I grew up in a middle class family; mom, dad, 3 kids and usually 2 dogs, at one time 3 dogs. I can’t say we wanted for or were denied anything as far as material possessions. Big gifts were for Christmas or birthdays. We did the “OG” back to school clothes shopping. We went to public school so no uniforms. New shoes for school. Sneakers usually for gym. At that time, like grammar school up to junior high years; name brands weren’t that big. Until the designer jeans trend exploded all over.
By the time I arrived at high school all I wanted were Levi’s jeans and my dad’s flannel shirt worn over the pre-requisite heavy metal concert t shirt. Daddy was so good natured about it too. He never complained, even when he rarely saw a particular flannel shirt again unless my sister or I were wearing it. At first he would say, hey put my shirt back, you’ll get bumps all in the front of it. Haha.
I was a “rocker” in high school. Went to a lot of heavy metal concerts. My first concert was Iron Maiden at the Garden. I cut school that day with a few friends to buy tickets. So many of my friends were going and we were taking the ferry then the subway. We all needed a ride to the ferry. My dad drove this work van. Omg it was no surprise my dad had this van. He drove all sorts of work trucks and vans. It was carpeted inside! Bahaha, no bed thank goodness that really would have been ewwww. My dad offered to bring us all to the ferry terminal. There was I think about 8 of us? We looked like a clown car when my dad dropped us off. People stopped and got out of their cars to count us getting out of the van. My dad was laughing so hard.
We saw local bands at clubs either here on the Island or in a larger well known club in Brooklyn. It depended on who was playing and who was driving. There was always a mosh pit going on. I avoided the mosh pit like the plaque; except for the one Slayer show in Brooklyn when the band came out and I was literally in the middle of a mosh. It was horrible I didn’t know where to go. I was literally thrown and landed up in the men’s room somehow. It was actually fine I just wanted out of the pit. I watched Tommy play drums at various studios for band rehearsal. And watched him play out. It was great. I was so proud of him.
We had really great times. I am glad there wasn’t social media back in the day. All of us had amazing memories and there were a few who always had a camera. It was fun to drop off the film and wait to see which pictures came out good, bad or omg! The teasing was fierce, mistakes were made and lessons learned. I realize how fortunate I was to have a great boyfriend, amazingly close friends and parents who welcomed everyone we brought home. Good times 😊.
Menay O; mom to 4, Christian and thrift shopper on the side... 