I've Been Tagged My Own Friggin Twin!

The only "tag" I know about is the game from back in the day when you got chased by the person who was "it." The object was to run to "base" and not get caught, or you would be "it." Aw. My childhood was so much fun. Yall remember "Red Light, Green Light," "Mother May I," "The Devil and the Pie," "Freeze Tag," or my favorite, "What Time is it Old Lady Witch?" Remember "Freaky Fridays?" Aw. I wanna be a kid again!

Anyway, thanks to Royces Daughter, I've been tagged. That means I have to tell 6 things about myself that I've never told anybody else. Well, some people already know these things, but most of you don't. I guess it still counts. *shrug*

***Disclaimer: I now know Jesus.***

1. When I was in college, I used to shoplift from the Wal-Mart. (OK, now I'm nervous. I can't believe I'm doing this. I can't stand my twin right now. Make me sick!) A friend of mine and I used to catch the bus (don't laugh) up to the shopping center and steal like our lives depended on it. I mean, we were up there every weekend, and sometimes during the week. People, we used to skip class to go steal. (Lord, I thank you for forgiveness.) Half of my CD collection is HOT - CDs were the main thing I stole. (I said main thing, not the only thing.) One summer, I had a rack of family and friends graduating from various schools. Every single graduation gift I gave was stolen. I even stole the wrapping paper to wrap them hot gifts! I "gave" cordless phones, packs of computer disks, CDs, alarm clocks, linen.

Anywho, one particular Saturday, we're doing our thing, and long story short, we got caught, handcuffed and arrested. *sigh* Yeah, I did a 24-hour bid down at the local jail. And I only stayed over night because I refused to call my parents. I would have rather stayed in jail than call Lawrence and Maria. It was a Saturday night, too, and they were home in the bed getting ready for church the next day? No suh, I'll stay right here, officer! I ended up calling a good girlfriend of mine, she wired the bondsman the money for me, and I got out. Commnity service served, record expunged, thank God for His grace and mercy.

FYI: I went to Frostburg State University, and it was a small town. (It was also straight out of the 60s, which is why I'm the militant person I am today, but that's another blog.) Our arrest made the friggin local paper, yall. It was so embarrassing. I had teachers pulling me aside in class trying to counsel me. The thing I regret most is the shame it brought to my parents. I didn't want those YT professors thinking my parents were bums, or I came from a dysfunctional home or anything like that. My YT teachers came to the court with me, had written glowing character letters on my behalf and I resented all of it. (That's another blog too.) I'll never bring this kind or any other kind of shame on my parents ever again. My mother almost fainted in the courtroom. It was a big shameful mess. *sigh* Oh, Leslie, what are we gonna do with you!?!

2. Number one was kind of deep for me, so I'm going to let that count as 2 things. Deal with it! So number 2 is I was arrested once. I don't like telling that because you know what people say about a thief - once a thief, always a thief. Well, that's not always true. But I ain't gon argue the point. Remember my friend who got caught with me? Well, she called one of her older brothers and he bailed her out. That summer after we graduated, I went to her graduation cookout at her parents' house, and it was the first time I had met her brothers. Why when I came through the door, they all started shouting, "Hide the silver! Put up the good china!" We can laugh about it now, but it wasn't funny when it was going on.

3. I met my fiance on Black Planet. (I need to get to a happy one after all of that.) Not to bore you with all the details, but I met him in August of 2003; he took me home to meet his momma in December of the same year; he proposed on his birthday on December 20, 2005. We are getting married on October 7th of this year. To say I'm in love is an understatement. I'm blessed to have this chocolate man in my life. He is the real deal. He isn't some cheap imitation of a man - he is the epitome of a man. He is quality, and I'm glad I held out for him. I could have settled for much less so many times. I can't wait to be his wife!

4. I kinda/sorta had a one-night stand too. I was on a cruise and slept with one of the musicians. (HaHa @ me acting like a groupie - he was the lead singer, though, LOL) I got on that ship HOT as I don't know what. I'd be lying if I said I didn't mean for it to happen. I plotted that. Prior to that encounter, I had been celibate for 3 years. I was some kind of guilty after I went home. The Holy Spirit whipped me something terrible, as He should have. Again, I thank God for His mercy and grace. It took me a long time to forgive myself, too. (I just have a thing with whoredom. I pride myself on not being one.)

5. When I was in college, I had a small run-in with a white professor. This is something else I'm ashamed of because I cried afterwards (and I'll get to that in a moment). Like I said, the university I went to was in a small, backwards town, and the school was predominantly white. I was in this upper level psychology class, "Psychology of the Personality," and was the only black person in the class. (That wasn't uncommon.) One day, the white, Papa-Smurf-looking professor came in, like he always did, and started lecturing. Normally, there would be a lot of dialogue about the assigned case study, but this particular class, nobody was saying much. He stopped and asked, "Did anybody read the case study?" Nobody said anything, so he started asking students one by one if they had read the assignment. "Did you read the case study?" Every student's answer was "no." I was sitting somewhere in the middle of the class, and when he got to me, he asked, "Did you read the case study?"

"No."

"Why not?"

I'm thinking, here we go. He didn't ask anybody else why not. Why I got to get grilled?! *sigh*
"Because I didn't."

"Well, I thought if anybody had read it, it would have been you. After all, the case was about a black person." (Of course, he put that emphasis on black. You know how they say it when they're really racist, right?)

So I said, "I don't care if it was about my mother, I didn't read it. Move on to the next person!"

"I need to talk to you after class."

Long story short, he threatened to write me up and go to the Dean for being rude and disrupting his class? Huh? Low point: I apologized to him, and then went home and cried. And I mean I boo-hooed. My feelings were hurt. I was mad that I apologized. Mad that I was crying about it. That thing shook me, and I pray daily for the Lord to remove this hate I harbor in my heart towards white people. Because I can say with no uncertainty that I hate them. And that's not Christian. And I do want to work on it. Sincerely. Yall pray for a sista.

Hmm. Let's see... This is an emotional little assignment! LOL

6. Before I started having sex, I used to have HIV tests taken. (Hold on. That's not to imply I don't take them regularly now! LOL I do.) My GYN thought I was crazy. She would ask me every exam, have you become sexually active since our last visit? "No." But I was terrified (still am) of any STD, and I was like I don't care what doctors, studies, books say about these diseases - how do I know I can't get something squatting over a toilet seat or something? How do I know I can't breathe in a virus? Test me, doc! *cracking up* I know it was dumb, but the thought so scared me that I didn't care. *sigh* There's this dancehall/ reggae song whose chorus says, "I love sex, but I don't want no STD." This is my mantra! LOL

*deep breath* OK, can I go now?