Where I Stood (Laurie Faria Stolarz)
The topic this month is teenage insecurity. Looking back, I didn’t have a single, clean insecurity as a teen. I had a whole ecosystem of them, and they fed each other. For starters, I was insecure about money. I went to a private Catholic high school, which meant my mom was working extra hours at night to keep me there. I felt the economic difference—in a way I hadn’t before. My peers often talked about fashion, designer brands, what kind of car they were going to get, or where they were traveling for school break. Those were normal conversations, casually dropped into the day. Meanwhile, I'd never vacationed anywhere, my clothes were secondhand, and my car was a 1978 Chevy Nova, passed down by my grandmother, that barely started when the temperature dipped. After school, while others were partaking in sports, clubs, or going to the mall, I stood at the customer service desk at the local grocery store where I worked, answering questions, processing returns, cashing checks, a...
