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How a Handed Down, Tattered Pocket Book Saved Me From a Life of Addiction
Growing up in the 70’s and 80’s with a brother and sister who were 5 and 6 years older than me, I was surrounded by addiction, alcohol, temptation and experimentation.
When I was an early teen, my brother taught me and my friends how to “Huff” cooking spray from a plastic sandwich bag. It was the craziest experience I have ever endured, and my best friend enjoyed it immensely.
The two of us were sitting around outside, suntanning on some old bath towels from inside my parent’s house, and my brother and his friend came outside to “chat” with us. My brother had a can of Pam in one hand and a sandwich bag in the other. Of course, my friend asked him what he was doing with it, and the rest was some pretty scary “history.
Basically the trick was to spray the Pam in the baggie, cover your face by sticking it inside of the sprayed bag and breathe in hard and fast. I was terrified to try it, but succumbed to the pressures of wanting to be cool and brave, and because my brother’s friend was cute.
The experience was freaky as hell. I felt tingly and numb all over, wanted to giggle but cry at the same time, and felt like I could fly. After a few minutes, the feeling wore off, and we did it again, passing the ridiculously germ-ridden baggie around between…
