Saturday, February 17, 2007

Feb. 17, 2007

Today has been a most fun day. June, a childhood friend, and I went up to our hometown to see Mary Anne, whom I have not seen since high school. Another childhood friend, Anne, met us as well. June and Anne live in MS. I live in Memphis. Mary Anne being the adventurous one, lives in San Francisco. We met at Mary Anne's mother's house for a delicious lunch and an afternoon of 'Do you remember?' Oh--the things we did remember!!

Our hometown had a population of 6,000 at best. We had a freedom that no longer exists. Everyone knew everyone but most importantly everyone knew our parents. In those days, as may hold true places today, knowledge of and access to one's parents by the populous was a deterrent to delinquent behavior. Yet we did our share of mischief. We had 3 in-door movie theaters--the Ruffin, Rizt, and Gem and 1 drive-in, the Raco. We had dances in the basement of the Presbyterian church after football games. Any other past time activities were up to our imaginations and means.

We knew in early elementary school that only the county school children attended the in-door movies on Saturdays. We did the proper thing--gathered at each others houses on Sat. The movies we went to were on Fri and Sunday nights. Movies rotated so that there was a 'good'movie on Friday changing to B Westerns on Sat back to a different 'good' movie on Sunday. Mattered little what was showing since few of us ever managed to see a complete movie without someone or all being kicked out. We viewed the theater as our social gathering spot which to our dismay was not the view of the manager. He did have the upper hand. We did have the power to make him miserable if we 'took a disliking' to him. We disliked more than one.

Exactly how we came up with our system of boyfriend-girlfriend acknowledgement I am not sure. Possibly it was a pass down from older groups. Possibly it was an universal behavior. Regardless of its beginnings our Friday night tradition was for the girls to arrive at the movie before the boys. We filed in sitting every other seat. The boys as if on cue would then enter filling in the vacant seats. If you did not have a boyfriend there was always the chance that one or both seats next to you would be left vacant. God forbid!! You then had to move over --No doubt the worse thing that could happen to a 6th, 7th or 8th grade female. The humiliation was heavy to bear.

It did not take over once, maybe twice, of my having to make the dreaded seat move before I came up with a solution. Two of my closest friends were among the most sought after. I simply made sure I was sitting one seat away from either Susan or Judy and on perfect nights I managed to sit in between. Because those seats on either side of these particular friends were always taken it was a given that I would be sitting by a boy. Trust me it saved face!!!

Saving face to appear popular is not left behide in elementary school. I fear it follows most of us through life. To be different is to be in that one seat over with no one by you and it is in most cases undesireable. We cater to peer pressure from birth to death always seeking the approval of others. Total maturity and inner peace cannot be reached until we seek the approval of ourselves and of our God and not that of others. Unfortunately I am still a child.

Did you have similar 'traditions'?

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