These are the same people who asked me, all year, in 1981, how it felt to "Be a teenager."

"What are you doing with your summer?"

I used to hate this question, when I was in junior high. I was asked it by every relative, and every friend of my parents. What it really meant was, "Since you're not old enough to drive and not old enough to have a job, what are you doing this summer besides sitting on your butt watching tv, messing up the house, and generally being a burden to your parents?"

I understand. If you're an adult with a job, it's hard to figure out what a kids with no "job" and supposedly no responsibility actually do all day.

What I was actually doing was working for my parents. It was a farm, so that was just the way it was, and what we did. I cooked lunch every day. I cleaned the house and did the laundry. I mowed the lawn. I drove a truck around when dad told me to. You know--farm stuff. Household stuff.

I did a lot of the stuff my mom would have done, had she been home and not working at the library. There's a saying: "Behind every successful farmer is a wife who has a job in town."

I also read a lot of books, rode my bike a lot, and hung out with my friends when I could get a ride. I tagged along to a lot of drive-in movies because my sister could drive. She let me, because I generally kept my mouth shut about what I may or may not have seen her do.

I hated that question--particularly how it was phrased. They could have said, "What have you done so far this summer?" which is an entirely different question. They could have said, "What are you looking forward to doing this summer?" But no, it was "What are you doing with your summer?" They wanted to know my PLAN. As if I had one. So I'd tell them:

"I've decided to take up the hobby of wearing exotic animals as hats."

"Oh." They'd look at me strangely. Then they'd leave me alone. So I had that going for me, which was nice.