Night fishing is…

One morning, my 16-year-old son went to school, saying he was going fishing with friends after he got home that day.

As a super early bird mom who goes to bed early and wakes up early, I just assumed he meant after dinner, around 7-9 PM.

But to my surprise, he came home before 8 PM and then said he was leaving at 9 PM. I panicked and became hysterical.

It was already dark, and even though it was a relatively shallow spot in the lake, there was no light by the water. Two 16-year-old boys. My worry alarm went off, and we had a parent-child argument about going or not going!

You worry too much, I'll be 17 soon. I'll be careful, so it'll be fine. VS. 17 is still a child. If you go out in such complete darkness, I'll have to wait, worrying until you come home safe! Wild boars appear too! It would be terrible if a wild boar charged and its tusks cut a major blood vessel in your thigh. Besides, you can't see anything in the dark, not the water's surface or your hands!! Grrr!

In the end, I couldn't stop the young man's passion for fishing.

Don't go, you! Like a wife trying to stop her husband from going gambling.

 

The next day, still fuming with the fresh, lively anger from last night, I recounted the story to one of my few confidantes, expecting empathy and sympathy. I explained what had happened, how I couldn't understand young people's behavior at all, and how I'd raised my voice loudly for the first time in a while. What do you think?

But to my surprise again, I was bluntly told, "Well, you see, a 16-year-old boy has the right to go night fishing."

Oh no, I was unexpectedly filleted in two.

It might be unimaginable for you, Kumiko, to go fishing at 9 PM, but he loves fishing, and he has good friends he goes fishing with. That's very important to him. Isn't that very healthy? You just didn't understand.

My eyes were opened. Hadn't I always tried to remember not to dismiss things I hadn't experienced or couldn't understand from the start?

That evening, the 16-year-old night-fishing boy came home with his lovely 17-year-old girlfriend. I spoke to his lovely 17-year-old girlfriend. Did you hear about last night's night fishing incident?

She said, "Yes. But Kumiko, it's fishing. Please think about it. They weren't going to a party with a bunch of idiots."

After being filleted into three, even the tiny bones were completely removed with tweezers.

(And what's this feeling of a mother-in-law being gently admonished by her daughter-in-law emanating from this?)

 

Alright, I'm sorry, I said too much yesterday. I was told today that a 16-year-old has the right to go night fishing. And so, everything was settled perfectly.

 

But everyone.

The next day, the fishing boy confessed that it was indeed so dark that night that they couldn't see anything. He said they both fixed their phones with lights on to the front of their jeans by unzipping their pants, and then fished while shining the light from there, "Haha!"

Two fishermen shining light from their crotches in the dark.

 

Give me back my apology.

There's a deer in the picture! 🦌

<゜)))彡