Back Down Memory Lane

Minnie Ripperton - Memory Lane

"I stumbled on this photograph
It kinda made me laugh
It took me way back
Back down memory lane

I see the happiness... I see the pain
Where am I... back down memory lane"

This thing called life. It's a funny thing. I was stumbling through some old floppies the other day, looking for chapters to an elusive novel that I've put off writing, and I stumbled upon some journal entries that I had copied from a notebook. It's amazing the things I tripped out over back then and how my personality pretty much stayed the same. I had fantasies about guys back then but never acted on them. In reviewing some of my entries, I come to realize that I had a major crush on this one guy in college. I was never willing to admit that to myself, though. But the entries I have on how he "never calls" betrays my feelings.

Hemingway, every once in a while I may share an entry or two (depending how long it is). It's just my way of maybe connecting my past to my present. Plus it's kind of cool seeing where you head was at years ago.

So with that, I'll share an entry where I reminisce about my first time in a club. Some more background. I was a junior in college, barely 21, and a member of a national student organization. It was a doozy of a time. Well, here goes nothing...

Wednesday, November 3, 1993

Dear Journal,

In a few days I'll be in Madison, WI for NSBE's fall conference. If I haven't mentioned it before, these conferences are attended mainly for the purpose of meeting fellow black engineers. There is also a career fair as well as various workshops that speak of such topics as racism, engineering technologies, and academic excellence.

There's also alterior motives to going to these conferences. I learned that from the National Conference I attended in Houston, TX. What is this motive I speak of? It's to have fun, of course.

One way to have fun is to check out the city's nightlife. Earvin, Doug, Rick, and I did just that. We four adventurers rode around town looking for just the right spot. Actually we were looking for a place called Reggae Island. I think it was supposed to be a topless bar of some sort. Unfortunately we never did find the place. Instead, we stumbled upon a place I'll never forget as long as I live, or get Alzheimer's disease (whichever comes first).

9.9 was its name and rowdiness was its game. For a $5 fee, you get your fill of marijuana, weed, and gold-teeth women. Upon entering, a Daisy Dukes contest was taking place on stage. Daisy Dukes is the latest slang word that means short shorts that show part of your butt. Anyway (present day E comment...I didn't use the Hemingway back then...*LOL*), to win the contest, all the woman had to do was to dance suggestively on stage and bear her dukes. If she won, she got tickets to see Gerald Levert.

I remember seeing a girl in a tight, neon orange dress being on stage. When she started dancing, guys were jumping up and down like a bunch of ninnies to get a peek. Even I was disillusioned for a minute. Then I started realizing what a fool I must look like. The remaining fools booed the girl off stage after a minute. I guess she didn't show her daisy or something (I was sooo innocent back then...*LOL*).

Another notable girl, who didn't look particularly as attractive, came up. She had on tight jeans which accented her watermelon butt. (Look at me being all hetero...*LOL*) When she danced, the guys once again went wild. She took off her jeans and beared her naked butt for all to see. The guys really went crazy. I even got pushed by some overzealous guys. But they booed her when she put her clothes back on.

During this, I was bombarded by the smell of marijuana. I began to feel overwhelmed. I moved away from the crowd and stood near the bar. Bad move! I could still smell the marijuana. I was dazed. Meanwhile, three guys were now on stage gyrating.

From where I stood, I searched for the other guys. I saw Rick and Doug standing near the crowd where I stood minutes earlier. I approached them. Both seemed to agree that this place was more than they could handle. I wanted to go back to the hotel.

Unfortunately Earvin was nowhere to be seen. Since he's the one who drove, he was the ticket out of this hell hole.

For the next hour, I stood alone near the bar. Women with gold teeth passed me left and right. I even saw a girl who couldn't be more than 14 drinking at the bar. I had gotten used to the awful marijuana smell and loud rap music.

I saw Earvin once or twice during the course of the hour. He was having a ball with some girl he met. He appeared to have noticed I wasn't enjoying myself. I could barely hear him tell me that clubs weren't for everyone. (Ya think!)

Since Earvin was having fun, I knew I'd be stuck here for a while. I stood where I was for the remainder of the night. I once again searched for Rick and Doug from my vantage point. I didn't see either.

I began wondering why I was here. I'd given anything to be at home relaxing in bed. I wanted to get as far away from this place as I could.

Earvin approached me and finally suggested it was time to go. From his breath, I could tell that he had a drink, or two, or three. Anyway we split up looking for Doug and Rick. Neither of us could find them. Earvin suggested that we wait for them to come by the car.

When I stepped outside, two things became apparent to me. One was that I rediscovered the concept of clean air. The other was that I couldn't hear anything. I felt like I was about to be deaf forever. I also started to feel sick.

As Earvin and I reached the car, I saw Rick and Doug standing nearby. When I saw them, I wanted to kill them both. How dare they leave the club without telling me! Did they think I was having a good time? After a while, I realized that I should've been smart enough to get out of there myself.

I swear I felt like I was high or something. Breathing all that marijuana probably caused it.

Earvin drove around in circles for awhile. The guys started talking about going to some party at the Hyatt. In my mind, I was wondering if they were crazy. I wanted to go back to my room. Fortunately the guys were nice enough to drop me back at the hotel.

9.9! I still have nightmares about that place to this day. Hopefully Wisconsin will be nothing like that night in a Texas nightclub. I suspect that it won't, though. For one thing, we spent a whole week in Texas. That's why we had time to explore the town. We'll only be in Wisconsin for the weekend. The schedule is jam packed with activities so there'll be no time for clowning around. PEACE!

Yep, I was reminiscing there about my first time in a club. I wish I could say I'd act differently when going to a club today. But that would be false. I'm as shy today as I was back then. I actually did get over that experience but I must admit the experience changed me a bit. Even though I didn't partake in any carnal desires, I lost a bit of my innocence that night. I crack up when thinking about the time when the four of us had to relay our experiences about Houston. I swear I was cussing up a storm when it was my turn. Some of the other folks went to the other guys and was like, what did you do to him? Awww...I was so innocent back then...*LOL*.

So that was a piece of my past. Hopefully you enjoyed reading it as much as I did reliving it. Until next time.