35) The Panopticon

All of the cousins were tattletales. This includes me.

When they would report wrongdoing (usually to their own mom) they would inevitably be told not to tattle, but the other kid would still get in trouble, so it was pretty effective. Every once in a while, they would punish the tattler for tattling, just to keep us from getting out of hand. They always seemed really proud of themselves whenever they thought to through that in.

For most of my childhood, there were many eyes watching for any signs of misbehavior. Any wrongdoing would not only be punished, but the narrative and the punishment would be passed along.

If Grandma found you in error, not only would she punish you, but she would pass along the story and then the other adults would be given opportunity to punish if they chose as well.



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