Bee Day 1977
At the beginning of autumn in 1977, I had not yet started kindergarten and my Nana (who I lived with) dressed me in a yellow Star Wars tee-shirt and sent me off for the day to my cousins’ grandmother’s place, on a nearby farm. I hated the tee-shirt because I thought it was boyish. I was also mistrustful because I’d heard that bees were attracted to the color yellow. Did you think that when you were little? Maybe it’s just because everyone I knew was a dumb bumpkin.
So, my cousins (Clint and Winfield) and I were playing in the cab of an abandoned farm truck in a field, when suddenly they yelled, “Bees!” and jumped from the cab, closing the doors behind them and leaving me alone. Before I could get the rusty old door open, I had been stung by three bees that had apparently been nesting inside the truck. I had never been stung by a bee before and I took it REALLY hard. I was pretty convinced I was going to die. My cousins’ grandmother took me in and picked out the stingers and smeared toothpaste on me, but she had one of the farm workers drive me home to the farm we lived on because I was still very shaken up.
At home, when I asked my Nana if I could change my shirt because it was yellow and that’s why I got stung by bees, she wouldn’t allow me to because she was the one who did all the laundry and I think deep down inside she hated me. So, I was allowed to watch cartoons while I continued post-hysterical-crying-shuddering on the sofa for a few hours.
When it got to be later in the afternoon, my Nana told me she’d seen the mail truck go up the road and that she wanted me to go outside and get the mail. Our mailbox was a short distance from our house, maybe fifty yards or so. I was like, “No. I’m scared to go outside.” Nana was not having it. She started shrieking at me about how I couldn’t spend the rest of my life afraid to go outside because it is very rare that a person is stung by bees, etc. (For the record, I don’t think I wanted to spend the rest of my life afraid of going outside, I just wanted to spend the rest of the afternoon afraid of it.) The only thing scarier than the memory of being stung by three bees at that point was the notion of being further cursed out and sent to my room where there was no TV, so I caved. For whatever reason, I was able to overcome the psychological hurdle of going out the door and walking up the road because I had the idea that I’d take this big red umbrella with me. Maybe I thought it would cover me, plus the red would distract from the yellow. Either way, my Nana told me I looked ridiculous going out on a sunny day with an open umbrella and I’m sure I did.
I remember walking about halfway to the mailbox and that it was really windy and hard to hold onto the umbrella and that is all I remember before blacking out. Why did that happen? Well, according to what I’ve been told, it’s because I walked straight into a swarm of angry bees. I guess when I took a long time coming back, my grandmother looked out the window and saw me lying in the road. She came out to get me and I was covered with a carpet of bees, passed out. She carried me inside and called my mother who rushed home from work. (I’m not sure, but if this ever happens to any kid I know, I might call an ambulance, but maybe she didn’t know the number?)
By the time my mom got to us, I had woken up, so good for me. My mom walked over to our neighbors’ house (they owned the farm we lived on) to warn them about the bee-saster and on the way, she got several bees on her (which she was and still is allergic to) and when she got to their door, she was trying to swat them away. The lady of the farmhouse was saying, “Don’t kill them! Don’t kill them! Those are our honeybees!” Come to find out, the farmer family had started raising honeybees and the very windy day had blown over two hives which broke. The farmwife panicked (???) and decided the proper course of action would be to throw the hives into the brook that ran by our houses. Which caused the bees to decide that the proper course of action would be to swarm.
The upshot of the story is, I went to the hospital because I couldn’t walk properly and was puking. They counted over a hundred stings on me and said that not walking and puking seemed pretty normal for a kid that had been stung a hundred times. In the end, I threw the Star Wars shirt away and didn’t go outside for over a week or something, until I was coaxed out under cover of darkness, to go bowling.
That’s my bee day of 1977. Thank you for letting me tell you.
Bless his cotton socks. I wanted to high five him when he told John James to “take it easy on Josie”. One of the few people to actually stop and think “hey psycho, stop”. Nerdy and shy he shouldnt be as entertaining as he is but it helps that he seems to be genuinely growing confidence from the experience. Could go far.
The posh git has some life in him. I thought he was in trouble from Day 1 and lets be fair he got himself into trouble since Day 1 but he has managed to endear himself not only to the housemates but to the public. He’s still desperate to be loved but his desperation is what made him human and I guess we’ve connected with that a little.
Roll up, roll up and get your living Corin doll complete with four whole phrases! Just pull the string and hear “Oh my god”, “Loving it”, “Buzzing” and “Can’t believe it”. That’s all. Nothing else. Corin doll also comes with removable eyebrows.
Another one who really bugged me at first but who I’ve warmed to over time. He has a similar opinion to myself about a lot of the housemates in regard to their revelry in negativity (also known as being bitchy the whole time). The only problem is, he still thinks gay marriage is immoral, I thought this would come back to bite him but obviously no-one gives a shit. It’s been while since he was up for eviction so we’ll see how he gets on.
Dumb as a pile of rocks. His budding romance with Josie has kept me fascinated and frustrated for weeks. However, I’m tired of his anger. He’ll shout at everyone who gives him an opportunity and is obsessed with who is “real” and who isnt. He won’t let anything go and it’s exhausting. Plus, any real man would have kissed Josie by now. Seriously, grow a pair, you little girl.
Hello me old mucker. She has kind of lost her marbles with this John James stuff. It doesn’t help that she sucks her thumb constantly. For a woman of her age she has not handled any of this stuff like a grown up. Hasn’t really gotten many nomination votes and I can see her making it to the final. She’s my favourite to win the show but all could fall apart depending on how she reacts to the stress of her “relationship” over the next few weeks.
Came into the house with loads of swagger and claimed she would rule the roost. Nothing. Not a jot of that. But she has been a firm voice and a competitive spirit so she has a good place within all the kids who run about. Has a weird flirt thing going on with Steve but I would hazard that this is because she’s trying to move herself up the social ladder within the house. A go getter. Lets see if she gets it.
She fancies Ben… I just… I just can’t get past this.
Will make it to the final by default and I have a little bit of a problem with that. Ben pointed out early on that nobody will nominate him for fear of being seen as a bastard by the public. The thing is, he’s not entertainment. Yeah, he has 8 kids and he misses them but thats it. So if he wins this purely out of sympathy I’ll be pissed. That being said, his fawning over Keeley is freaking me out. Maybe something interesting will result of it.
I’m Ken Plume, and soon you’ll be listening to “A Bit Of A Chat” with me, Ken Plume.
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