One day a few weeks back, I was working a shift at the ECE with a high school girl we'll just call "Christy" (cause that's her name). I think she's 16. Tiny, adorable little Asian girl - although not the sharpest tool in the shed. She was filling me in on high school antics in the 21st century, and I was apalled at how freaking naive I have become. Here are some snippets from our conversation:

"Yeah well, I have like mid-terms or something but like, I didn't really know any of the stuff or anything. So I got a couple Adderall from this guy -"
"Wait, isn't that ADHD medicine?"
"Yeah"
"Are you ADHD?"
"No, but everyone takes it. People just bring in their pills and sell them."
"What?! Did it work for you?"
"Eh - I dunno. I could concentrate better, but I still didn't know any of the answers."

Then there was the time she asked:

"So you're a teacher? Does it bother you to know that your kids talk about you?"
"Huh? Why would the kids talk about me? What would they say? I don't think they talk about me."
"Of course they do. Didn't you talk about your teachers?"

That made me paranoid for a few days. I'd hear kids whispering about something (anything) and I'd feel a surge of guilt. As if they knew what I had done the night before or something. I was a little skittish and weird, but it eventually passed.

Come to think of it, not only did I talk about my teachers, when I was in middle school, my friend Danielle and I actually used to write short stories about them and their secret lives outside of school. I must say they were pretty creative for 13-year olds - funny as hell - and mostly revolving around my teachers' habits of sexual deviance. I really hadn't thought about any of those stories in years, and CERTAINLY never considered the possibilty of my being anyone's main character.

Then again, kids these days have a whole lot more to keep them occupied -- internet, PSPs, iPods. We never had any of that stuff so we had to amuse ourselves any way we could. Things are different now. My kids are a lot more mature than I was.

So no, I'm not worried. Much.