From time-to-time I will publish photo essays, or my poetry, and of my life on this curios planet, Earth. Time on Terra is precious and it is a mark of dignity to record it as much as possible for others to read, or in this case see and read.
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Amy (not her real name), 1974. I gave her a COVID mask to bring her up to date.
I was called before the dean of men for sexual misbehavior; a report came from an office worker that I was having sex with a young lady coed, and we got caught. We were both nervous as she was called before the dean of women. It was a one night stand, and neither of us were serious about it. I was invited to her apartment off campus, and I wheeled my way to the address on my bicycle. We played around, but in the words of Bill Clinton, "I didn't have sex with that woman," we did everything but intercourse, and she invited me to sleep over with her. Therein was the mistake. The apartment was part of a house that was duplexed by an office worker to house students, and the office worker and her husband were just six inches away through the wall from us, and we were noisy. The next day we were called into the office and told to report to our respective deans for a "talk." Holy shit! I thought, I'm getting kicked out of a Christian College for having sex, I thought to myself that's not going to go over well at home, not at all. I knew of one other case of students being kicked out of our college, and no doubt more I didn't hear about, but it is ripe for gossip on a small campus. The other case was of two male students who went streaking on the University of Oregon's campus. They were in their all and all and streaking down the stairs of the U of O's administration building when they literally ran into one of our professors. Both were expelled and one returned a year later to finish his education, but we all had admiration for him, and I was about to join his ranks of banishment, I thought. There was another problem. I was seeing another gal. The other relationship was not sexual, just friends, but evidently she read more into it than I did.
In the dean's office I sat down waiting for the hammer to fall. Everything was closing in around me. I thought, oh no, here it comes. His words were stern, and then he asked, "Did you have intercourse with this woman?"
I reply, "No, but I'm not saying we didn't play around."
He said, "Good, because if you had, my answer would be different than what I'm going to say. I'm not going to recommend any punishment; just be careful. These things happen all the time when you mix males and females." I was dismissed. I met the coed outside, and neither of us were punished. She and I were mortified, though. We had one date and took it too far. I would have more girlfriends but no playing around until I put a ring on a woman's finger, or so I pledged to myself.
The mother of Amy, the other woman I was dating, heard about it, and she paid me a visit. I thought, I'm going to be murdered. Christians murder just as much as others do, she's going to kill me. Amy and I saw a lot of each other, did things together, and she invited me over to meet her parents. I should've known she was thinking about the friendship stage, but I never made any overtures of any type, and there wasn't more than two people acting like friends. Now, I had to face the music twice, and in one day. Amy's mom took me for a ride...I know that sounds ominous. We talked for a while; she breached the subject of getting caught. It seems she was friends with the woman who reported me. We talked about it for a few minutes as she drove around town, and I say to her, "Your daughter, and I didn't have that kind of relationship. We are not sexually involved."
