Jail Bait

Watching Larry King interview Samantha Geimer, Roman Polanski's victim, reminded me of a story from my teenage years.

When I was a sophomore in high school, and about 15 years old, I was dating a fellow named Bobby. He was 27, and a salesman.

As I knew my parents wouldn't approve of me seeing a fellow his age, I asked Bobby to pick me up at the local candy store instead of coming to my house, so about once a week, he'd meet me there and we'd go out to dinner, or to movies. He loved to take long drives, and so did I.

Whenever we passed a hotel, I'd say "Bobby, can we please go to that hotel? I've never been to a hotel with a guy before." He laughed awkwardly, and give me this urgent look. One day, he just said, "You're jailbait. I'd get sent away for a long time if I took you there."

Expanding my vocabulary was always a matter of great importance to me, so I asked repeatedly, and plaintively "What's jailbait?" Bobby refused to tell me, so when I got home, I couldn't wait to ask my father who was in the kitchen reaching for a bowl of butter pecan ice cream.

"Daddy," I said, "what's jailbait?" I've never seen my father get so upset. He dropped the bowl, turned around, and yelled "Who called you that? Tell me now. Where did you hear that word?" He was never one to raise his voice. I looked at him, and laughed quietly---"Just one of my classmates at school. Relax."

He wouldn't give me the answer, but I had ways of finding things out and, not surprisingly, that was my last encounter with Bobby.

Girls in their teens are naive, or were back then. Truly, I just wanted the experience of going to a hotel with a guy, something I had never experienced before. I'd seen it in the movies, and it looked so glamorous. Luckily, I was with someone who understood that, and who was mature, and emotionally secure enough not to take advantage of my vulnerability.

Girls of that age are seductive as hell. Think about Lolita. Isn't that what the Nabokov novel was all about? Okay, well maybe she wasn't all that innocent, or naive, but to this day, I'm thankful that my friend was able to think clearly and not let his hormones get in the way. (Had he been 18, of course, it might have been another story)

Think about this: a 27 year old salesman from Queens was wise enough to know better than to mess around with an underage girl. Roman Polanski could have learned a thing or two from him.