I missed out on. I know I am too old to act that way now, all of my friends got their crazyness out of their systems freshman year, but I was still a goody-two-shoes then, and I just really hate that I missed out!