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Do We Have To
Be Serious ALL The Time? By Mike Minton
Okay, close your eyes. Well, read this paragraph first, and then close your
eyes. Do these songs ring a bell? "Saturday Night," "Rock and Roll Love Letter,"
"Yesterday's Hero." How about "Dedication?" Maybe not if you are under 35 or
over 50. But if you fall in there somewhere, these may mean something to you.
Sometimes, after writing about politics, scandals, illegal immigration and the
like, I like to take refuge in my childhood. A time when things weren't so
serious. At least not to me. I was only 6 when I went to my first concert--the
Bay City Rollers. I even had, prepare yourself, an 8-track tape they had out.
While I no longer have the 8-track, I do have a CD called Bay City Rollers-The
Definitive Collection.
I know that the very mention of 'The Rollers,' as we called them, can bring
jeers from some folks, but that's ok, I can handle it. Life was good back then.
Actually, life was tough, but I was young enough--and naïve enough--not to know
any better.
It was a tumultuous time in our country. The Vietnam War was just ending...at
least for our guys (God Bless them!), Jimmy Carter was president, we had
gasoline rationing and double-digit inflation. The Cold War with the U.S.S.R.
was still raging, mandatory busing and the ensuing riots were starting, and we
had occasional drills in school in preparation for 'the bomb,' but never really
thought much about it.
None of that really mattered to a 6-year old kid from Louisville, KY.
What did matter? April Doorman, a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, in Mrs.
Lewis' first grade class at Hawthorn Elementary...and my girlfriend! Ah, life
was grand.
What else mattered? The flats. A place off the beaten path that no adults knew
about. My best friend at the time and I would ride our bikes there and jump off
of ramps we had constructed. We would 'pop wheelies' and talk about girls. You
know--boy stuff. No girls were invited to 'the flats.'
I think our parents had an easier time of it then, too. Psycho pedophiles and
child killers were not a major issue, and rarely did my mother worry about where
I was going. "Be in when the street lights come on." That was the basic rule of
thumb in those days. Man, now-a-days our kids can't even go out in the front
yard without supervision, much less 'the flats.'
I miss those days sometimes. Naturally, nothing was perfect then, but at six who
cares?
What else mattered? Lets see, the Hawthorn Raiders. The Raiders were the
football team that my friends and I concocted during recess. And, while I knew I
was 'in love' with April, I was also quite smitten with our 'head cheerleader,'
Melody Murphy. She had really dark hair. When it came to girls, I liked them
all! I even remember the way one of my classmates signed my yearbook that year,
"How is Mike's head like a doorknob? Any girl can turn it."
Thank God some things never change!
Do you remember those days? Tell you what. Go get a Bay City Rollers CD, an
original Coca-Cola and some Pop Rocks. Play some 'Rollers,' eat some Pop Rocks,
chase 'em with a Coke and reminisce.
Do we have to be serious ALL the time?
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