Friday, May 2, 2008

FFA

Okay, I have slacked off for a couple of weeks and decided three weeks was just too long to go without writing. Besides, how can I get "picked" if I don't ever write anything!

This week's topic: What is the lamest thing you ever did as a teenager that you thought was SOOOOO cool?

Sunshine Tournament. Enough said.



Okay, I'll expound. I was a sophomore in High School (aka: the golden age for lameness) and we, my chicas and I, decided Sunshine Tournament was a must. You weren't COOL if you didn't go. (Truthfully, I didn't get involved in the planning of this event. I went along for the ride - my Sophomore Theme).

Sunshine Tournament, for those of you who are unawares, takes place south of here and includes: baseball game after baseball game, cruising up and down the main boulevard, getting drunk and making out with whomever will make out with you. Doesn't that sound like my kind of party? I fit into this little gig about as comfortably as a brand new penny loafer.

There were about six or eight of us girls that went together, if my memory serves me correctly, but I was completely surprised to find half the school had transplanted themselves into this sunny little retirement community. As the new girl, this was my first experience with the baseball-craziness that saturated my new hometown. Perhaps our fellow peers flocking around was the reason we felt it necessary to display our coolness with more vibrancy.

That vibrancy came in the form of a non-descript grey and plastic block. While we cruised back and forth, my friend passed her cell phone around for all of us to talk on as if we were someone really important because only the elite and wealthy had cell phones in that day. Of course, this wasn't a real cell phone. She bought it before we left at a toy store as a prop to our coolness. And it wasn't like the cell phones of today. Remember the original box phones that were more like a giant brick against your ear than an actual talking device? Definately cool because you couldn't mistake it for something else and you couldn't ignore these notably hip, newly licensed teenage girls passing a grey block around and talking nonsense to a make-believe recipient.


Oh, we thought for sure with that phone there wasn't a cute boy in town that wouldn't want to hook up with us. I even noticed a really old guy, he must have been around 25, checking us out. When I noticed him, he had a very distinct look on his face. I remember it clearly because we were stopped at a light and I had the phone to my ear and as I turned, I found him watching us. I continued to talk into my phone and he just stared. Poor chap...he was jealous.

For two whole days we paraded around town, hung out at an occassional baseball game, visited the hippest motels where the cute boys gathered and took turns being important with a very impressive, fake, brick phone.

8 comments:

Jenni said...

That is hilarious. At least you can blame it on being a sophomore...but what about the rest of the group?!

What happens at Sunshine, stays at Sunshine.

Jami said...

Oh, the Sunshine Tournament. . . My problem was that the one year I got to go down for it, I spent the whole time trying desperately to be as cool as everyone else was. I was under no delusions that I pulled that one off.

Of course, I didn't have a "cell phone," either.

Laura F said...

Oh man, I don't remember if I ever did go down for Sunshine, but I do remember my parents offering to take us one year... as if that would make it possible for us to be cool by going. I think they actually wanted to watch the games, too!

Laura F said...

ps - I do remember vividly Susie Perkins and Stephanie Hunter and their affinity for Salt and Vinegar chips on our saing george tennis trips... I hate them (the chips) then, and I love them now. I guess I wasn't quite COOL enough yet as a sophomore.

Amanda said...

I think you win, although most of us have been in that boat. But the fact that you were willing to write about it, I think deserves at least 50 points.

I won't go into the details of my Sunshine experience. Although I broke the mold and didn't get drunk or make out with anyone, I did ride up and down the street, windows down, in a bikini top. Yes, I admit it, a bikini top. What was I thinking, and why didn't anyone stop me?

I agree with Jenni, what happens at Sunshine, stays at Sunshine.

Tink said...

You know, if you hadn't been so disenchanted with your experience with Sunshine Tournament Mom and Dad might have let me go. Maybe I should be thanking you. I avoided many pitfalls by watching you:) Not that I don't have my own lame stories to tell about my quest for cool.

Anna said...

I love the cell phone. My dad had one that looked like that that we kept in the car. I also thought I was the coolest to have it when I was out with my friends!

Loraine said...

OK girls, I just couldn't resist reading the comments from you all. This is a very funny tradition you've started. And Jenny, yes, Carillisa saved you from many pit falls. If my memory serves me right, she came home and said it wasn't worth it and it wasn't what she thought it would be. Aren't you glad you didn't waste your time???? :)