The first adult joke that I understood

Is this something we all go through when we are young? You hear a joke that an adult tells but you don't understand why it's funny. You know it's a joke because some of the people hearing it laughed but you don't understand why it is funny. I was always too embarrassed to ask why it was funny. Or else, if my mother was around, I knew not to ask about it because of the look on her face. Being quite introverted, I didn't even ask my friends. I figured if they didn't know why it was funny, then why ask? Or, if they did know why it was funny, they would just make fun of me for not knowing. When you're young and trying to establish your place in the world, you don't need any missteps or back steps.

Anyway, it was a Sunday because that was the only time we went to this particular restaurant. It was pretty fancy and was a long drive away from home. It was a big deal when we went to eat there. We often dressed up to go there. It wasn't the kind of place where you would hear adult jokes. It wasn't the kind of place where you would hear loud talking. It was always good food and it was almost always crowded.

As you can tell from the image, I went to the men's room. This was also a place I had never seen graffiti before, either. But this day, there was something written neatly, and in not too large a type, right above the urinal I was using:

The future of the world is in your hands.

It took me a few seconds to get it. At first I thought it was just some encouraging words - kind of like the modern, "You can be anything you want to be." But no - there was something else - and my young mind finally got it. I had had "the talk" with my father a few years before so I wasn't too young. I think it was the subtlety I most appreciated. I thought it was the funniest, most amazing joke I had ever heard. I couldn't wait to get back to the table to tell my parents. But wait. Was this something I could talk about to my parents? Could I talk about it in this restaurant? What if we all started laughing out loud? Would they throw us out? Would they just throw me out for being such a vulgar young man?

Well, I think I waited until we got out to the car. Whether it was that or I did get the courage to tell my parents at the table, I remember my parents smiling. Both because of the joke itself and because it signaled another stage in my life for them.

I also remember the first time I swore in front of my mother. I was driving her somewhere when I was home from college and needed to make a left turn in heavy traffic. As I waited, my mother asked when I was going to make the turn. I said, "I'll turn when this damned driver finally decides to get past us." I froze and missed making the turn a little longer. She just said, "So, that's what they're teaching you in college." Surprisingly, I heard my mother swear more often than my father. But I was always careful when I spoke around her after that.