I was almost 12 years old. It was summer vacation from school. That morning, Nixon resigning was all anybody could talk about. We went to a lake that day to go swimming. I remember swimming in the lake that day and wondering about what Nixon was going through. I figured it must have been a very tough day for him. Didn't know much about Gerald Ford. Nor much about Watergate though that's all I ever heard on the news that year. My mother told me it was an apartment building so I'm thinking all this fuss over an apartment building. What a weird world.
It was one of those hot, hazy days of mid-summer. School was only a month away but it seemed like a long, long time in the future. Our car had those vinyl seats so I had to put a towel down on the seat so my legs wouldn't get burned. I was wearing a wet bathing suit. Very uncomfortable to wear a wet bathing suit on a long car drive. On the way back, we stopped at a Dunkin Donuts and I got a jelly donut. I didn't drink coffee in those days (but I would later).
We get back to the house, get changed, and went over to hang out at my friend's house across the street. His mother took us shopping to some department store. I did not like shopping then and I do not like shopping now. But back in those days, you went where your friend's mother took you and you didn't complain.
The department store had a section where they sold TVs and you had this whole bank of TVs showing Nixon getting on the helicopter, flashing his "V" sign, and climbing aboard. It was a sad scene. I liked Nixon and in my fourth grade class, I was one of the only students who voted for him in the mock election. Most of my classmates voted for McGovern but they couldn't explain why. (They still can't today.)
So in the checkout line, you have my friend, and my friend's mother ahead of me. I saw in front of me all those shiny candy bars and packs of gum. For some reason that I cannot do this day explain, I reached out and grabbed a large multi-pack of Wrigley's gum and shoved it into my pocket. I was horrified. Yet now there was no turning back as another shopper got in line behind me. To take out the gum now would be to expose myself as a thief.
So I broke into a sweat and as we left the department store, I expected alarms to start ringing and the police to swarm around me and slap me in handcuffs. How would I ever explain this?
We drove back home in silence, as the radio was on talking about the president resigning. I was so sick of hearing about it. Fortunately my friend's mother changed stations and "Annie's Song" by John Denver was playing. One of my favorite songs from that summer. But for now on, whenever I hear "Annie's Song", I think of Richard Nixon and about the stolen package of Wrigley's gum.
I enjoyed reading that. Thanks.