When I was growing up, my mom was really quite strict.
It’s funny to think of now, because she has become extremely cool in her older age.
However, back then we weren’t allowed to do much of anything. Of course, we had curfews, expectations for our grades, and weekly chores that we had to perform without receiving anything in return. We had to work regular jobs by the age of 15, we were responsible for ourselves and our belongings, and we were absolutely not allowed to partake in anything risky. My mom was obsessed with keeping us from drinking and smoking, which only made us do it more. Generally, I got away with both activities. But there was one time that I was caught smoking red-handed. We’re at my uncle’s house and I snuck away to the spare room for a quick smoke. I didn’t realize, in his house the HVAC system was set up differently than our central heating, cooling, and ventilation was at home. While we had one central air return for the entire house located centrally near the thermostat, my uncle had to separate air returns located in every room. The air handling return was generally on the opposite wall from the air vents, so that there was a steady flow of air in and out of the room when his heating or cooling system ran. Having no idea that there was an air return, I lit up and enjoyed my smoke. About 10 seconds later, my mom came running into the room and caught me sitting in the window, with one air vent blocked and the other wide open. At least we can joke about my lack of HVAC knowledge and disobedience now that I’m an adult.