DESPERATELY SEEKING BECKY THATCHER

It had been several years since I took the raft from Critter Country/New Orleans Square to Tom Sawyer Island at Disneyland. Surprisingly, it didn't matter that not one of our group was under the age of twelve. We had fun trapsing all over the island. My youngest of three sons was twelve years old. He made two friends straight away and the three of them ran over bridges, played telephone with pipes set up that way, and ran in and out of caves. My thirteen-year-old went back and forth between his younger brother and his elder brother with whom I played hide and seek, as he walked around, talking on his cell phone.

"She's found me again," he told his caller.

Before the last boat leaves the island, I decided I had better find the ladies room. I followed some signs that lead me to a restroom marked "Tom Sawyer". Expecting to find a "Becky Thatcher" room further down the path, I kept walking. There wasn't one.

How odd, I thought.

After my hike around the island in search of the "Becky Thatcher" room, I returned to the "Tom Sawyer" room for closer investigation. It was there that I learned the sign out front actually said, "Tom Sawyer Island Restrooms". There was a door marked "Men" and then, behind a partition wall, a door marked "Women". I laughed at myself.

Written 08/15/05 by Elizabeth Van Cleve