I drive a lot to see Wife and Daughter in South East Pa (SEPa), so I listen to audio books. I just finished Brothers by Alex Van Halen. It was excellent and raw. In any case, it reminded me of an event in my life that was more important than I thought at the time.
This happened in June 1982, on the last day of finals- the last day of my sophomore year. I forget the exact date, and it doesn't matter. The day was sunny and glorious.
I had few friends at that time. Two of those were the people that I played D&D with- Dr. Dave and Snake. Snake obviously isn't his real name- it was a nickname given for a really, well, stupid reason, but it stuck. Of the three of us, I was the youngest. In June 1982, I was 15. But Snake was 16... and now had a driver's license.
Oh, to have a license! To escape the confines of our small town- to go wherever we'd like: to the mall, get food, whatever... without having parents drive us! THAT was freedom!
Snake was allowed to drive his mum's beige '75 Subaru (which looks eerily like the photo below.) Snake's dad owned a garage, and Snake was busy restoring an MG-A convertible. I'll come back to that.
1975 Subaru
That day, Snake had the Subaru. Dr. Dave, Snake, and I had the same final exam. As we all lived in Spring City, he offered to drive us home. When we got into the car, Snake suggested we go to the King of Prussia (KOP) mall, which was like Mecca for teens of our area (and was, and still is, one of the largest malls in the world.) Going there always meant parents driving. But... not that day.
The first stop was my house. We were listening to WMMR on the radio, and they were playing Van Halen Dancing in the Street (cover of the Marvin Gaye song made famous by Martha and the Vandellas). The volume was turned WAY UP. When I jumped out of the car to drop off my school stuff, the whole street HAD to hear it!
In a way, this was an announcement to all- I was no longer a Child, I was a Teenager! I had no idea what that would mean, but there I was! Loud and rude- like all the teenagers I'd seen on TV, movies, or in life! Who cares if the music was too loud? Or how annoyed the neighbors on the street would be? It was like a Declaration of Independence.
1962 MG-A just like Snake's. Maybe it is his?
So we went to the mall. I don't remember anything about that trip, but if it was anything like a typical mall trip from later high school, we walked around the mall (which, back then was an oval with a branch sticking out). In the early 80s there had been an update to the mall as well as the construction of a new mall next to it: the Court, which opened in 1981. That was the mall for rich folks- VERY 80s. It's still there, but since another update on the original mall made it much fancier, it looks like the dated old part.
While walking around, we always stopped at Allied Hobbies to look for new AD&D stuff, the Listening Booth record store (where I worked briefly), the food court, and, of course the arcade: Space Port.
I miss arcades- with their low lights to make the screen easier to see, and the great games. True escapism.
So, what's my point? Well, I really don't have one. Maybe there's a metaphor to my "coming out" almost 32 years later. After all, I was 'crossdressing' then- it was my Dark Secret. My Shame. But, you know what? I think, that for that moment in time, that particular event- I felt accepted and Happy.
Be well.
