Back When I Was Young...

Something I’ve thought about recently. Back in grade 6, my family went on a cruise in the Caribbean. Being 11 years old at the time, I spent a lot of time involved in the “Camp Carnival” activities. These activities took place all over the ship, doing all manner of things. Often we’d all branch off to do some sort of search/scavenger hunt, scouring the boat. At the time, I never thought anything of any of it. Now that 7 years have passed and I recall that week at sea, I’m kind of surprised I was ever allowed to do what I did.

Here I was, 11 1/2 years old. In a foreign “country”, having never traveled before, wandering around a giant boat that has 14 floors (whoops, their called ‘decks’ on a sea-faring vessel such as a cruise ship). There are some 3-4 thousand people from all over the world on it. We’re meeting in locations all over the ship, with nothing to get there but a small color-coded map. Add to this the fact that I’m responsible for the supervision of my two younger siblings. Plus, it is after all a ship. There are wide-open decks and a lot of open air between the deck up top and the deep ocean below.

With all this going, I’m not quite sure why my parents allowed me to run around as freely as I did. Maybe it’s partly because this was still 7 months before the West knew what terror was. With all the unfamiliarity, and being only 11, I probably had no business being left to myself that long. I mean, my brother is about to turn 14. There is no way in heck I would allow him to run around freely on the ship, nor expect him to figure out where everything is and be able to get there from any given location.

Still, when I look back, I know that for myself, there was no problem whatsoever with me wandering around alone. I was fully capable of finding every room and knowing how to get there. Good grief, I knew the entire ship after only the third day on board! Maybe that was the adventurous/explorer side of me. Maybe it was the independence/responsibility that comes from being the oldest child. Maybe I was too carefree for my own good, and it didn’t come back to bite me. Or maybe I’m wrong about my brother. Who knows? All I know is, had I been the parent on the trip, I doubt I would have allowed so much freedom at such a young age.

-Bernier