There have been times where my parents, um, would not let me hang out with certain friends. I think it was like when I was in maybe 10th grade or 9th grade, and everybody was having boyfriends, and it was all the — it was cool to be dating, right? And my parents didn’t want me to date anybody. And I come from a pretty conservative culture, so, um, it was like the norm not to have a boyfriend.
So, two of my best friends had boyfriends, and they were like texting them, you know, um, on the down-low, kinda like keeping it a secret from their parents. But then it kind of got exposed, they got caught, and my parents got to know and my parents called their parents. And like, it was a whole mess between the parents. But then my two friends, even though we were pretty young, they — I mean, they were annoyed understandably, but they were also kind of understanding that this was not me that was like, calling up their parents, but it was my parents.
And I think them being able to make that distinction really helped me a lot at the time. Of course like, they didn’t talk to me for, for like a good two weeks or so after that incident. And it was not just one isolated incident, too. It was like multiple incidents where my parents were being like super overbearing and calling them up and like trying to record our conversations, like my conversations with my friends. Trying to like, intimidate them. I dunno. I really don’t know what the purpose of that was. ‘Cause either way, I had a boyfriend, and I think I was like, driven to do that even more ’cause my parents, like, put their best effort for me not to have a boyfriend. It was ridiculous, actually. But I guess it’s like — it’s a good experience, um, so that I know what to do and what not to do with my own kids if I ever have any.