Homer, Joey and the cold dark night

In college, the kids taking the Leadership course had to take the first year Outdoor Recreation students out for their survival night.

My baby-sitting-in-the-woods night was very cold and the ground was covered with thick snow.
We led the freshmen out to get settled and after a while, walked back in to check on them.
It was dark by the time I made my round. And I smelled marijuana wafting through the trees.
I knew who it was but I didn't confront him right away.

Instead, I went back to where the other young leaders were gathered. It was my choice, "a judgment call, " as one of my fellow students offered. His eyes told me he'd let it go because he smoked dope, too.

I asked for someone to go back with me. Surprisingly, my friend Dawn's visitor from the dorms (who I'll call Homer because I cannot recall his name...but it just might have been Homer) offered to escort me.
This young man had always been quiet and not given me any attention in the past. We walked together back into the woods and I explained to him the potential danger of drugs and the cold and expressed my concern.

I found Joey, the young fellow would been smoking and I asked hi if he'd been smoking. "Yeah, " he said. "I threw it over there."
I told him that his survival experience was over and he should pick up his supplied and go home.

Then Homer and I walked Joey out and went back to the Leadership group.

That night, I shared a tent with another girl and I was so cold that I couldn't sleep. She kept rolling on to me. She was trying to warm me up or at least stop my teeth from chattering, but she should have said "Stay still and get warm." She never did. I had to get up and go into a building to warm up, then go back and try to snooze....
Finally, I had to give up and go inside.

Soon afterward, I saw Dawn and she told me that Homer had been surprised. He had known that I was gay so he thought I was some horrible sinner, but after our walk he told Dawn, "She's real nice!" And Dawn had just looked at him and said, "Yeah, I told you so."

I wish that there were more opportunities to dispel myths like that little walk through the cold Maine woods.