Charlie Steiner
Footballguy
The idea of storytelling has been growing in appeal to me over the last few years, and now that I have watched my mother steadily lose her memories over the last year or so, I've decided it's time to stop worrying about trying to match previous epic stories that have appeared on this board and instead just tell some of mine while I can still remember them, as well as hope this thread will be used by others to tell theirs as well.
Anyone who's interested, please feel free to contribute as you are willing to. I'm framing this in the spirit of The Moth Radio Hour, as heard on NPR, with stories told around a specific theme or idea, but I also don't want to discourage anyone from posting their story, either. I just ask for a reasonable level of decorum.
For the first 'theme', I'm going to start by relaying a time when I put myself out there, much like I feel I'm doing right now...
In the late 70's/early 80's, Beltway Plaza shopping mall in Greenbelt, Md was the cultural center of my universe. It hosted a variety of stores, a few restaurants and the AMC Academy 6 Theater, where I watched many movies that shaped my pre- through late-teen worldview, from Smokey and the Bandit to Star Wars to Silver Streak to The Warriors to Heavy Metal to Monty Python and the Holy Grail to Flesh Gordon and more. That mall was always teeming with people and what I can only call "70's energy"--exciting, certain, safe yet wide open. Despite its close proximity to my house, it was always full of kids my age that went to other schools and lived in other neighborhoods, strangers yet familiar at the same time.
This particular story took place sometime in '79. I was 13, and the arcade at the mall had established itself as the epicenter of teen culture. I had ridden my bike to there for the first time ever on this particular day, so I was disheveled from the trip but I didn't care; I was tasting the true freedom of independent travel for the first time and was buzzing from the feeling.
Then I saw her.
Beautiful face, slim build, blonde hair fashioned in that classic feathered back look, requisite tight jeans (70's tight, not yoga pants tight, form hugging but not revealing) and a nice white top with a lace collar. There were no doubt countless girls sporting that look at the time, but to me, she was the first and only one I saw dressed that way, and she was a real magnet for my eyes; it took full effort to look away from her, especially before she could catch me staring at her.
I can't remember if she was alone or with a friend, but I saw no guys around her. My young mind feverishly thought of some approach that would work on her. I immediately remembered the scene in Bad News Bears when Kelly Leak and Amanda were playing air hockey at an arcade. I remembered Kelly bet her that if he won, she would have to go out with him, and it occurred to me that I could do the same thing. Then I remembered I was dirty and probably smelly from riding my bike there, plus I had no quarters left.
I knew in my heart that I had time to ride home, take a shower, put on more appropriate clothes and get a ride back there before she left. I gave her one last longing look and put my plan into motion. Everything clicked until I got to the part of getting a ride back to the mall. I had saved asking my parents for last, and there I was: clean, hair still damp from a quick shower and beginning to mix with sweat from the ride home as well as now wearing long pants with 2 quarters in them and a long sleeve shirt, about to ask my mother for a ride to the mall, moments away from completing the greatest plan ever...but my mother wasn't around and I ran into my father first.
Asking my dad to do something he wasn't expecting always caused him to make a sound that was somewhere between a long grunt and sigh.
"Didn't you just come from the mall?"
A defeated 'yes' was all I could say.
"Then why do you want to go back up there?"
I was too self-conscious to give a reply. I tried stammering but nothing was coming out until I finally said "I'm going to meet someone up there."
Fortunately, my mother arrived to the conversation at this point. She always had a way of knowing what was happening but subtle enough to roll with the punches and move things along in the right direction. Although, this time she was a little more blunt that I would have liked.
"You meeting a girl?"
Me and girls had never been a topic of discussion for us before, so I went from feeling like a 25 year old smooth operator to a stupid 8 year old with that one question. All I could do was nod and give a weak 'yes.'
Even though she was able to finesse my dad into relenting to drive me to the mall, I was starting feel less confident in my plan, and by the time he dropped me off, all I felt was doom. Even though the arcade was just the second spot from the entrance, that short walk felt much longer, with dread growing at each step. Once the arcade came into focus, I quickly scanned for her face, and THERE SHE WAS! SHE WAS STILL THERE!
With that shot of adrenaline and renewed hope, I pressed on those last few feet until I got to her. I don't even think she had moved from the spot where I last looked at her before I went home earlier. I wish I could tell you which machine it was, but I know that while we watched the kid currently playing it lose his last life and walk away, I knew the moment of truth had arrived. I took a deep breath, knowing the right words would come to me. As we both turned toward the machine, I pulled the two quarters out of my pocket, showed them to her and said, my voice slightly cracking:
"I'll play you?"
Very quickly she shook her head, said 'No' and walked away.
Anyone who's interested, please feel free to contribute as you are willing to. I'm framing this in the spirit of The Moth Radio Hour, as heard on NPR, with stories told around a specific theme or idea, but I also don't want to discourage anyone from posting their story, either. I just ask for a reasonable level of decorum.
For the first 'theme', I'm going to start by relaying a time when I put myself out there, much like I feel I'm doing right now...
In the late 70's/early 80's, Beltway Plaza shopping mall in Greenbelt, Md was the cultural center of my universe. It hosted a variety of stores, a few restaurants and the AMC Academy 6 Theater, where I watched many movies that shaped my pre- through late-teen worldview, from Smokey and the Bandit to Star Wars to Silver Streak to The Warriors to Heavy Metal to Monty Python and the Holy Grail to Flesh Gordon and more. That mall was always teeming with people and what I can only call "70's energy"--exciting, certain, safe yet wide open. Despite its close proximity to my house, it was always full of kids my age that went to other schools and lived in other neighborhoods, strangers yet familiar at the same time.
This particular story took place sometime in '79. I was 13, and the arcade at the mall had established itself as the epicenter of teen culture. I had ridden my bike to there for the first time ever on this particular day, so I was disheveled from the trip but I didn't care; I was tasting the true freedom of independent travel for the first time and was buzzing from the feeling.
Then I saw her.
Beautiful face, slim build, blonde hair fashioned in that classic feathered back look, requisite tight jeans (70's tight, not yoga pants tight, form hugging but not revealing) and a nice white top with a lace collar. There were no doubt countless girls sporting that look at the time, but to me, she was the first and only one I saw dressed that way, and she was a real magnet for my eyes; it took full effort to look away from her, especially before she could catch me staring at her.
I can't remember if she was alone or with a friend, but I saw no guys around her. My young mind feverishly thought of some approach that would work on her. I immediately remembered the scene in Bad News Bears when Kelly Leak and Amanda were playing air hockey at an arcade. I remembered Kelly bet her that if he won, she would have to go out with him, and it occurred to me that I could do the same thing. Then I remembered I was dirty and probably smelly from riding my bike there, plus I had no quarters left.
I knew in my heart that I had time to ride home, take a shower, put on more appropriate clothes and get a ride back there before she left. I gave her one last longing look and put my plan into motion. Everything clicked until I got to the part of getting a ride back to the mall. I had saved asking my parents for last, and there I was: clean, hair still damp from a quick shower and beginning to mix with sweat from the ride home as well as now wearing long pants with 2 quarters in them and a long sleeve shirt, about to ask my mother for a ride to the mall, moments away from completing the greatest plan ever...but my mother wasn't around and I ran into my father first.
Asking my dad to do something he wasn't expecting always caused him to make a sound that was somewhere between a long grunt and sigh.
"Didn't you just come from the mall?"
A defeated 'yes' was all I could say.
"Then why do you want to go back up there?"
I was too self-conscious to give a reply. I tried stammering but nothing was coming out until I finally said "I'm going to meet someone up there."
Fortunately, my mother arrived to the conversation at this point. She always had a way of knowing what was happening but subtle enough to roll with the punches and move things along in the right direction. Although, this time she was a little more blunt that I would have liked.
"You meeting a girl?"
Me and girls had never been a topic of discussion for us before, so I went from feeling like a 25 year old smooth operator to a stupid 8 year old with that one question. All I could do was nod and give a weak 'yes.'
Even though she was able to finesse my dad into relenting to drive me to the mall, I was starting feel less confident in my plan, and by the time he dropped me off, all I felt was doom. Even though the arcade was just the second spot from the entrance, that short walk felt much longer, with dread growing at each step. Once the arcade came into focus, I quickly scanned for her face, and THERE SHE WAS! SHE WAS STILL THERE!
With that shot of adrenaline and renewed hope, I pressed on those last few feet until I got to her. I don't even think she had moved from the spot where I last looked at her before I went home earlier. I wish I could tell you which machine it was, but I know that while we watched the kid currently playing it lose his last life and walk away, I knew the moment of truth had arrived. I took a deep breath, knowing the right words would come to me. As we both turned toward the machine, I pulled the two quarters out of my pocket, showed them to her and said, my voice slightly cracking:
"I'll play you?"
Very quickly she shook her head, said 'No' and walked away.
