I was going to a Catholic High School in my home town of North Bay, in Canada. I had been in the habit of flashing people the two fingered "Peace" sign like a hippie-wannabe (that was how I tried to be "cool" back then. It was about 1975).

One day, a lot of people gave me a hard time, and instead of flashing the "Peace" sign to people, I gave a lot more of the middle-finger salute to my fellow school-mates than usual.

Walking home after school that day, I noticed my mother driving by me in her car. She honked and waved at me as she passed, and so I wanted to flash her the "Peace" sign. Unfortunately, I absent-mindedly gave her the middle-finger salute instead. I tried to correct myself but she had already gone by. My friend beside me laughed, but I expected to be killed on my return home.

Fortunately, my mom hadn't seen my response to her waving from the car, and my life was spared.