“Say I’m old-fashioned, say I’m over the hill. Today’s music ain’t got the same soul, I like that old time rock ‘n’ roll”
(Bob Seger, March 1979)
Reminiscing on high school days by Jill (Buikema) Montgomery
I loved it then as a great dance song, and I still love it now… probably more now, as I look back on going to high school and being a teen during the late 70’s. Today’s teens can watch “That 70’s Show” and think they know, “Steal your car and bring it down/Pick me up, we’ll drive around.” But do they? No. I’ve taught high school English for over thirty years, and they may have cell phones, iPads, and Netflix, but they don’t have what this “relic” cherishes about high school.
So, here’s a look back on a few details that today’s teens don’t know and don’t experience…like we did.
5. Technology: The high school had one computer, and a friend would run my “bio-rhythm” on it by entering my birthday, very scientific. My family and most others had one telephone on a short cord in the kitchen for the family to listen in on. One of the two reasons our phone calls were short, and we left to go look for people and to sit on the dike to talk. The other was a parent saying, “What do you want to do? Burn the line?” (Some classmates had a teen line that was even listed in the phone book, and I thought that was so cool!) And, no phone calls after 10 PM. “Seriously, what were you thinking?” TV, yes, we had “Oh, no, Mr. Bill” and other treasures from Saturday Night Live, and the “Creature Feature” with one star movies and commercials with used cars that drove onto the stage…seems like by the end of the night, the last car would drive on from the other direction, and I always wondered why. Watching bowling on TV on a rainy Saturday afternoon when the only other thing to do was either to study Algebra II or sort my sock drawer. (And kids today say there’s nothing to do!) Finally, figuring out curfew was easy if watching one of the three available television stations at a friend’s because the United States flag flew as the “National Anthem” played before the TV went to snow…till the farm show at 4 AM or something crazy.
4. Hanging out: The bleachers were full at every home game, and I’m pretty sure we never went to state for anything. Didn’t matter ’cause we were the River Kings and Queens! We did go on Migration! Remember the paper birds hanging from the rafters of the ceiling in the cafe and commons and riding school busses (like seven or more) to a chosen away game? For home games, we had TIm Mullen, “Big Red” with little Maureen Roshar on his shoulders leading the “Six Pack” and the rest of the student body. (Ed. – the “Six Pack” also included Tom Dunmore, Dave Nelson, Eric Peters and Dave Bopes. As the group grew it was renamed the “12 Pack”, but once the crack administration realized it was an alcohol-related nickname, they were disbanded… BOO-hiss!) Afterwards, we’d have informal dances in the commons with a band, live bands…none of this DJ stuff of today. When the weather was nice, we drove around trying to figure out where people were…took us hours (and gallons of gas during the energy crisis) to drive around Eagle Point Park, 2nd Street, and the dike, looking for people. A reliable source tells me that Clinton teens still drive around. I don’t know why since they have cell phones to text everyone in seconds, but I do know that the mannequin is still looking out that upper window onto the gas station by the courthouse, (and it still gives me the creeps.)
3. Academics: Typing class (asdf asdf asdf jkl; jkl; ). Gym Class: the “Girl’s Gym” where the out line for basketball was like two inches from a brick wall, and the underground workout area was a dungeon complete with dirt floor and torture devices. Running outside wasn’t much better with a cinder track, which always ended up in someone’s flesh, and the dreaded swim test, not sure how I passed that one. Choir, sure they still have choir, but no one, I mean, no one, can replace the legendary Mr. Dehaan. We sat at the edge of our seats during practice, we held hands during concerts (actually, I always wondered if the back rows of guys actually did), and we sang “The Lord Bless You and Keep You” at monuments in Washington D.C. during the Iranian Hostage Crisis and even had a personal tour of the White House with President Carter. Band, with “Down ze line” Mr. Gaulrapp, who was not afraid to rap his baton on the podium until it broke, the baton, that is. And, how many of you took a class pass/fail? Thank you, Mr. Ray Smith, I know you tried to teach me Algebra II, but honestly, it was that Pass/Fail option that got me through the second semester and saved my GPA. That might also explain my less than stellar score on the math portion of the ACT, but not being allowed to use a calculator didn’t help either…today’s teens will never know….Did you show up at Clinton Community College with two number 2 pencils and have no idea what the ACT was, like me? All I knew was that my school counselor said that I needed to take this test to go to college and that I couldn’t study for it…what a deal.
2. Driver’s Education: Free driver’s ed. through the high school complete with cars with a bench seat…sorry, Mr. Grunewald, it’s not my fault that I was 5′ 2″ and bucket seats were reserved for sports cars. Driver’s ed also included a day’s lesson on how to drive a stick shift in case of an emergency, and “What would you do if that were the only car available to drive someone to the hospital?” “Ah, get in a accident on the way….?” Quote from driver’s ed. teacher, “Wreck, wreck…there is no such thing as an ‘accident’!” Oh yeah? I totaled two cars in high school. Sorry, Dad. I understand about teenagers and car insurance now. But, I have driven a stick shift car for the past 30 years…guess I learned something, from my older brother and his VW’s. (Sorry about that yellow Fastback one…actually, the other “wreck” was my VW bug…no wonder Dad outlawed VW’s, the defrost ever worked anyway.) And, who can forget the simulator machines and the movies having us innocently driving down a residential street until the driver’s ed. teacher dropped the metal container for the reel-to-reel movie at the exact time that some kid darts out into the street, and the teacher yelled, “You just killed that kid! If you didn’t break, you just killed him.”
1. Open Campus: Some of us hung out across the street at Burman’s, and many of us hung out in the commons. We’d pile as many seniors (or friends of seniors, if they were lucky) onto the senior bench. We’d play foosball…. Some (guys) would hold up a number rating for some poor freshman girl trying to find her class. (Probably sexist, since it was the era of Bo Derek’s a movie “10,” and “Ms. Magazine,” after all.) Some would even put a dollar bill on a fish line and watch an unsuspecting freshman bend over…lucky for us, we spent our ninth grade year at one of the three junior high schools and got to meet about two-thirds of our class when we arrived at CHS. With one middle school now, those kids will never have the cross town junior high rivalries…. “Go You Wildcats, mighty, mighty Wildcats!”
“Today’s music ain’t got the same soul,
Give me that ol time rock ‘n’ roll!”
(With contributions from Tom Dunmore.)
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