Pointy sneakers

There has been a few times in my life when someone has told me something so profound that I have never forgot it. One of those times happened to me when I was very young. I wasn't even in school yet, I was that young.

My mom and me were out in the barn doing chores and out of the blue she said to me "Annie, don't you ever start a fight".


"How weird is this?" I thought to myself.

"Don't ever start a fight, but on the other hand don't let me ever hear that you backed down from one either, you are the oldest in this family, don't forget that".

Holy crap this was some really weird information my mom gave me. She was not the type who was full of insightful info at all. When she said something like that, I listened.


I didn't know it then, but my whole life that has been in the back of my little head. Anyone that knows me knows that I never back down from a fight or argument. This doesn't mean I always win, it just means I never back down.

I remember the first time it happened. I was on the bus, I was in Kindergarten. We were the little kindergarten kids, you know the new ones who everyone just seems they have to pick on. In those days, everyone sat on the bus wherever they could get a seat, now they put the younger kids in the front, I am sure the person who made that rule got beat up a lot in school.

I was sitting in the seat with my friend Gracie. We had these really cool plastic bookbags that were popular in the 70's. They were see thru plastic, ugly as hell, and big, real big when you are 5 .

I remember this older boy had to sit in the seat with us because obviously there were no other seats. After a few minutes, he decided that Gracies bookbag was in his way, so he kicked it. I told him to stop, but he kicked it again. In those days we really had pride in our school stuff, we were real proud of these ugly bags---real proud.

Again I told him to stop it. He was about a million years older than us and a lot bigger. Grace told me to be quiet "He will beat us up, Anne" just be quiet.


"Hell with that I thought this kid is being really mean I am not gonna back down."

I stood my ground.

One more kick to the bag.

"I said stop kicking that bookbag".

"whatcha gonna do little girlie?"

I sat there silent for a moment knowing full well this kid could kill me.

In those days we wore these little white pointy sneakers, they were real pointy, not like the sneakers of today, I mean these babies were killer pointy.

I stood up, kicked him in the leg with my pointy sneaker, took a deep breath and sat down.

"Anne he is gonna kill us".

"So?"

Grace jumped out of the seat and ran to get the bus driver.

The boy shoved me.

I kicked him again, and again


and again

The bus pulled over and the bus driver came back to see what in the hell was going on.

I was still kicking.

"O.k. Annie you can stop now", says the bus driver.

"get to the front of the bus, so and so , you have just lost your privilege to sit back here".

"Good" says the mean boy "that girl is crazy".

I sat in that seat all the way to school shaking, Grace just stared straight ahead. I never said a word the whole way.

After that Grace and I sat where we wanted to and none of the mean boys ever bothered us again.

The moral of this story: always wear your pointy sneakers, you never know when you might need them.