Sometimes people don’t know how to stay out of trouble until they get a swift reality check by, say, ending up in jail. Enter my high school friend Toby. He was a pimply, freckle-faced kid with hair leaning more toward strawberry than blond, prompting a lot of discussion among the girls in my class.
Toby was on the periphery of my social group and another social group. In the Venn diagram of high school cliques, straddling two groups put one in a kind of teenage wasteland. (The Who, anyone?) Not a good thing when you’re seventeen and trying desperately to fit in. Toby did the only thing he could do in that situation: he resorted to hijinks. The class clowns were a group all their own, equally liked, but not respected by, the jocks, the nerds, the basket cases, the potheads, the drama geeks and the princesses. Everyone that is except the Goths (never the Goths).
Toby had to resort to bigger and bolder shenanigans to get the same laughs. His was a world of depreciating returns. In the spirit of go-big-or-go-home, he decided his craziest stunt would take place during our senior class trip.
Our trip was so hyped it was nearly a rite of passage. Every senior class had gone to the same place since the beginning of time (or the 1960s, which to us was the same thing). Older brothers and sisters had returned with tales that shocked and amazed. We were going to Disney World, where, for one night, they would close the Magic Kingdom to the general public. Graduating seniors from around the region would converge on the park from dusk to dawn. It would be our first of many all-nighters.
My friends and I made a beeline for Space Mountain in the Tomorrowland section of the park. Unsure which group he should cling to, Toby tagged along with us. We tried to shake him, stopping at the bathroom and concession stand. But, to his credit, he wouldn’t be deterred. The more daring maneuvers we used to escape, the more he amped up his side show. It was the only quality he could rely on. He goofed around by spilling ketchup on the floor and then slipping in it. He let the swinging doors of a saloon in Frontierland hit him in the face, which led to a nasty bruise. He gave his jacket to Pluto and stuffed wads of napkins in his pockets. Sleeping Beauty wouldn’t come near him. How were we going to attract the Shaun Cassidys of the senior class if Jack Tripper wouldn’t leave us alone?
After waiting on line at Space Mountain for 900 hours (about five minutes in adult time), we boarded our “space capsule.” What made this roller coaster unique was that the ride unfolded mostly in the dark, except for a section with illuminated strips on the walls to serve the illusion that we were going faster than we really were.
Traveling through the space / time continuum. Image via Wikicommons
Meanwhile all of Toby’s social frustrations were bubbling to the surface. He’d worked so hard to be the talk of the school to no avail. Toby decided to carpe diem (probably having watched Dead Poet’s Society one too many times). He was going to stand up and be noticed. So he decided to literally stand up. In the capsule. In middle of the ride.
I can imagine how the breeze blew through his strawberry curls while he was fist pumping the air a la John Bender from The Breakfast Club — for a full two seconds. That was how long it took for the ride to whiplash us to a halt and the lights to flick on inside the vast caldron that was Space Mountain. Because, while none of his friends were able to see him carpe diem, all of the Disney night-vision monitors were.
There’s nowhere to run, Toby.
The ride was temporarily closed while the Disney workers hurried along the catwalks next to the tracks to apprehend Toby. We muttered at him under our breaths and shook our heads in disgust. They carted him off to Disney jail, located in the vast network of tunnels underneath Cinderella’s castle. At the end of the evening, Toby was released on his own recognizance for the long ride home. He sat at the front of the bus with the teachers and chaperones, his social death knell. When I caught a glimpse of him in the driver’s rear view mirror, I saw him smiling.
“Why did you do it?” I asked him the following week, after he’d served two days of suspension from school. “You could have gotten hurt, and worse, you ruined the ride for all of us.”
He shrugged with his dopey grin. “Now you’ll have a cool story to tell about me.”
All these years later, I guess he was right.
Have you ever done something unusual to get noticed? Have a great weekend, everyone!
We went to Disney World for a senior trip, as well. However, we didn’t have a Toby in our group, exactly. Poor kid. Don’t you wonder what he’s up to today?
Have a wonderful weekend, my friend. Hope you have some good weather.
Hugs from Ecuador,
Kathy
I do wonder how he’s doing. He’s probably the CEO of a multinational, Fortune-500 company. 🙂
Have a fantastic weekend!
I don’t understand kids doing that on school trips. I chaperoned a couple of my son’s trips, every trip someone did something and I was the one to catch them…..auugh.
Killjoy. 😉
Aw, poor Toby…any idea what became of him?
I was just thinking, he’s either a super successful CEO of a Fortune-500 company or a manufacturer of Whoopie cushions. 🙂
Maybe he invented those and he’s now rolling in it! (Cash, not cushions)
It would serve me right. I should have hung out with him more often. 🙂
I went to an all girls Catholic high school, so I never encountered anyone like Toby. But when I was production managing TV commercial film shoots, I hired his type. Once. For one day of work — if you could call it that. He was assisting one of the production assistants, a reliable veteran I always hired who reported back to me that this idiot of an attention whore liked to hang his head out the cargo van’s window to yell at women. He instantly descended from middle to bottom of the barrel. I never hired that guy again.
The world is full of Tobys. Crazy that your new hire liked to hang his head out the window to ogle women. Too bad he didn’t do a face plant into a street sign.
So…is the Disney jail really underneath Cinderella’s Castle? Because that would be just too awesome. Or even better, the jail in the Pirate’s of the Caribbean ride! I graduated from high school in Japan so of course our class trip was to Tokyo Disneyland. They didn’t close down the park for us, though. =)
It really is! Isn’t that ironic and amazing? Unfortunately I didn’t get to visit Toby in jail. He was in solitary confinement. 🙂
I think it was about 2 years ago that Disney World decided to stop Grad Nite festivities. I’d like to think Toby had something to do with that. 🙂 Super cool that you got to Tokyo Disneyland!
Oh man, that was dangerous! I can only imagine what it was like to be his parents. 🙂
Would love to see the Disney jail (or is it dungeon)!
It would be perfect if Disney jail was somewhere in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. 🙂
Ha! Well, he WAS right! This could have been a scene out of any good teen movie. Loved it.
The perfect John Hughes film! Where is Ferris Bueller when you need him?
Funny how prophetic his words were! Were you a writer then?
I thought I was going to be a journalist, but then I decided to do something more lucrative and studied fiction writing. 😛
Is there really a Disney jail under the Cinderella acstle. Why does that make me think of a theme for a YA fantasy novel?
That was a really dangerous thing to do. He was soo lucky.
Yes, there is indeed a Disney jail! Though I think it’s more a windowless room, than actual cell with bars. 🙂
He was very lucky. The incident could have played out very differently if the ride had come to a curve in the tracks.
What an amazing story, LOVED it, especially this line: “When I caught a glimpse of him in the driver’s rear view mirror, I saw him smiling.” I can so relate to this (not only having known others like Toby but also thinking of some of my own less shenanigan-y shenanigans). Sometimes it is indeed worth it. Really great story, Jackie!
I think this was the first time that I ever saw someone really cross the line and enjoy it. Relish it, may be the better word.
Hope your WIP is moving along. Are you going to Hawaii yet? 🙂
Poor kid. I`m glad he lived though….
I think it was a close call!