Unhappy Camper Adam Gropman Growing up in a suburb close to Boston, I was a real city kid -- a homebody. I mean, I left the house to ride my bike around or hang out with my friends, but I preferred to stay within like a one-mile radius if I could help it. There was nowhere else I wanted to be. When I turned ten, my parents decided to toughen me up. They sent me to a rustic summer camp in Vermont for two months. The place had no electricity, no running water. The cabins had only three walls. And campers were strongly encouraged to swim naked, as the native Indians had.

It was like a POW camp for kids whose only crime was growing up in the liberal suburbs. The following is some correspondence from that summer between myself and my parents. July 1, 1976 (First Day) Dear Mom & Dad, I am fine. Today I tried the swimming test. I only made it across the docks two times. Dinner is great here! P.S. I made a lot of friends and one especially named Peter.

July 5, 1976 Dear Mom and Dad camp is good! And the food is great! Also, when I said I only did two laps between docks, I did four . and I practiced to do six ! P.S. I'm kind of homesick so please visit as soon as you can. July 10, 1976 Dear Adam: Boy did we love your letter!! We read it to everybody !! I am proud of your swimming improvement. It sounds like you must be a dock swimmer by now. We are having a feud with the squirrels because they are eating the peaches. Love and kisses, Mom.

ADULT ME SAYS My dad then added a little drawing and wrote, "Have you seen Irving the Duck?" July 11, 1976 Mom + Dad, I have a very bad cold and I feel very sick. This is what's wrong. I have a bad sore throat. My nose and sinus are very stuffy. I have awful headaches. I feel very weak. Everybody, except for two people in this cabin, are assholes. Right at this moment, while I'm writing this letter, someone's teasing me and saying I'm faking to be sick.

I also lost my knife and my flashlight still doesn't work. Later That Night Dear Mom + Dad, I can't hack camp any longer. I'm going to have a screaming mental fit. By the way, what I mean by "take me out of this camp" is come up here in the car and take me HOME! I hate this goddamn cabin. I want to see our house and sleep in my nice, comfortable bed and sleep till 10:30 instead of waking up at 7:00! July 13, 1976 Dear Adam: I guess you have gone through some sad and difficult days. I think it would be better for you NOT to worry about your clothes and flashlight and things. As Alfred E Neuman says: "Why worry?" Maybe when you are really angry at the world, you could go to some private place in the woods . and cry about it (that's good) or yell at the trees (they won't mind).

And when you come back from hollering and hitting the ground with a stick, you won't feel angry. Love, Mom July 16, 1976 Dear Mom and Dad, Camp is shitty and boring. Everything's been going wrong. Such as: Jason borrowed my red short-sleeved shirt and lost it. My flashlight (still) isn't working. I got a cut on my penis when I flunked my canoe test. I'mveryhomesick. I wish you could arrange so I can only stay 1 month instead of 2.

ADULT ME SAYS What I left out from that list was that Eddie, the kid in the bunk bed over me, had accidentally dropped toothpaste down on me and then dropped a candle, which lit my blanket on fire. July 14, 1976 Dear Adam, I'm sorry that you hurt your penis. Does it still bother you? Love-Dad July 19, 1976 Dear M.