What’s the Weirdest Thing You Thought When You Were a Kid?

[LuisWilliams]

Mandy Moore is everywhere, in every singers albums, concerts, and festivals.

There were this kind on advertisement on TV: a group singer/band new compilation album and a concert/festival featuring several artists and musicians advertisement. The ads narrator begin with listing all artists and musicians featured and at the end of the sentence he always say, …..and Mandy Moore.

Well actually he said ….and many more. I spent the whole of my childhood thinking that Mandy Moore is a very great multi talented artist, featured in every albums, concerts, festivals, and many more.

You can get pregnant by sleeping together (side by side, literally) with a man.

Back then in the 90’s, watching TV was a family-time activity in Indonesia. There were not so many channels and programs offered. Every evening (from 7 - 9 pm) we always watch sinetron (soap opera), a typical Indonesian very long series, mostly hundreds episodes. Sinetron supposed to be for adults, but there were no other options for me as a kid, so I watched it anyway.

There was always this kind of scene:

a woman get a man really drunk, then put him in her bed fully dressed, then she also sleep beside him fully dressed, cover their body with a blanket, and take a picture. The next day the man wake up still fully dressed realizing something went wrong. The woman start blackmailing the man threatening to broadcast the photo of them sleeping together to his colleagues and family unless the man willing to be her boyfriend. The man agree to be her boyfriend, but still having another girlfriend (his real girlfriend). Then the very next day the woman got pregnant, the man should marry him immediately.

So at that time I (6 or 7 years old me) conclude that every girl can get pregnant by sleeping beside a man or a boy. I was really scared with this reality, and it makes me really cautious when I sleep over my friend’s or camping together with my boy and girl friends. I always make sure none of my girl friends will sleep beside boy friends.

This conclusion still continue until I accidentally watch a porn video when I was 22 years old! What a shame! Somehow I studied biology but still thinking the same. Because my teacher never really describe clearly what really happens in human reproduction process. Talking about sex is taboo in Indonesia. I thought sperms behave like worms and they will walk on your bed and somehow going inside a woman’s body and get her pregnant. I was so stupid.

You can just go to salon to lengthen your hair.

When I was a kid I had very curly hair and every morning my finger will stuck on it, so my Mom always cut my hair keep it short. I never have a long hair. Watched many Disney Princess movies, I wanted long hair. Every Sunday I would cry to my Mom to take me to the salon to get my hair long, instantly. She just laugh, without words. Later I knew that you can not get your hair long instantly, just wait till it grows longer.

Well maybe I was talking about the future hair extension technology. It’s definitely possible now.