On Getting Home from Parties When Your Friends Already Left...

[MineralMan]

It happens. I remember one such incident. When I realized that my friends had taken off without me at the party, which was at a house out in the country, five miles from my house, I was pissed off. Then, I walked home. It took me about an hour and a half, but I was 16 years old and walking five miles wasn't all that big a deal.

I knew my way home. I walked.

How did Dr. Ford get home? I don't know. Maybe someone gave her a ride, or maybe she just walked home. That wouldn't surprise me at all. She might well have said, "That sucked a lot! I'm going home." Then, she walked out the front door of the house where the gathering was and walked home. A non-event, compared to what had happened.

[guillaumeb]

1. Or she was in shock.

A perfectly understandable reaction.

[MineralMan]

2. Yes, and still walked home.

Wouldn't surprise me at all.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Or walking home when you thought you were going to be invited to a party but you weren't.

In high school I worked diligently building and painting sets for the annual class play. Afterwards everybody got invited to the big party - not just the cast, everybody who worked on it. Except me. I was just standing around hoping for a ride but nobody said anything to me about the party or offered me a ride, and I was too shy and embarrassed to ask. So everybody left for the party and I walked home, about three miles, late at night, didn't want to call my parents. I was 15. I was too hurt and pissed off to think that walking home was a big deal (it felt good, actually). That incident still rankles, all these years later. But the point is, walking home from somewhere isn't a big deal for a teenager, especially if something has upset you and you need to walk it off.

[MineralMan]

4. Exactly.

I once walked 12 miles from the college I attended to the house where I lived when my car wouldn't start. I can't say I enjoyed it, but that was the easiest way to get home. I could have hitch-hiked, I suppose, but walking worked.

I couldn't do it now, though. My hips wouldn't allow walking that far.