Going Way Back
My beautiful wife and I had a long drive to Syracuse and back.
The drive back didn’t amount to much as she slept for 2+ hours, but on the way there, Bob Seger’s ‘Against the Wind’ (a tremendous song)...
...got us talking about our childhoods.
Seger played the Aud on back-to-back nights in 1980.
“Did you go?” Kathy asked.
“No!”
I answered a little too fast and a little too loudly.
“I did. I take it that you were pissed.”
“I was. I wanted to go. All the good-looking girls went. I wasn’t allowed. Mom said ‘No.’
Somehow we went from my first concert (Stones at Rich Stadium) to the first time that we figured out what men-women relationships were all about.
(She was 14. I still haven’t figured it out).
Kathy said that she was about 14 when a girlfriend started talking about sex.
“I was blown away,” she said. “Was pretty sure it was the most gross thing I’d ever heard.”
I recalled talking about the subject at the Lions campsite. My tutor was an old friend. I mentioned his name and that I too was pretty mystified.
“He’s a good-looking guy,” Kathy said.
(I laughed. She’s met him twice).
“Every girl I ever knew thought that. Me? On the other hand, I was a mess. I liked one girl at a time. Couldn’t fathom how to juggle feelings for more than one.”
Kathy did have a question though.
“How did guys know which girl would do stuff?”
“How the hell do I know?” I asked. “None were doing stuff for me.”
“No, you know what I mean. Some guys wouldn’t date girls who had the rep for being goody-goody. They always went for the sure things.”
“We didn’t have many sure things in North Collins,” I said, but I didn’t know.
I was clueless.
“It’s a confusing time,” I said. “You’re a kid and you want to try and grow up. Everyone is judging you, and you want to act tough.”
“It’s worse for a girl,” Kathy said.
And I imagine that it is.
Boys making up stories. Other girls being bitchy.
I’ve still never seen Seger perform live.
“Can’t believe it was 38 years ago,” I said.
“Wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then,” Seger sings.
Indeed.
“There was a whole lot I didn’t know then,” I said.
But it was a lot of fun reminiscing.
The drive back didn’t amount to much as she slept for 2+ hours, but on the way there, Bob Seger’s ‘Against the Wind’ (a tremendous song)...
...got us talking about our childhoods.
Seger played the Aud on back-to-back nights in 1980.
“Did you go?” Kathy asked.
“No!”
I answered a little too fast and a little too loudly.
“I did. I take it that you were pissed.”
“I was. I wanted to go. All the good-looking girls went. I wasn’t allowed. Mom said ‘No.’
Somehow we went from my first concert (Stones at Rich Stadium) to the first time that we figured out what men-women relationships were all about.
(She was 14. I still haven’t figured it out).
Kathy said that she was about 14 when a girlfriend started talking about sex.
“I was blown away,” she said. “Was pretty sure it was the most gross thing I’d ever heard.”
I recalled talking about the subject at the Lions campsite. My tutor was an old friend. I mentioned his name and that I too was pretty mystified.
“He’s a good-looking guy,” Kathy said.
(I laughed. She’s met him twice).
“Every girl I ever knew thought that. Me? On the other hand, I was a mess. I liked one girl at a time. Couldn’t fathom how to juggle feelings for more than one.”
Kathy did have a question though.
“How did guys know which girl would do stuff?”
“How the hell do I know?” I asked. “None were doing stuff for me.”
“No, you know what I mean. Some guys wouldn’t date girls who had the rep for being goody-goody. They always went for the sure things.”
“We didn’t have many sure things in North Collins,” I said, but I didn’t know.
I was clueless.
“It’s a confusing time,” I said. “You’re a kid and you want to try and grow up. Everyone is judging you, and you want to act tough.”
“It’s worse for a girl,” Kathy said.
And I imagine that it is.
Boys making up stories. Other girls being bitchy.
I’ve still never seen Seger perform live.
“Can’t believe it was 38 years ago,” I said.
“Wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then,” Seger sings.
Indeed.
“There was a whole lot I didn’t know then,” I said.
But it was a lot of fun reminiscing.
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