Remember the first time you got lost?

When I was 5 or 6 my dad took me fishing on a pier on a California
beach. It was to be one of those father - son bonding experiences.
As the story goes, we walked out on the pier a ways and parked
ourselves down next to a green trashcan to fish. You have imagine how
quick a 5 year old will lose interest in holding a stick with string
and looking at the water.
 
It wasn't long before I had to relieve myself. My dad had come to
fish, not babysit. He pointed down the length of the pier and told me
there was a restroom in the shack at the beginning of the pier. Quite
responsibly he pointed at the green trashcan he was standing beside.
He said simply walk to the shack and come back to the green trashcan.
He would be there. That made sense to me.
 
I walked on down and took care of business. Upon leaving the shack, I
look down the mile long pier and saw what seemed like hundreds of
green trashcans. I lost it. I cried and then cried some more. The
manager at the shack brought me back inside and fed me ice cream to
keep me quiet.
 
The manager announced on the load speaker they had a lost child and
would someone come claim me. I cried some more and my dad didn't
come. He didn't hear, but he did keep fishing. So I ate ice cream
and dad fished for a few hours. It came time to go home and dad came
by the shack and picked me up.
 
My dad wasn't much of a worrier. He figured things just worked out
for the better. This time it did. I got free ice cream. Dad got
fish. We both remembered the experience. I've been lost since then,
but never got free ice cream again.
 
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