chapter 3
Where we lived there was really only 3 hang outs. One was the Bowling Club which was really only for the “Old Farts”. Sometimes they had good bands on and concerts but it was harder to get into it if you were underage. Which we all were. They usually checked Identification and were a little more strict.
The second was the small hotel/pub in the town I lived in, this is where all our parents went. So it was more for the ones that were older than us but younger than the Old Farts. And besides we would never go there simply because that’s where our parents were.
The third was our hang out. It was in another town but still within walking distance. This is where all the young ones hung out. I have to say that most of the young ones were underage. Everyone knew the underage kids hung out there, even the police. I used to think that the police must have been getting a cut of the profits because whenever they were about to arrive the barmaids would go around to all the ones that were obviously too young to be there and tell us that we better get going because the police are on their way. And sure enough just as all of us young ones were waiting out in the car park for a lift home the police cars would arrive. But due to the fact that we had prior warning usually no one got caught.
I started going to this local hangout when I was about 16, not regularly though, only occasionally. I didn't start going on a regular basis until I was around 17 and pretty much everytime I was there so was Jon. We will get back to that later though.
Other than our local hang out, as young ones there wasn’t a great number of choices of functions for us to attend, but we did have these events called blue light discos. I think they were monthly. We would meet at the local community hall and a city bus would come and pick us up and at the end of the night it would drop us off. Mostly kids went to these discos to dance and have fun and also to check out the cute boys from other schools. Blue light discos are only for those under the age of 18. So when we weren’t going to the local underage we were usually hanging out at the Town Hall dancing. It was an awful lot of fun. I don’t know if they still have them now.
I remember one particular disco I went to with my friend Kylie. She lived in the same town as me, and we had become good friends since we both continued our schooling to year 11. I met her at the community hall and we waited for the bus together. It think it was about a 20-25 minute drive by bus to the Town Hall where the disco was held. The bus ride was always rowdy but a lot of fun. When the bus arrived it would pull to a stop right outside the front doors of the Town Hall. We would get off and there would be thousands of kids everywhere. After we got off the bus we lined up with all the other kids waiting for the doors to open. Once they were open and we were inside usually we would head straight to the locker counter and put all our bags and stuff safely in there so that nothing would be stolen while we were dancing and as soon as we had done that we would just dance all night.
There was one night I remember well. I hadn’t seen my best friend Natasha for a very long time. She left school the year before and I continued on without her. Which of course meant I had to find new friends. Which thankfully wasn’t a hard thing to do. I already knew all of the locals. I had been friends with Kylie for several years and we used to walk to school together, but for some reason we would never hang out once we were at school. Kylie and I had gone to the Blue Light Disco together and were dancing up near the front of the Town Hall and over to the side. We never ever danced in this area of the Hall. We always danced at the back of the hall so that we could easily go out for a cigarette.
I used to smoke in those days. Something I gave up not too long after I left school for good. I soon realised how bad it was for me. I honestly thought it was something I did because I thought it made me look cool. We danced up the front this particular night only because Jon was there. I don’t know if Kylie ever knew how I felt about him, she never mentioned anything. And he wouldn’t have as we were never an item, as in boyfriend and girlfriend.
I’ll never forget that night. I was wearing a white dress that later on I would learn had quite an impact……….
The second was the small hotel/pub in the town I lived in, this is where all our parents went. So it was more for the ones that were older than us but younger than the Old Farts. And besides we would never go there simply because that’s where our parents were.
The third was our hang out. It was in another town but still within walking distance. This is where all the young ones hung out. I have to say that most of the young ones were underage. Everyone knew the underage kids hung out there, even the police. I used to think that the police must have been getting a cut of the profits because whenever they were about to arrive the barmaids would go around to all the ones that were obviously too young to be there and tell us that we better get going because the police are on their way. And sure enough just as all of us young ones were waiting out in the car park for a lift home the police cars would arrive. But due to the fact that we had prior warning usually no one got caught.
I started going to this local hangout when I was about 16, not regularly though, only occasionally. I didn't start going on a regular basis until I was around 17 and pretty much everytime I was there so was Jon. We will get back to that later though.
Other than our local hang out, as young ones there wasn’t a great number of choices of functions for us to attend, but we did have these events called blue light discos. I think they were monthly. We would meet at the local community hall and a city bus would come and pick us up and at the end of the night it would drop us off. Mostly kids went to these discos to dance and have fun and also to check out the cute boys from other schools. Blue light discos are only for those under the age of 18. So when we weren’t going to the local underage we were usually hanging out at the Town Hall dancing. It was an awful lot of fun. I don’t know if they still have them now.
I remember one particular disco I went to with my friend Kylie. She lived in the same town as me, and we had become good friends since we both continued our schooling to year 11. I met her at the community hall and we waited for the bus together. It think it was about a 20-25 minute drive by bus to the Town Hall where the disco was held. The bus ride was always rowdy but a lot of fun. When the bus arrived it would pull to a stop right outside the front doors of the Town Hall. We would get off and there would be thousands of kids everywhere. After we got off the bus we lined up with all the other kids waiting for the doors to open. Once they were open and we were inside usually we would head straight to the locker counter and put all our bags and stuff safely in there so that nothing would be stolen while we were dancing and as soon as we had done that we would just dance all night.
There was one night I remember well. I hadn’t seen my best friend Natasha for a very long time. She left school the year before and I continued on without her. Which of course meant I had to find new friends. Which thankfully wasn’t a hard thing to do. I already knew all of the locals. I had been friends with Kylie for several years and we used to walk to school together, but for some reason we would never hang out once we were at school. Kylie and I had gone to the Blue Light Disco together and were dancing up near the front of the Town Hall and over to the side. We never ever danced in this area of the Hall. We always danced at the back of the hall so that we could easily go out for a cigarette.
I used to smoke in those days. Something I gave up not too long after I left school for good. I soon realised how bad it was for me. I honestly thought it was something I did because I thought it made me look cool. We danced up the front this particular night only because Jon was there. I don’t know if Kylie ever knew how I felt about him, she never mentioned anything. And he wouldn’t have as we were never an item, as in boyfriend and girlfriend.
I’ll never forget that night. I was wearing a white dress that later on I would learn had quite an impact……….
posted by Cindi-today at 11:37 AM
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