My memory of this is solidly locked into two core memories.

Let me preface this by first saying I was a severely asthmatic child growing up. And I wasn’t popular in grade school

At. All.

So my first core memory is when I was doing the running portion. I was gasping for air, could hardly breath but still trying my best. And i remember a bunch of kids shouting my name and encouraging me on.

And I fucking hated it.

It was the hypocrisy of it all. most of them wouldn’t even say hello to me in the halls. I knew the teahcers were just egging them on to do it. Probably to make me feel accomplished or something. what ever.

And the second memory was how meaningless the ribbons actually were. I pretty much [laced last or second to last in all of them. so Like someone else here, I got alot of last place ribbons. But after the event everyone was just milling around, and there was the box that held the ribbons. No one was guarding or anything. So I just went up grabbed a handful of No. 1 ribbons and called it a day.

I’m 54 and that memory is still clear as a bell in my head. Among other not so great ones…

Okay, here’s what you do. Just keep a small container of skin cream with you. when you are done your bisuness, apply a small amount to the toilet paper, and wipe until clean. it helps remove and moisturize at the same time. you would never need to but those non flushable wipes again.