First time, I snuck out after everybody was sleeping one open meeting night. The only lock was a travelers' lock, so I just bent it out of the way and opened the door.
Got talked into giving my mom a chance to keep her word by a former Jesuit priest. It was bogus, so I picked the lock on the bedroom door after everyone was asleep, took the phone off the hook to buy a little time. (protocal was to contact staff before chasing runaways, so I know they spent a good 5 minutes or more puzzling out what to do :rofl: ).
The last time, I told everyone but my mother and staff all about my planned permission to get off the bus downtown and meet my mother for lunch. Even filled out permission slips in triplicate and pretended to find the approved copy and all that. Then I just got off the bus and hitchhiked out of town.
One girl I remember messed w/ the window to make it look like she'd gotten out that way then hid in the closet while everybody got ready and left for the day. She then had herself a feast in the kitchen before spreading shit all over the house and splitting. She wound up back in group some time later. Had to bite my cheek to keep from laughing as they tried to shame her for what really was a brilliant plan.
When I told the people of Northern Ireland that I was an atheist, a woman in the audience stood up and said, "Yes, but is it the God of the Catholics or the God of the Protestants in whom you don't believe?"
-- Quentin Crisp
