No I Will Not Undress For You

This past weekend I went to a Folk Festival called Hillside. I had a blast, it was pure hippyville and I was in my glory. I went by myself but my friend was a vender so I ended up hanging out with her for most of the time. Which was great because I loved bragging to the people who came to look at her art about how great it was.

I arrived on the Saturday and was a little bit apprehensive about doing things on my own. It takes some nerve go it solo to large events. I was wondering how i would find my friend and as I was walking up I saw this guy who looked familiar, I looked at him and he looks back at me. I keep looking at him and he keeps looking at me. I wave and he greets me. This guy is a guy I knew in high school who I always thought was pretty dreamy except we didn't run in the same crowds so our paths never crossed ie: he was popular and I was not as popular. This guy and I start talking and catching up. I had found his resume randomly in my office the week before so I tell him about my discovery. I soon realize that I know the two other guys with him. So we all catch up and they ask me if I came alone. I explain to them that I'm meeting a friend but I'll probably be going to most of the shows alone. Duder then tells me where everything is and invites me to hang out with them. At this point we are near the swimming hole and they invite me for a swim I decline and say I haven't brought my suit with me. Dude pipes up with 'well we are free here, you can go in the buff', I counter with 'I'm not that free'. So I tell them I'm going to find my friend and then I'll meet up with them later. I grab the other dudes cell phone number and tell them I'll call them when I want to hang out with them.

Later that night I meet up with them at the bar tent area. This time 'Mr. Popular' from last week is with them. It turns out that he forgot to press enter on his cell phone after he got my number last week. The group decides that they want to go swimming and I am bumbed bacause once again cuz I don't have my suit. By this time it is mid evening and they decide that it is time to get liquored up since the main stage will be gearing up with its big show (Sarah Harmer.....who gets liquored up for Sarah?) I'm a little confused about why people choose to get drunk for a show they have spent good money on and then are not coherent enough to enjoy? Well back to swimming, after a series of detours and discussions the six of us get to the secret watering hole they have sought out. The three out of the four boys jump in and only one has an actual swim suite. The other female of the party goes and changes. Duder #2 sits on the picnic table while I wade in the shallow end. Duders in the water start taunting me to come in and I reply 'that I can't cuz I don't have a suit'. They then suggest I just go in my underwear and I refuse adamently, I tell them 'I'm a private person and I don't feel comfortable doing that'. Duder #2 decides that he will put his charm on and use the 'Ill do it if you do it'. Obviously he doesn't realize how stubborn I am. I never gave into peer pressure when I was in high school so why would I do so now. Anyway so eventually the drunk boys take their boxers off in the water and start doing dolphin dives 'I shout out that I am being scarred for life'. Eventually they start acting even more like the goofy guys they are by throwing algae at each other and pretending they are nintendo game characters. Ah boys....it doesn't matter whether they are 5 or 25 they still know how to goof around. I just laughed and laughed. They still persisting in taunting me to come in and I continue to respond with 'I want to but I can't'.

Afterwards I think Mr. Charm realizes they may have made me feel uncomfortable so he asks me if I didn't have a good time. I tell him that I did and that they had made me laugh and that I really needed that because I had been feeling stressed. Later he asks me if I drink or smoke or anything else. I don't say no because sometimes I do. I just tell him that I don't do it very often and that I wanted to spend my money that weekend on merch rather than on alcohol.

So the next day I told my friend about what had happened. I told her that they had probably given themselves away many times before and that is why being nude didn't mean much to them. It means something to me. She affirmed me in my analyses. Now all you readers can get mad at me but that is the way I feel. I think that the body is a sacred thing that needs to be kept sacred. Why throw everything you have away to a bunch of drunk former popular guys. I don't want them to see every part of me. Thats mine to give not theirs to take. It is a priveledge not a right.