I hate yellow

[Tnerb]

Or Why couldn't the Signature Series be a different color?

 

Let me explain why I hate yellow. It's the bees. Yup, those little things that pollinate the flowers and if were to go extinct, theoretically, the world would no longer be able to support life.

 

It happened in 1980, when I started to hate yellow and the comic books I owned were things to keep me occupied rather than collected. I was sent away to camp for the first time. We were given a list of things we could bring, and when I say we, I mean my sister, mother, and I.

 

My sister helped me pack with strict instructions not to put anything in the duffle bag that wasn't on the list. My comic books made there way back under the bed. All my clothes were packed together, matching outfits with matching socks. Yes, I had those tube socks with the colors, including my favorite color, yellow.

 

I didn't want to go to camp. I wanted to stay home in the comforts of my own home. Lets face it, I knew I'd be homesick. My sister reassured me that going to camp would be fun, and time away from mother. Suffice to say after getting driven to the camp grounds I was ready to go home... Which was three weeks away.

 

About a week later, I was settling in and sporting my favorite outfit. And if you ever seen the movie "Meatballs" that world be a great descriptive account of the way my camp was. My tube socks were pulled as high as they could go. The double stripe of yellow shining brightly. My yellow tshirts and "gym" shorts all matched the same yellow. It's probably the only time I have ever been color coordinated in my life.

 

I walked past the pool approaching what was known as the hard courts. I can remember the grass, the dips, and the small flow of water that if it was anything more it would be a creek. It might very well have been at one point, when I jumped over the sunken earth, it happened. The pain was excruciating.

 

I was stung. Not once but thrice, simultaneously. This might have been the first time I ever got stung by a bee, and at the very least it was most assuredly the first time I got stung by multiple bees at the same time. I was instantly in pain. I dropped to the ground and since I was my sisters little brother someone ran to get her while I was taken to the infirmary.

 

I had to hold ice on the stings, two were under my sock on my left leg, one by the ankle and the other closer to the calf. The third however was the coldest spot I ever held ice on. Suffice to say my sister made her way to the infirmary and I told her I got stung. She asked where. I told her twice under my sock and since I didn't know the word testicles I told her my balls. If I wasn't still sore I probably would have laughed at saying balls to my sister. Being eight and away from home I learned many a new terminology.

 

Fortunately I wasn't allergic, getting stung by one bee is annoying but three at the same time made me hate the color yellow. I threw that outfit away never to wear the color again, my new favorite color became red, which changed in my later years. To this day I still don't wear yellow, I'm not afraid of bees but the memories still sting, pun intended. And as I typed this out on the yellow note pad that iPhone has pre installed I realize any yellow brought into my home is purely unintentional, much like the signature series labels I have grown to accumulate.

 

Thanks for Reading

 

Tnerb

 

See more journals by Tnerb

[SW3D]

Ouch... that story made me wince.

 

I generally hate insects... can't stand them really especially arachnids, water bugs, and mosquitoes.

 

If i had to chose an insect species i could tolerate it would be ants followed by bees. Why?... i always found these two fascinating since they work in colonies. The other insects seem like lazy roustabouts doing absolutely nothing.

 

I can understand your dislike for yellow... but maybe you can fool yourself into believing that the label is not yellow... but gold... as in... you struck gold with that signature!

 

How was Wizard World? What were the highlights? And what's a boardie dinner?

 

SW3D

[bagofleas]

I was stung by how interesting your story was. . I personally have never been stung by a bee or wasp or yellow jacket or anything like that. And I'm perfectly happy for it to continue that way. Yours was obviously an unfortunate situation in this case. Especially considering the placement of said stings. YEOUCH!

 

I agree with SW3D, just think of the label as GOLD instead of yellow if that helps you feel better about it. I personally LOVE the yellow label!!

 

Bee good now! .

[Lee K]

I love golden yellow.

 

Speaking of which, any update on our Stan the Man golden goodies?

 

Bzzt!

 

Lee

[Qua-Brot]

Reminds me of the time when, at a little older than you were, I was waiting in line for a movie (Empire Strikes Back?) and suddenly started feeling pain on my leg - and then again, and then again, and then again. It stopped after a few smacks on the leg where the pain was coming from. My crying and yelling in pain got me rushed into the bathroom of the theater where I went into a stall, took off my pants (carefully) to find a wasp had climbed up my jeans leg and, scared and trapped, had done what anyone would do in that situation would do - panic.

Needless to say, though that wasp was dead by the time it fell out of my jeans into the bathroom floor, I vented my pain and anger at that panic-stricken dead wasp by proceeding to make it the flattest panic-stricken dead wasp I have ever seen. I still wear jeans though.

[miraclemet]

but they make a handy weapon if you ever get in a fight with a member of the Green Lantern Corps!

[Spidey-fan73]

Ouch, Tnerb. Your story makes me think it would be something that belonged in either the movie Stand By Me or The Sandlot. Great memory recall, but the event was obviously (and rightfully) scarring.

I agree though, not big on the yellow label, even though I have a yellow & black car, the label doesn't appeal.

[Jeffro.]

I hate blue.

 

It all started when I woke up in a field of cornflowers with a killer hangover and smelling of regret...

[surfer99]

Dude, these replies are pretty funny. Jeffro made me laugh out loud.

 

That bee sting had to hurt Tnerb, but don't take it out on the color yellow. It means you no harm.

 

 

[Brandon Shepherd]

Do you ever listen to Sting? Maybe pick up the Dune comic adaptation from '84 with Sting's character on the cover and get him to sign it? Couldn't resist...

 

I worked at a summer camp for few summers in college, your story reminded me of talking about comics with the campers.