The year was 1972. They were the perfect couple. He was sixteen, a star athlete. She was fifteen, a popular cheerleader. Their world changed one night after he drove her home. They sat on the couch in the living room, drinking lemonade and talking. Her parents weren’t home. She went into her bedroom and came…

A twelve year old boy left the pool and run up the steps to the observation deck. He was naked. All boys swam nude back then. Girls were not allowed in the pool. His mom was talking to a group of women. He waited politely for them to finish their conversation. Two girls stood looking…

My sales partner was a good swimmer. I asked how he learned to swim. He said, “I was thirteen when my father moved us up-state. We were the only black family in town. One day my homeroom teacher announced that the YMCA was offering swimming lessons for boys eight to thirteen. I brought a permission…

My first job out of college was in sales. After training I was partnered with a young black man. We traveled together our first week on the road, taking turns being the salesman. Our territory included Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware. We drove a lot. At the end of one grueling day…

My sixth grade teacher hated boys. Humiliation was her weapon of choice. We marched single file to the bathrooms, boys in one line, girls in another. The bathrooms were next to each other. Boys stopped a dozen feet back from the doors. Girls marched past the doors, then did an about-face so the end of…

I was assigned an unoccupied cubicle by the wall for a short consulting assignment. An hour passed before I became distracted by an odd sound coming from the cubicle across from me. I slid my chair back. A woman was bouncing gently on an exercise ball. I’d heard they were a healthy alternative to a…

It was three in the morning and I had to go, bad, number two. Someone had stuffed rolls of toilet paper in the men’s toilets, the room was flooded. I stood outside the door of the women’s bathroom and listened, then peeked inside. It was empty. The doors hung open on all the stalls. I…