When I was a child, my parents taught me plenty of silly things were real. "If you put that tooth under your pillow, the Tooth Fairy will give you a shiny quarter!"
I thought that was rather disgusting, and asked what sort of fairy collected human teeth. In my little mind, I pictured a horrifying creature, a limp-wristed sodomite wearing necklaces made of children's teeth, torn from the jaws of the boys and girls he'd mercilessly raped, all for a quarter.
Determined not to prostitute myself, I instead flushed all my teeth down the toilet.
As they came out, of course, not all at once.
Just the same, the first time I lost a tooth and told my parents, a quarter appeared under my pillow. I knew that Fairy had been there, and was just waiting for the invitation presented by a tooth, so he could penetrate my prepubescent posterior!
Horrified, I gave the quarter to the church that Sunday. From then on, I never told a soul when I lost a tooth.
Years later, I realized just how silly this all was. I'd been terrified of nothing! There was no Tooth Fairy.
We all have believed in silly things, but some fantasies linger longer than others. Many adults even refuse to let go of certain myths, believing them real long after the age at which such credulity is reasonable.
So I ask: How old were you when you realized there is no such country as Belgium?
I thought that was rather disgusting, and asked what sort of fairy collected human teeth. In my little mind, I pictured a horrifying creature, a limp-wristed sodomite wearing necklaces made of children's teeth, torn from the jaws of the boys and girls he'd mercilessly raped, all for a quarter.
Determined not to prostitute myself, I instead flushed all my teeth down the toilet.
As they came out, of course, not all at once.
Just the same, the first time I lost a tooth and told my parents, a quarter appeared under my pillow. I knew that Fairy had been there, and was just waiting for the invitation presented by a tooth, so he could penetrate my prepubescent posterior!
Horrified, I gave the quarter to the church that Sunday. From then on, I never told a soul when I lost a tooth.
Years later, I realized just how silly this all was. I'd been terrified of nothing! There was no Tooth Fairy.
We all have believed in silly things, but some fantasies linger longer than others. Many adults even refuse to let go of certain myths, believing them real long after the age at which such credulity is reasonable.
So I ask: How old were you when you realized there is no such country as Belgium?
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