Dr No-NamePlaying Doctor
I'm not so sure how good your memory is. Mine? Well, let's just say it's becoming more and more like a silent movie as time slips frightfully fast down the drain. Recent things are not so blurry. Like, I do remember having some Greek yogurt for breakfast today. Memories from the distant past, however, sort of come in flashes. No, not hot flashes, more like the flash from those little cubes of exploding light that you used to stick on the top of your Instamatic camera. Hmm, not sure why or how I even remembered that little piece of photographic history. See, flashes. Poof ... it's there.
So, the other day in one of those flash moments, I was thinking about this or that, when suddenly I remembered how I used to play "Doctor" with the little girl from down the street. Oh, I'm afraid she will have to remain nameless, not because I want to protect her virtue and dignity, but because her name simply wasn't a part of the flash. I could make up a name, if you like, but that somehow seems dishonest or a misrepresentation at best. So, no name, just a sort of generic girl.
What struck me as odd in those little escapades of playing "Doctor" is the somewhat innocent foreplay of two little kids sharing their most intimate parts with the other. I'd show the no-name girl my "dinky" when she was the doctor, and she'd show me her missing "dinky" when I graduated from patient to M.D.
From what I remember, that was the entire game, a case of you-show-me and I'll-show-you. Nothing more, nobody won, and there were no prizes at the end of the game. Just a silly case of kindergarten curiosity, I guess.
Still, I can't help but wonder if the game of "Doctor" wasn't some kind of learning experience that foreshadowed something to come in the future. When I asked the little no-name girl if she wanted to sneak into the garage and play "Doctor," was I unwittingly engaging in some weird kind of rite of passage, some kind of weird sex trade-off that would unwittingly enhance or forever damage my future sexual life?
I'm not sure.
I mean, I am pretty sure that a young man should know that, when he "comes of age" and falls for the sultry innuendo of a beautiful young "thang" at Billy McPhee's house party, he should know that when he slips into one of the upstairs bedrooms there's not supposed to be some kind of "thing" dangling down between that "thang's" legs. Trust me. No amount of smooth talking can make that situation right. So, you see, medical practice has its rewards. That childhood experience of playing "Doctor" with some no-name girl might just save a young man from an irreversible trauma and a sore anus.
Now that the memory is fresh in my mind, I must confess that one thing is certain. Playing "Doctor" was clearly taboo. If I went home and told my parents that the no-name girl has a nifty little pocket but no "dinky," I was in for a whooping. Old-style parents were like that. Anything sexual was treated like sour buttermilk. You drank it at your own risk, and when your stomach flipped over, you quickly became aware of the consequences of your actions.
These days, I suspect that the game of "Doctor" has pretty much disappeared. The difference between young boys and young no-name girls is pretty evident from the get-go, simply because modern parents seem to have no inhibitions regarding letting their children run around nude. Visiting friends with wee ones? You shouldn't be surprised if little Timmy or little no-name girl comes streaking out from the bath, unashamedly dangles the family jewels or the family safe right in front of you, and moons you to boot.
No, the world of covert medical practices by the trunk of a '57 Buick has clearly changed. Today, it's clear that the secret life of my childhood has evolved into some kind of hippie dippy policy of "letting it all hang out," followed by an anvil chorus of, "Oh, aren't they just too cute?"
Cute? Sure, very cute, I guess. To be honest, I tend to make sure that I'm looking at the 50" flat screen TV, even if it's blank black, instead of gawking at someone else's naked kids.
Don't get me wrong. I am not opposed to nudity, but you must admit that there's a huge difference between the somewhat innocuous "check-up" that I undertook in the childhood game of "Doctor" and "checking-out" someone's naked children. The former opened the door to understanding the difference between boys and girls; the latter could very well put me in prison and slam the door shut on the rest of my life.
I'm not so sure how good your memory is. Mine? Well, let's just say it's becoming more and more like a silent movie as time slips frightfully fast down the drain. Recent things are not so blurry. Like, I do remember having some Greek yogurt for breakfast today. Memories from the distant past, however, sort of come in flashes. No, not hot flashes, more like the flash from those little cubes of exploding light that you used to stick on the top of your Instamatic camera. Hmm, not sure why or how I even remembered that little piece of photographic history. See, flashes. Poof ... it's there.
So, the other day in one of those flash moments, I was thinking about this or that, when suddenly I remembered how I used to play "Doctor" with the little girl from down the street. Oh, I'm afraid she will have to remain nameless, not because I want to protect her virtue and dignity, but because her name simply wasn't a part of the flash. I could make up a name, if you like, but that somehow seems dishonest or a misrepresentation at best. So, no name, just a sort of generic girl.
What struck me as odd in those little escapades of playing "Doctor" is the somewhat innocent foreplay of two little kids sharing their most intimate parts with the other. I'd show the no-name girl my "dinky" when she was the doctor, and she'd show me her missing "dinky" when I graduated from patient to M.D.
From what I remember, that was the entire game, a case of you-show-me and I'll-show-you. Nothing more, nobody won, and there were no prizes at the end of the game. Just a silly case of kindergarten curiosity, I guess.
Still, I can't help but wonder if the game of "Doctor" wasn't some kind of learning experience that foreshadowed something to come in the future. When I asked the little no-name girl if she wanted to sneak into the garage and play "Doctor," was I unwittingly engaging in some weird kind of rite of passage, some kind of weird sex trade-off that would unwittingly enhance or forever damage my future sexual life?
I'm not sure.
I mean, I am pretty sure that a young man should know that, when he "comes of age" and falls for the sultry innuendo of a beautiful young "thang" at Billy McPhee's house party, he should know that when he slips into one of the upstairs bedrooms there's not supposed to be some kind of "thing" dangling down between that "thang's" legs. Trust me. No amount of smooth talking can make that situation right. So, you see, medical practice has its rewards. That childhood experience of playing "Doctor" with some no-name girl might just save a young man from an irreversible trauma and a sore anus.
Now that the memory is fresh in my mind, I must confess that one thing is certain. Playing "Doctor" was clearly taboo. If I went home and told my parents that the no-name girl has a nifty little pocket but no "dinky," I was in for a whooping. Old-style parents were like that. Anything sexual was treated like sour buttermilk. You drank it at your own risk, and when your stomach flipped over, you quickly became aware of the consequences of your actions.
These days, I suspect that the game of "Doctor" has pretty much disappeared. The difference between young boys and young no-name girls is pretty evident from the get-go, simply because modern parents seem to have no inhibitions regarding letting their children run around nude. Visiting friends with wee ones? You shouldn't be surprised if little Timmy or little no-name girl comes streaking out from the bath, unashamedly dangles the family jewels or the family safe right in front of you, and moons you to boot.
No, the world of covert medical practices by the trunk of a '57 Buick has clearly changed. Today, it's clear that the secret life of my childhood has evolved into some kind of hippie dippy policy of "letting it all hang out," followed by an anvil chorus of, "Oh, aren't they just too cute?"
Cute? Sure, very cute, I guess. To be honest, I tend to make sure that I'm looking at the 50" flat screen TV, even if it's blank black, instead of gawking at someone else's naked kids.
Don't get me wrong. I am not opposed to nudity, but you must admit that there's a huge difference between the somewhat innocuous "check-up" that I undertook in the childhood game of "Doctor" and "checking-out" someone's naked children. The former opened the door to understanding the difference between boys and girls; the latter could very well put me in prison and slam the door shut on the rest of my life.
I was five and he was six. His name was Matt, and his family was moving to another city. We were in the empty house all alone. He said to me, "I will show you mine if you will show me yours." I said "No!" and ran back home, never to see him again.
ReplyDeleteAww ... a missed opportunity for Med School ...
Delete"His name was Matt... "
ReplyDeleteIt's a good thing his name wasn't KJ; otherwise he still might not know, D.
In Germany, the little kids didn't wear clothes to the beach back then. In our home town, my mother took me to this cove in the river, where people could swim. I was around age two or so. It was then that I became aware that the girls had something different down there. This discovery led to a lifelong quest of investigating the matter further, ever since.
~Manfred
And you've never been happier ... haha ...
DeleteI know a little boy who a few years ago was playing show and tell with (not one but two) little girls. His mother caught him and not only did he get in trouble she marched herself over to the little girls parents place(s). One of the mothers said she was not surprised...acted like it was nothing (she had four brothers)...like you said some people think it is OK (and just a few think not).
ReplyDeleteA threesome? Hmmm ... well, those doctor's waiting rooms are notorious for being overcrowded ... ;o}
DeleteSmall children are curious about what life offers them, in general, and playing doctor is just a natural approuch of finding out of bodies and sexuality, I guess. Parents, can do much harm by punishing it. It's pure innosence.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Kids are curious and most have an almost instinctive sense about when this kind of play crosses the line of what is "right."
DeleteNow, when people our age play doctor, well, that's a whole different story ... ;o}
Some remain immature the whole life. What a pity!
DeleteThe life is always the same no matter where are you living...
ReplyDeleteYes, people are pretty much the same, no matter where they live or what culture shapes their lives ...
Delete