Christmas in 1984 was an interesting time. As a small ensemble (which I had auditioned for and rejoined at the beginning of my Senior year), we again sold Christmas Carols and participated in various Christmas themed contests, sang at malls and church gatherings. I was involved in a fun version of Charles Dickens' "a Christmas Carol" in which we played various roles and had a pretty good turn-out. I dated one co-star in the production, but dated another after the cast party. I also stole a number of my step-father's credit cards and ran up about $800 buying various Christmas presents for myself and friends. On Christmas eve, my Mom and I loaded up into the car and drove to my Aunt Carole's house. This was the only time I had seen the entire family together. Even my Uncle Reb joined us after not seeing his family for thirty years or more. My cousin Greg was about to turn eleven and we had a lot of fun playing football and just hanging out. For Christmas day, we had 10 adults and 9 kids with me as the oldest and my brother stopping by later in the night. My uncle Charlie, shocked by getting gifts, went to his trunk and picked up things which he then gave out to the kids. I got a screwdriver.
A couple of days later, we drove home. I never even asked why Bud didn't come with us. I was just happy he didn't. The first day back to school, the girl I had hooked up with at the cast party, Michelle, came and asked me to the Winter Formal Ball. I told her that I would go, as long as she paid for everything and she agreed. Michelle was very pretty but she was not really what I was interested in at the time. She was pretty, smart, dressed well, was in small ensemble and a co-lead in many plays with me and had a geeky quality that did not show at first glance. She was a nice girl and I treated her as poorly as about anyone I had up to that point. And that is really saying something. The week before the dance, a mildly more popular girl named Dawna asked me to go to the dance. The conversation went a little something like this:
Dawna: Hey do you want to go to the dance with me?
Me: I am already going with Michele.
Dawna: Couldn't you get out of that?
Me: Yeah, I could. Okay.
Michelle found out not from me, but from the grapevine. She was less than happy. She called me and put me on the spot, which I did not like, so I told her that I was going with Dawna. It was really not a fun dance and Dawna and I double dated with some toher folks who I knew but were not the party type. The dance was in San Francisco and was the night before the 49ers beat the Dolphins at Stanford Stadium for Super Bowl XIX. People were drunk and crazy and yelling out things like "niners!" all night long.
The following Thursday, we got report cards. I had always done as well as I wanted to in school and all I cared about my senior year was passing, so I often skipped classes and bent the rules to my pleasure. After all, I had enough credits that all I needed to graduate was one class for one semester. That class was American Government and I knew from the way the teacher graded that I would receive a B- from the work I had turned in and the tests I had taken. So, the day of report cards, my teacher handed them out personally. He smiled as he handed me a piece of paper upon which was written the district policy for attendance. It said, any student could be given an incomplete who missed 21 or more days of a semester, regardless of reason or the work completed. Thinking he was joking due to the smile on his face, I reached out for my grade. The paper said Goverment: Inc. Absences: 23. I was devastated and figured I could talk my way out of it, so I refused to sign up for another government class. Pre-season track was on and I began high jump, pole vault and long jump. On February 1st, Mom and I moved away from Bud for the last time and back to an apartment in Sunnyvale...Bud moved to an apartment in the same complex.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Part XXXIII
Early in my senior year, I had made a bet with a friend that I would go to every couple's dance that year, that I would not ask anyone and would not pay for any of them. Yeah, I was a catch, what can I say? There was a power play in most girls I dated back then. I was proving my bravado by dating whomever I wanted, regardless of having no qualities which a girl would find attractive and dating them on my own terms. Since it never hurt me in that area to act like a jerk, I made it a science. My lack of concern for the feelings and hurts of these girls still gives me a shiver. Anyway, the first dance that year was homecoming and I was asked by a friend from choir. I simply told her that I could not afford anything and she bought everything, tickets and all. On top of that, I did not have a license, so we doubled with my friend Mark and his date (also just a friend) Debbie. It was a pretty quiet evening, I was not used to going out with just a friend and did not really know how to act. I remember it as being uneventful but pretty fun to just hang out. You would have to ask her if it was the same for her, I never asked.
That Friday night, we had played our homecoming game against Cupertino HS and lost 19-0. I didn't even get to play, and didn't really care as I was just proving to myself that I could finish the season on the team. We finished the season 3-7 with four of our losses by less than 7 points. That is pretty good for a team which was the joke of the league the year before, finishing 1-9. The three other losses were complete blowouts. My mom finally came to one of my games, the last one. We lost 7-6 and I didn't even get to play, but mom was in the stands wearing my away jersey. It was "mother's night" and they honored the mothers in the middle of the field at half-time, which I found odd because Mom had never given me even a ride to practice, much less gone to a game before that. But, I finished the season, and follow-through was not my strong point. Of that, I was proud and could move on.
The first day back to school, a sophomore girl I had dated in the summer once or twice, asked me to the Sadie Hawkins dance in response to me telling her that her skirt looked like upholstery (what a peach huh?). I agreed because I was on the spot and because it was a quick way to make sure I was on track to win my bet. Lisa had a huge crush on me and it showed. She was a pretty girl, but was going through the awkward zits and braces stage of teen hell. I was definitely not the guy to make her feel better about it. Sadie Hawkins was in November, just after our season ended and a bunch of us went to some house and drank blackberry schnapps. I don't know if Lisa was much of a drinker, but she got toasted and we headed to the dance. I sort of lost her at the dance at one point and I saw a friend (female) and began talking to her when Wham's "Careless Whisper" began to play so we began to dance because we could slow dance and talk at the same time. Mid-way through the dance, Susan says to me, "Oh no. Look behind you." So, I turn around and Lisa is standing there crying like seeing me dance with Susan was the worst thing that could possibly happen. Now, I was not one to be particularly sensitive at the time, but I still don't know what the big deal was. We were just dancing, and not even interested in each other. Anyway, Lisa made a fool of herself that night in front of everyone, but I attribute it to the booze. I guess I should have checked up on what her expectations for the night were. I mean, she did pay for everything.
That Friday night, we had played our homecoming game against Cupertino HS and lost 19-0. I didn't even get to play, and didn't really care as I was just proving to myself that I could finish the season on the team. We finished the season 3-7 with four of our losses by less than 7 points. That is pretty good for a team which was the joke of the league the year before, finishing 1-9. The three other losses were complete blowouts. My mom finally came to one of my games, the last one. We lost 7-6 and I didn't even get to play, but mom was in the stands wearing my away jersey. It was "mother's night" and they honored the mothers in the middle of the field at half-time, which I found odd because Mom had never given me even a ride to practice, much less gone to a game before that. But, I finished the season, and follow-through was not my strong point. Of that, I was proud and could move on.
The first day back to school, a sophomore girl I had dated in the summer once or twice, asked me to the Sadie Hawkins dance in response to me telling her that her skirt looked like upholstery (what a peach huh?). I agreed because I was on the spot and because it was a quick way to make sure I was on track to win my bet. Lisa had a huge crush on me and it showed. She was a pretty girl, but was going through the awkward zits and braces stage of teen hell. I was definitely not the guy to make her feel better about it. Sadie Hawkins was in November, just after our season ended and a bunch of us went to some house and drank blackberry schnapps. I don't know if Lisa was much of a drinker, but she got toasted and we headed to the dance. I sort of lost her at the dance at one point and I saw a friend (female) and began talking to her when Wham's "Careless Whisper" began to play so we began to dance because we could slow dance and talk at the same time. Mid-way through the dance, Susan says to me, "Oh no. Look behind you." So, I turn around and Lisa is standing there crying like seeing me dance with Susan was the worst thing that could possibly happen. Now, I was not one to be particularly sensitive at the time, but I still don't know what the big deal was. We were just dancing, and not even interested in each other. Anyway, Lisa made a fool of herself that night in front of everyone, but I attribute it to the booze. I guess I should have checked up on what her expectations for the night were. I mean, she did pay for everything.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Part XXXII
In late July of 1984, I decided to take one more run at football and joined the pre-season for varsity. Using my theory of lying, when asked I told the coach I was an All-State wingback in Colorado. Unfortunately, I had the wrong position and meant flanker. The position I was put in was actually wing-back which is a sort of utility back position (some receiving; some rushing; lots of blocking) and at 160 lbs., I was a tad light for the job. On defense, I played cornerback. In order to be eligible to play, every player had to carry a 2.0 GPA and have had at least 4 C's in the previous semester. Through my tomfoolery of the previous semester, I had only taken three classes but had all A's and a GPA of roughly 3.8. Nonetheless, I was ineligible for the first 6 games and was sent to third string for both practice and eventually for the whole season. I should note that I was still an excellent receiver, so long as you didn't need me to be fast or agile. I did not drop a pass thrown to me for 7 straight weeks in practice (I only had three passes thrown to me in games and I caught all three, but not for very much yardage).
On August 1st, we moved to Santa Clara as Mom re-united with Bud. This put us out of our district and I ended up having to go to another rival school for one day before they could approve my transfer back to Fremont High...it was weird. I was headed into my senior year and the larger apartment made for larger parties on the weekends when Mom and Bud would head up to the cabin. I began working at a little known (at the time) sandwich shop called Subway. I quickly became a trusted employee and was given my own key to the place which just caused me to use it to grab soda from the machine or ice any time I needed it because the shop was a short walk from our place. As the semester began, I was an aide in the office and pretty quickly stole a roll of stickers which when added to your student ID, allowed you into some dances for free and gave you some discounts also. I passed them out to my football buddies and one of them turned me in, so I lost my class as an office aide. Although I was the life of the party and so somewhat popular, some people really disliked my scamming ways and "Eddie Haskell" charm. Later I would find that even those who hung out with me were not all that fond of me and that I had created few lasting friendships. I guess that is what happens when you use people for your own purposes.
Bud and Mom were drinkers and pot-smokers and had a tendency toward irrational behavior. Bud was always devising money-saving plans around the house and the one that usually got me in the most trouble had to do with the curtains. Bud liked the curtains and windows open at night to let in cool breeze and closed during the day to keep it from getting too hot. For some reason, I just could not remember to follow these rules. It was not disobedience, but lack of care. One day at the end of summer, my friend Martin and I went out to a movie and upon return, were greeted with my Mom in a less than pleasant mood, and drunk. Right in front of Martin, she began screaming at me about not closing the curtains in a way that must have sounded a little like "no more wire hangers" from Mommy Dearest. After the tirade, I walked Martin to the bus stop so he could get home and he almost cried. He said he had never seen anything like that, was so sorry and asked if I wanted to come live at his house. To be honest, I didn't know what the big deal was. That wasn't even that bad, so I told him I would be fine and headed back home.
On August 1st, we moved to Santa Clara as Mom re-united with Bud. This put us out of our district and I ended up having to go to another rival school for one day before they could approve my transfer back to Fremont High...it was weird. I was headed into my senior year and the larger apartment made for larger parties on the weekends when Mom and Bud would head up to the cabin. I began working at a little known (at the time) sandwich shop called Subway. I quickly became a trusted employee and was given my own key to the place which just caused me to use it to grab soda from the machine or ice any time I needed it because the shop was a short walk from our place. As the semester began, I was an aide in the office and pretty quickly stole a roll of stickers which when added to your student ID, allowed you into some dances for free and gave you some discounts also. I passed them out to my football buddies and one of them turned me in, so I lost my class as an office aide. Although I was the life of the party and so somewhat popular, some people really disliked my scamming ways and "Eddie Haskell" charm. Later I would find that even those who hung out with me were not all that fond of me and that I had created few lasting friendships. I guess that is what happens when you use people for your own purposes.
Bud and Mom were drinkers and pot-smokers and had a tendency toward irrational behavior. Bud was always devising money-saving plans around the house and the one that usually got me in the most trouble had to do with the curtains. Bud liked the curtains and windows open at night to let in cool breeze and closed during the day to keep it from getting too hot. For some reason, I just could not remember to follow these rules. It was not disobedience, but lack of care. One day at the end of summer, my friend Martin and I went out to a movie and upon return, were greeted with my Mom in a less than pleasant mood, and drunk. Right in front of Martin, she began screaming at me about not closing the curtains in a way that must have sounded a little like "no more wire hangers" from Mommy Dearest. After the tirade, I walked Martin to the bus stop so he could get home and he almost cried. He said he had never seen anything like that, was so sorry and asked if I wanted to come live at his house. To be honest, I didn't know what the big deal was. That wasn't even that bad, so I told him I would be fine and headed back home.
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