Saturday, March 4, 2017

Tunnel of My Disgrace


A few days ago, I remembered and shared with Bob, this story of my Tunnel Episode when I was 10 years old.

In 5th grade there were 3 girls and 2 boys. My teacher took us on a hike up Pine mountain, which required us to hike the railroad track, across a trestle and through the tunnel... As we returned I needed a rest area and in 1954 that word had not been invented. We walked and walked and I was to embarrassed to say in front of the boys that I had to pee really bad.

I should have said something because when we got in the tunnel, my black pants were soaked when we came out the other side.. the good news was the pants were black and it could not be seen even though the swish, swish of wet pants was very audible. the second piece of good luck was just before we got back to the 3 room school, we passed my house. I was allowed to go in and change.

Talk about embarrassed? OH MY!

In fact I have on the black pants in this pic above. When I googled to find the name of the tunnel, I found it has no name, they have removed the tracks and turned it into a hiking trail. I found the above photo of my tunnel on the internet, just imagine train tracks in it. As I remember it, it was DARK and LONG and scary.. doesn't look that way to me now. The red dot at the bottom of the map is our house, the red marker the Tunnel Of My Disgrace...we walked that trail with my parents many times. daddy taught me to shoot a rife, in the creek under the trestle. And we played in the creek that was full of boulders and giant rocks

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good Morning, Sandra. Isn't it funny that in your memory, the tunnel was so long and so dark?? That is terrible that you had to go so bad. That is a sweet photo of you. I was very shy in school, and would put off making that L O N G walk to the pencil sharpener as long as possible! I'm sure the distance was only a few feet!
Have a very nice weekend.

eileeninmd said...

Hello, I think we all had some kind of embarrassing moment when we were young. There were not many children in your 5th grade class, only 5? I have seen similar tunnels in Maryland, we have one large enough to fit one car thru the tunnel. Big trucks have to go another way. Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend!

Ann said...

That would have been a fun hike were it not for the embarrassing moment. I can imagine that even worse than being to embarrassed to say you had to go in front of the boys was the fear that they would notice what had happened and make fun. That was a lucky break that you walked right by your house and could go in and change

crafty cat corner said...

Oh my goodness, this reminded me of my eldest son who had an accident in his pants, he was about 12 and a friend took him home and loaned him some new pants and trousers to get home in. The worst part was when I unzipped his school bag to take the offending items out to wash, imagine the pong, lol Poor boy he has never forgotten it.
Briony
x

Hootin Anni said...

Heck, if I sneeze really hard even TODAY I need be reminded of DEPENDS. May have been embarrassing for you, but you can smile about it now.

I love exploring areas like this...at least for the most part.

I'd probably have accidentally on purpose fallen in the creek...nobody'd be the wiser!

Cat Lover said...

I think we all have a moment like that somewhere when we were kids! Looks like a scary tunnel!
Have a good weekend!

My Mind's Eye said...

See that was the only problem with school trips...the lack of potty breaks.
They should have see to it that everyone had an opportunity to potty before that hike. Thank goodness for your pants were black...I think I would have accidentally slipped into the creek...just to say that was why my pants were squeaking.
Hugs Cecilia

The Adventures of the LLB Gang said...

It's funny the things that stay with us from childhood...

Ginny Hartzler said...

I LOVE this! And how can anyone resist this title? I think you really got to a lot of people with this! As a child, who of us has not had something like this happen?? We just don't have enough sense yet. I had the same thing happen!!! While playing with a friend in her basement, I peed on her floor. I held it just a bit too long! I was scared of her parents, and could not bear to go upstairs alone to the bathroom. The tunnel was quite aways from your house. LOVE seeing you and your brother! I wish you would post more pictures of you growing up and as a teenager, but maybe you do not have many.

LindyLouMac said...

Oh my what a story Sandra.

Karen said...

So thankful for rest stops and public rest rooms. This happened to me once about that same age, and I didn't want to draw attention, so I peed standing up instead of squatting, drenching my anklet socks and filling my shoes!

Mevely317 said...

My heart hurts for the little girl that was you.
I've not mentioned this to a soul before, but seeing as I know no-one here ...
Around and about 5th grade I developed incontinence, that regardless how often I used the bathroom, never really went away. Decades before names like Poise or Depends became commonplace, I had more than my share of humiliation.
Now I wonder why my parents never thought to consult a doctor ... or why I, myself, just learned coping mechanisms.

Ruth Hiebert said...

How things change as we get older. What looked like a long tunnel then, isn't that anymore.I guess you do have lasting memory of that walk.

Rose said...

Still find it so neat that you grew up in my neck of the woods...when did you leave there? You have probably told me but I don't remember. I totally enjoyed this post...

diane b said...

A fun story from your past. Keep them coming. It must have been an uncomfortable day for you. Love the old photo too.

Ida said...

What a cute story from your childhood and how fun to see that photo of you at age 10. - Atleast you had black pants on. I wet my pants in 1st grade because the teacher would not let me go to the bathroom. That was embarrassing too.

Debby@Just Breathe said...

Loved your story. Thank you for sharing it.