“More Americans lose their virginity on prom night than any other night in their lives.”
Halifax, Nova Scotia | June of 1995 | By RYAN MURPHY

“Words that start with a hard consonant like B, K, or P, and are followed by a vowel sound such as “eee” or “uhh,” are particularly difficult, which is why being named Pete Cummin sucks.”
Fall of 1995 | Boston, Massachusetts | By PETE CUMMIN

“In a mining town of decreasing population, I could pass for a famous actress — at least until the cameras rolled.”
August 2006 | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | By AMANDA BROWN

“Yesterday, we may have been bartenders or IT managers or college students enjoying our summer break; today we are line sitters.”
June 2007 | San Francisco, California | By MIKE HOLMES

“Our class was made up of jocks who actually enjoyed this sort of stuff, greasers who saw it as an open invitation from the public-education system to pound the bejesus out of someone with relative impunity.”
Fall of 1971 | distant suburbs of Detroit, Michigan | By CURT MacDOUGALL

“You have only to look at my school photographs to witness the embarrassment of being a tall, plain weed in a bed of tiny rosebuds.”
1960s | Cheltenham, United Kingdom | By TERESA HEWITT

“I was the subject of a study at the University of Connecticut, and learned there that I lack the ability to differentiate between different voices.”
1994 | University of Connecticut | By SCOT NOLAN

“I made it halfway across the street before I heard the loud thump of the front grill of a Plymouth Mercury connect with my rear end.”
March 2005 | Washington, DC | By MAURA JUDKIS

“I should have sent him home, but somehow, we got into a conversation, and I forgot that he was a half-naked stranger.”
1999 | San Diego, California | By SARA IRENE

“My first instinct was to let out a girlish scream and cover myself, but since this was a ‘clothing optional’ beach, I knew that would be a faux pas.”
September 1996 | Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts | By PETE CUMMIN