The "wannabe"

Good afternoon! Yes, I'm actually posting this in the afternoon. Ya'll come on in, pour yourself a drink, pull up a chair and have a seat. This post is about something I'd forgotten about till Kim and Crissy reminded me of it. Of course they weren't there but I'd told them the story a long time ago. Actually I recall the story once in a while but I just never thought to post it.
The setting for this story is Fort Lauderdale in or around the year of our Lord nineteen fifty three. I was at the time about four years old of course. Being pre-school and having two older brothers, school was for me a mystery. I could hardly wait till I was able to 'go to school'. Most every morning I accompanied Jerry and Dennis (the older brothers) for a couple of blocks as they started their walk to school. I was allowed to go as far as their first street crossing. When we arrived at that particular crossing Jerry and Dennis had to wait till the crossing guard found a break in traffic and stopped the cars. When they began to cross the street I returned home. In the mind of that four year old boy the job of crossing guard was the ultimate in jobs. It was fascinating to see the man step into the street, hold up his hands toward the oncoming cars, then watch the traffic come to a slow and smooth stop. He then would step back onto the sidewalk and "allow" the cars to start moving again. Wow! What a guy to have the 'ability' to do that. To that young mind it was almost supernatural. Therefore, on one weekend day, I left my house with a mission in mind. The house we lived in was set back off of the street a bit, so I walked up the driveway to the street, stopped and waited on a break in traffic. Then the four year old calmly stepped out into the street and held up his arms toward the oncoming cars and BEHOLD, the cars all stopped, though not as smoothly as I'd hoped. (there was a lot of screeching of tires) As I stood there (though a bit disappointed at all the noise) I was completely gratified by the 'power' I had to stop the traffic. While standing there with my arms still outstretched I was very suddenly and very rudely yanked straight up into the air. In my twisting and squirming I'd caught a glimpse of my Dad holding me up by one arm. To steal a line from "Winnie the Pooh" His face was like a black rain cloud. It was at that point that I figured out that I was in very big trouble. I've mentioned that our house was set back off of the road, but I didn't realize just how far till I started getting spanked the whole way back. I didn't understand what all of the 'fuss' was about at that time, but figured it out later when I saw how dangerous it was. I can only imagine the fear that must have gripped the heart of my father when he saw me standing there with traffic stopped and a big smile on my face. Thus were the adventures of a very young "wannabe" crossing guard. ..........And so it went.........