Song Triggered Memories

[mzlizzy]

beatrice_otter posted about the movie "Gigi" and its creep factor. Her disgust at "Thank Heavens for Little Girls" brought up my own memories of that song.



My senior year at high school I attended a New Year's Eve party near my house in Rancho Palos Verdes. (A small suburb in Los Angeles) After we'd toasted the beginning of 1978 a bunch of us decided to go up to Pasadena to see the Rose Parade. The route is five miles long and there is still sidewalk space available before dawn a mile or more down the parade route from the beginning where the TV cameras are.

A guy named Regis volunteered to drive and he had a big Oldsmobile that could fit six at least. We all thought of him as 'slimey but harmless' and it wound up with five girls and Regis, and four crammed in the back seat rather than have to sit in the middle of the front seat next to him. So after grabbing some food for the road, and letting people know where we were going, we headed off to drive the 110 freeway almost end to end.

Somewhere north of Torrance, we got a flat tire.

We pulled off to the side of the road, and Regis confessed he didn't know how to change a tire. I rolled my eyes, because I knew how and so did my friend Carolyn. We jacked up the car and set about putting the spare on while the other girls crowded together on the shoulder side of the car. It was somewhere around three in the morning, so it was getting cold. OK, cold for Southern California.

About the time we got the bad tire off the car Regis *leaned on the jacked up car* and started singing "Thank Heaven for Little Girls."

Carolyn yelled at him before I could open my mouth. She finished putting on the spare, saying there was no reason for both of us to be filthy. Once we'd gotten back on the road it was very quiet in the car for the rest of the hour plus drive.

I've never been able to hear that song again without thinking of him.

We managed to park within a couple blocks of the parade route, and grabbed a piece of the sidewalk. Seeing the parade live, being able to smell the flowers on the floats and look at the equestrian groups for more than a three-second screen shot, and cheering the marching bands who had already marched over two miles almost made it worth it.


Last time I went to the Rose Parade we splurged on riser seating at Pasadena City College, and pads to insulate our bottoms from the chilled metal. Not as close to the parade, but much more comfortable!