STREETSIDE STORY OF THE MONTH

Bare With Me
by Jessica Nemerovski

This past summer, I took a trip to Japan for the World Children's Baseball
Fair. I was staying in a Japanese-style dorm on Mt. Fuji. There was a view of a big body of water. I'm not exactly sure what body of water it was, but it was beautiful. There was a blue sky and an outlook on the bay. There were a lot of pretty plants and a tiny lake. The air was warm and humid. Hot! Hot! Hot! I could smell the citrus scent in the air. I could taste the freshness. You could hear kids from around the world speaking their native languages but, other than that, it was silent.

Every country had a host and my host, the host for the United States of America, was a very mean lady. She was like a brick wall with no feelings. She definitely didn't care how I felt. She began her evil plan.

On the first day of my trip, I was told I had no option but to take a traditional Japanese shower with about 30 other girls. Before everybody arrived, many girls were told that they would be able to wear bathing suits into the shower if they felt uncomfortable. But when I brought this up, Gretchen told me it was out of the question. She also said I was insulting Japanese culture, part of which was bathing with many girls in a small room with tiny stools, short shower heads and an icky bathtub right in the center of the room. I was extremely insulted at this remark. I was not insulting another culture; I was just explaining and standing up for mine.

I kept repeating, over and over again, "In my country it's illegal to make someone get naked."

She immediately responded, "I don't care at all."

I was really frustrated, and really didn't want to do this. Seeing as how I was not very excited about this, I started brainstorming. I had to go to the bathroom. I really had to go to start with, but then I decided to hide out for a few hours. I was pretending that I didn't really have to go that much.

When I arrived back at the shower room, there were about two people in there, so I decided that nothing's perfect, and hesitantly got in. When I got out of the shower, it was about 9:20 p.m., and bedtime was 9:00 p.m. I rushed back to my dorm. When I got there, Gretchen was standing there waiting for me.

"What took you so long?" she whispered, because everyone was sound asleep.

In response, I quickly muttered, "I first used the bathroom. When I got back to the shower, it was full, so I waited. Then, I had to go to the bathroom again."

I started making up some somewhat logical explanations, but she soon interrupted me in her strange Slovenian accent.

"Stop talking, and go to bed now!" she said. "Tomorrow you are going to shower early with me, naked!"

I didn't say anything; I just tiptoed off to bed. I disobeyed her and did it again the next day.

After a few days, I decided to wear a bathing suit into the shower because my friends did as well. They were also going against the rules. When I came back, once again Gretchen was standing there. This time, she told me if I wore the bathing suit again, she would take it from me right there and throw it away.

The next day, I was really going to shower how I was supposed to, but it was really crowded. I had to keep coming in and leaving because there were no spots. This time, Gretchen claimed she was watching me come in and out of the shower room. She said that I was coming into the shower room over and over again just to look at all the naked people in the shower! Sick! That was really messed up! Who in their right mind would do that? Then, she started calling me a baby. She said that I was the only one who thought the showers were weird and that everyone else loved them. That was so off! Everyone hated them! All my friends thought they were really nasty!

When she was telling me this, we were in the changing room at the pool. She said, "You know you aren't wearing that bathing suit into the shower tonight, right?"

"Why is that?" I asked.

"You just aren't," she snapped.

"You aren't the boss of me," I snapped, acting brave when really my heart was jumping out of my throat.

"Yes, actually, I am. You will do what I say," she stated, just the response I thought I was going to get from this devil of a lady.

Jennie yelled out from her stall, "You're just a big baby!"

Now I really was annoyed and scared out of my wits.

"Yes, Jessica, you really are just a big baby," Gretchen quickly agreed with Jennie.

"So, what's your point?" I asked, not really caring.

"You know, you are probably the biggest baby here!" she sort of giggled.

"I really don't care what you think, FYI (For Your Information)." Oh no, that really just slipped out, even though it really didn't!

"What did you just say?" she asked, in utter disbelief that I actually stood up for myself. To tell the truth, I was probably in even more awe than she was!

"I said," I started again, "I don't care what you think! The only thing that matters to me is what I think!" and I stormed out of the room.

I needed an adult who agreed with me, and who was willing to stand up for my rights.

I went across the hallway to the Australian chaperone. She was so generous and caring. She also thought that Gretchen was a crazy witch. She told me that if I wanted to I could go with Jazzy, an Australian girl, Mandie, a Canadian girl and herself, into the shower wearing bathing suits. She also told me, if anyone gave me a hard time, to send them straight to her, Annie, the Australian chaperone.

Annie made an agreement with Gretchen. Then she told me I could wear a bathing suit into the bath if I wanted to. The problem was that she called both the shower and bath a "bath." At the time, I didn't realize this would be an issue.

So the next day, my friends and I went into the shower wearing our bathing suits. Since there were only a few other people in there, we went into the bathtub. As we came out, Gretchen was standing there waiting for me, which already creeped me out. The first thing that came out of her mouth was, "I am just about ready to f***ing hit you right now."

"What are you talking about?" I asked in a terrified voice.

"We had an agreement," she snapped.

"What?" I asked, as I was extremely confused.

She just walked away. I just stood there. My legs were shaking. My friends were staring in amazement. I ran upstairs. I couldn't hold it in. I started to sob. My friends came to my side and comforted me completely.

My friend Mandie sat next to me until I stopped crying. Mandie was my friend from the very first day. We actually became friends because two other girls were being obnoxious. Mandie is really kind to her friends. To pests, she is not too mean, but is just right. She has really curly red hair and tons of orange freckles on her lightly-toned face. She has a Canadian accent, seeing as she is Canadian. It's not really different from an American accent. She is about five foot three and is really skinny. She loves baseball and basketball, just like me. She also enjoys hockey and tennis (I think). She is a very talented athlete.

Mandie felt the same way in this dumb situation. She almost acted the same as I did. As I said before, she was very comforting.

A few minutes later, I realized how proud of myself I was. I had made a choice to stand up for myself on that whole trip. I didn't even realize it until that moment. I stopped crying and started smiling. That day, I not only got a lady deservingly fired, but I also learned that no matter what, I need to stand up for myself, even if the persecutor is totally intimidating.

About the Authour

My name is Jessica Nemerovski. I was born in San Francisco, California and have lived there my whole life. I'm eleven years old. I play baseball, basketball, football, volleyball and track. I really want to play hockey. I also take kung fu. I am an advanced brown belt, one away from a black belt. I take kung fu at the Tat Wong Kung Fu Academy. At the moment, I am reading and writing Hebrew, preparing for my bat mitzvah. I am always talking, because I always have something to say. I am a major health nut. I eat really healthy. I exercise about three times a day. I dream that, someday, all people will really have the same rights. I wish all the racist and sexist feelings would disappear, so everyone would have the chance to shine, not just a specific few.