The Drive-In

I must say, I am REALLY loving this weather. Today it is supposed to actually hit 80. Of course, I would love it even better if I was outside and not trapped at work with Satan, but what can you do? (Wellll, I CAN just quit and hang out outside, but then I would probably have to hang out outside forever since I would be unemployed and broke, so I won’t do that.) Yesterday while I was driving home from Curves (yes, I actually WENT) I had the window down and the radio on, and next thing I know, Axl Rose is longing to go home to the green grass and pretty girls. You know, back in Paradise City. I looooooove that song. It holds so many good memories. And between the good weather and my good mood and the good music, I am hoping this turns out to be a good post.

So anyway, as I’m listening to the music, I started reminiscing. And for some reason, the drive-in came to mind. When I worked in the kitchen at the hospital, once the nice weather arrived, every weekend was Drive-In weekend. And oh. My. God. did we have fun. Of course, if my daughter ever pulled any of the crap I did as a teen (or as a young adult, for that matter) I would KILL her. But I digress. Back to my fond memories.

So anyway, it would usually start out when someone commented how nice it was outside. Then eventually, a whole group of us would be making plans to meet in the hospital parking lot later that evening to go to the drive-in. We ALWAYS invited Eric, because he was over 21. And he always came, because I don’t think he had a lot of friends outside the hospital group. Even though most of us were between 16 and 19. He had a speech impediment, and even though the guy was a near genius, he struggled with certain pronunciations. Case in point – once one of the other guys told me he and some buddies were going to ask Eric to join them on a golf outing. I gushed about how nice that was, and he replied, “Yeah, we want to watch him tee off and yell ‘FIR!’” But believe it or not, mean as all that sounds, we really were nice to him. Especially since he bought the alcohol. Heh.

So I would go home after work and tell my parents I was going to the drive-in. The beauty of the drive-in was that it was a good 30-45 minutes away, and the only one in the area. So the story went like this: “Well, you know, by the time we all MEET and leave the PARKING LOT to go out to WHEELING and then actually GET to the drive-in, it is time for, like the 10:00 show. Which doesn’t END until around MIDNIGHT. And then, you know, getting out is a really PAIN because it is so CROWDED, and then we have to go BACK to the hospital (since most of us carpooled together) and then DROP PEOPLE OFF, and gosh, by the time I make it home, it will PROBABLY be like 2:00 am, but ONLY because it’s the whole DRIVE-IN thing, you know?” Good way to extend your midnight curfew. And it worked, too. But honestly? The explanation wasn’t all bullshit. It was actually pretty true. The only thing that was bullshit was the fact that we needed to stay to watch the whole movie. Because NOBODY actually watched the movie. Duh.

Anyway, a good amount of time was spent getting ready for the outing, because the guys we worked with were Hot. Well, most of them, at least. And you never knew just how the night would wind up. Believe it or not, your fair Dasi was pretty Hot herself back then, too. Tall and shapely, with lots of eyeliner and Rave hairspray. (It was the 80’s, you know…) The gang would generally include anywhere from a dozen to about 30 people, with a pretty equal ratio of guys and girls. So the caravan would leave from the hospital and make a pit stop at a liquor store on Milwaukee Avenue and Eric would go in, with a memorized shopping list and a fistful of dollars. We’d all wait patiently until he emerged with a couple cases of beer, then went back in to get the wine coolers, and back in again for the Boonesfarm someone always requested. Once the trunks were slammed, we were again on our way.

Once at the drive-in, it was party time. Everyone got out of their cars and cracked open their illegal alcohol. Now, before you label myself and my coworkers a bunch of alcoholic minors, let me assure you that generally the drinking was minimal. We couldn’t really handle our alcohol that well, and most of us were deathly afraid of getting busted by our parents. So, casually sipping until the desired buzz was felt was the norm. (And yes, we were still minors, and it was WRONG, and blah, blah, blah for all of you minors reading this. Do as I say, and not as I do yadda yadda.) But, oh the flirting!! That was the A#1 reason for hanging out at the drive-in. Not too long ago, I was reading my old diary, and I found a drive-in entry. Went something like this: “So I was, like, having SOOOO much fun, and Mike was like TOTALLY hitting on me, and I was like, ‘Well, ok, he’s pretty cute,’ but then Colleen came up and started giving him a massage, so I was like ‘Whatever’ and walked away. Then I was talking to Mark and he is like SOOOO CUTE and he is my Honeybunch after all, so I was thinking, ‘Well, maybe I really like Mark,’ but then he went to get some popcorn or something. Then Scott came over and God, HE is SOOOO HOT, and he was like TOTALLY talking to me, so I decided I REALLY liked Scott, until Kelly came up and kissed him RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. So I decided to go to the bathroom, then Larry caught up to me and told me I had beautiful eyes, and Larry is REALLY REALLY HOT AND he is like an AWESOME singer and has these puppy dog eyes, so we were like TOTALLY making out. But he is dating Chris, so we had to pretend like nothing happened when we got back. I’m not sure if he really likes Chris or not, because he told me he really liked ME, but oh, well, whatever.” Yes, in the course of one evening, I liked then didn’t like FOUR guys. Fickle? You could say that. But at sixteen I wasn’t about the long-term thing. And besides, I was still the good-girl virgin, and only wanted to have a little fun. Wine coolers and kissing was DEFINITELY fun.

Ahhhh, the good old days. The drive-in has been closed for like forever now, and in some ways I am glad. I wouldn’t want Lexie trying to pull that “But we’re going to the drive-in” crap. Because I KNOW what goes on. And fun as it was, I don’t want my daughter doing it. But honestly? I miss wine coolers and kissing. Things were a lot more simple back then, weren’t they?