Yearbook, Chapter 4

The following Friday would be the last high school dance before graduation.  Bubbles accepted my invitation to go there as my date.

Since our late night at Rudy's, we had spent more time together.  I drove her to school a couple of times.  We sat with each other at lunch time in the school cafeteria.

She was much easier to get along with than my ex-girlfriend.  We laughed a lot and never had a fight.

On Friday night I picked her up in my father's car and drove to the school.  It was more crowded than usual.  Most avoided dancing the first few songs, waiting for friends to arrive.

We got in the mood when Chubby Checker and the Twist was played.  It was fun dancing to that.

Bubbles asked if was okay if she left me for some minutes to gab with a couple of her girl friends.  I looked for one of my friends.

As I was wandering about on the crowded gym floor, I ran into the one person I didn't want to see, my ex.  We exchanged glances and she finally broke the ice.

"Where's your friend Bubbles?  Has she already dumped you?"

"No!  She'll be back soon.  How are you?"

"Much better these days.  Wanna dance?"

"No, I don't think so.  I'm here with Bubbles."

"You could do better."

"I'm happier now than before."

"Fuck you!"

And she stormed off.  I turned and continued looking for my buddy.  And then there was Bubbles, standing alone with tears swelling up in her eyes.

"I saw you talking to your ex.  What's going on?"

"Nothing.  We just ran into each other.  I'm happier with you and I told her so."

A big smile grew on her face.

"Are you sure, Bennie?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."  

Regrets 1

 In December 1962, my best friend from high school, Frank Ruggio, and I embarked on a weekend trip from Oswego to Syracuse to New York City.  Our goal, which we achieved, was to attend three  professional sporting events within about 24 hours.

However, during our trip we had extra time on our hands to do other things.  Frank wanted to do some things I did not agree to do that in retrospect I wish I had.  It is one of my regrets in life.

On Saturday night in Syracuse, after an NBA basketball game, we had some time to kill before our bus left for New York City (at 2:30 AM).  Frank wanted to go to a porno movie house near the bus station, something not available in our home town.

I, on the other hand, coming from a prudish background, declined to go with Frank.  Instead, I spent some time getting autographs from some of the basketball players, but mostly I just hung around the bus station.

My going to the porno movie house with Frank would have proven advantageous since his watch stopped and he almost missed the last bus to New York City.  My watch didn't stop.  

Furthermore, my going to the porno movie house would have been an educational experience for a very naive teenager such as what I was.

When we arrived in New York City, Frank, being a good Catholic, wanted to go to a mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral.  I, on the other hand, coming from a Jewish home where I learned to fear the Catholic religion, declined to go with Frank and instead hung around the bus station again.  

Instead of experiencing a beautiful church, I was almost picked up by an stranger.  Luckily, I knew better.  Since then, I have been in St. Patrick's Cathedral several times with my Catholic wife.

What a contrast that Frank chose and I declined:  a porno movie house and a Catholic church.  The bottom line was I should have gone with Frank both times.

___________

Next post will be in two weeks, on July 28th.

Jaws

Jaws is a 1975 American thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg, based on the 1974 novel by Peter Benchley. It stars Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw.  Also, lets not forget Susan Backlinie, who played a memorable character and who recently passed away.

Jaws won three Academy Awards: Best Film Editing, Best Original Dramatic Score, and Best Sound.  It was also nominated for Best Picture, losing to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

On a nine million dollar budget, Jaws took in $476 million at the box office.  It was the prototypical summer blockbuster.  

I remember having a difficult time finding a parking space when we went to the theater when Jaws was first released in cinemas that June.  Everybody wanted to see it.

In a New England beach town, a young woman (Backlinie) goes for a late-night swim (in the nude) during a beach party. An unseen shark attacks and pulls her underwater. Her remains are found washed up on the beach the next morning.

Soon after. a young boy is killed by perhaps the same shark at a crowded beach. A bounty is placed on the killer.  Quint (Shaw), an eccentric and roughened local shark hunter, offers his services for $10,000.

Consulting oceanographer Matt Hooper (Dreyfuss) examines the first girl's remains, confirming that an abnormally large shark had killed her.

The local police chief (Scheider) plus Quint and Hooper go out on a small boat to destroy the man-eating shark.

Instead of many sightings of the shark, Spielberg effectively uses its theme music to convey its presence and impending doom.   

One night on the boat, Quint and Hooper drunkenly exchange stories about their assorted body scars. One of Quint's is a removed tattoo, and he reveals that he is a survivor of the Japanese attack on the USS Indianapolis, (which carried the atomic bomb to the Tinian Naval Base in July 1945) during which many US sailors, after the ship was sunk, were killed by sharks. 

When the police chief  first sees the large shark, he utters the famous line, "We're gonna need a bigger boat."  The battle between the three men and the shark continues to a conclusion with casualties on both sides.