Sunday, February 23, 2020
There is a scene in the movie Freaky Friday with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan in which Jaimie Lee Curtis tells Lindsay, “Make good choices.” I repeat that phrase frequently to my older daughter and expect to say it many times to my seven-year-old as she grows into a teenager. I try to make good choices in my life, and I think I have done a pretty good job -- with one notable exception.
There is a time and a place for every action and occasionally we make bad choices. After I graduated high school and moved to Omaha, Nebraska, I loved to wear crazy clothes to the mall and watch people watch me. My mall clothes were always reasonably modest. I had some friends who went to a neighboring town about 20 miles away one day and told me they drove there topless. I would never have ridden in a car down a public street topless. A public highway is not the place for nudity.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s thong bikinis were the rage and I conveniently had a nice derriere. When I went to Cancun, Mexico with my significant other in 1989, I wore a thong bikini to the beach and never thought twice about it. I did discover a healthy fear of the ocean and learned I am not a beach lover on that trip, but I never felt wearing a thong bikini was inappropriate.
A year or two later I wore a thong fringe bikini to Water World in a suburb of Denver. I had some strings hanging down onto my bootie and decided that made it “family friendly”. I now think wearing that bikini to Water World was a bad choice. It was the time, I had a great butt; however, it was probably not the place. I was early 20-something and most likely decided to wear that bikini to watch people watch me, which I did a lot of that day.
Older Susanne would tell Younger Susanne, “It is awesome you feel so comfortable in your body you do not concern yourself with what others think, but if you are the only person at Water World wearing a thong bikini, cover up your butt cheeks. It is not fair for you to push your morality on others.” Older Susanne has a little more respect for the fact that some parents would rather their children not see my full moon.
I cannot remember if the Water World trip was before or after I walked out of a birthday party. I believe it was before. I was at a birthday party for a neighborhood friend of my significant other’s family and someone arranged a stripper for the birthday boy. I am not morally opposed to strippers; I was morally opposed to children at a party with a stripper and took my child and left. I am pretty sure the stripper was not where the children were, but I did not feel comfortable. Remembering my reaction at that party is why I regret my choice at Water World (yes, I might die with one regret). My bare buttocks might be considered the equivalent of my friends’ bare boobs to others.
I would absolutely bare my breast to breastfeed in public if necessary. I do not think I did public breastfeeding much and it was easy to be discreet when I did. I was in a restroom at an event the summer before I was paralyzed, breastfeeding my older daughter when a woman asked me if she could bring in her children and explain breastfeeding to them.
I agreed and she brought in a girl approximately eight and a boy approximately six. She told them breastfeeding was the way she fed them, and it was the best option to feed a baby. I agree completely; unfortunately, I was only able to successfully breastfeed one out of three children
My piece of advice to you is to be considerate of others. Your right to express yourself does not supersede my right to drive down the highway without seeing you naked. There is a time and a place.
Until next time,
Susanne
Please check out my GoFundMe page.
There is a scene in the movie Freaky Friday with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan in which Jaimie Lee Curtis tells Lindsay, “Make good choices.” I repeat that phrase frequently to my older daughter and expect to say it many times to my seven-year-old as she grows into a teenager. I try to make good choices in my life, and I think I have done a pretty good job -- with one notable exception.
There is a time and a place for every action and occasionally we make bad choices. After I graduated high school and moved to Omaha, Nebraska, I loved to wear crazy clothes to the mall and watch people watch me. My mall clothes were always reasonably modest. I had some friends who went to a neighboring town about 20 miles away one day and told me they drove there topless. I would never have ridden in a car down a public street topless. A public highway is not the place for nudity.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s thong bikinis were the rage and I conveniently had a nice derriere. When I went to Cancun, Mexico with my significant other in 1989, I wore a thong bikini to the beach and never thought twice about it. I did discover a healthy fear of the ocean and learned I am not a beach lover on that trip, but I never felt wearing a thong bikini was inappropriate.
A year or two later I wore a thong fringe bikini to Water World in a suburb of Denver. I had some strings hanging down onto my bootie and decided that made it “family friendly”. I now think wearing that bikini to Water World was a bad choice. It was the time, I had a great butt; however, it was probably not the place. I was early 20-something and most likely decided to wear that bikini to watch people watch me, which I did a lot of that day.
Older Susanne would tell Younger Susanne, “It is awesome you feel so comfortable in your body you do not concern yourself with what others think, but if you are the only person at Water World wearing a thong bikini, cover up your butt cheeks. It is not fair for you to push your morality on others.” Older Susanne has a little more respect for the fact that some parents would rather their children not see my full moon.
I cannot remember if the Water World trip was before or after I walked out of a birthday party. I believe it was before. I was at a birthday party for a neighborhood friend of my significant other’s family and someone arranged a stripper for the birthday boy. I am not morally opposed to strippers; I was morally opposed to children at a party with a stripper and took my child and left. I am pretty sure the stripper was not where the children were, but I did not feel comfortable. Remembering my reaction at that party is why I regret my choice at Water World (yes, I might die with one regret). My bare buttocks might be considered the equivalent of my friends’ bare boobs to others.
I would absolutely bare my breast to breastfeed in public if necessary. I do not think I did public breastfeeding much and it was easy to be discreet when I did. I was in a restroom at an event the summer before I was paralyzed, breastfeeding my older daughter when a woman asked me if she could bring in her children and explain breastfeeding to them.
I agreed and she brought in a girl approximately eight and a boy approximately six. She told them breastfeeding was the way she fed them, and it was the best option to feed a baby. I agree completely; unfortunately, I was only able to successfully breastfeed one out of three children
My piece of advice to you is to be considerate of others. Your right to express yourself does not supersede my right to drive down the highway without seeing you naked. There is a time and a place.
Until next time,
Susanne
Please check out my GoFundMe page.