Reminiscing

So. Hi. 

 

Am I the only person that sometimes wishes that I could go back to the old days, and see what they were like? I'm talking about the 50's and 60's mainly, not the stone-age. Just for a day -- to see if everything was as great as I imagine it was.

It would probably go a little something like this:

It's the year 1959. Just thought I'd pop into this time for a visit. The late 50's remind me of that little souvenir-town, you don't quite believe exists, until you actually see it.

Currently, I am sitting at a little milkshake café. And it's completely, ridiculously, like the one in "Grease"! I'm sporting a pink, icnognito-in-the-50's dress, and a pink strawberry milkshake to match it – but people are looking at me funny anyway. I don't feel like I fit in here. Of course, I asked for a pen and a pad of paper – the internet reception is horrible back here. Every now and then, I have to stifle a giggle, when I see any of the young men approaching me. They have their hair slicked back, are wearing jeans, white T-shirts, and the typical black leather Jacket, à la Danny Zuko! I love it here. Also, these Zuko look-alikes have been chatting me up all afternoon – I guess boys are uncontrollable even in the late 50's.

The milkshake café grows silent, as the radio comes with an indistinct message from Vietnam.  I had actually forgotten about it – I feel almost ashamed. I mean, everybody's here, everybody's at home, happy, old-fashioned... Well, I guess, not everybody's home. Some people lower their heads in respect. The radio doesn't bring good news, and it is a while before the cherry atmosphere returns to the café. I feel like I'm imposing on some great sorrow.

After paying for my milkshake – which cost me exactly 15 cents! – I ducked out into the cool, summer air.

On the street, I spot a lot of people. The ladies here are dressed just like, well, ladies. It's amazing to watch. They have the funniest hair back here. Though it looks like something out of an old commercial, I kind of like it. Maybe our women of 2010 could learn a thing or two?

The men are wearing hats, suits, and a smoking cigar is a common accessory. I wish I knew someone back here. I could visit a family... see if they really look like something out of a postcard, sitting around the fire place, the father reading the paper, the mother strutting around in her poofy dress and elegant little shoes. Do they really do that here? I get to think about Vietnam again, about the soldiers: the fathers and brothers and sons sent out to battle. There are definitely things from the 50's and 60's that I would like not to see.

I am ripped from my sad thoughts by a typical group of young girls screaming: "Elvis! Elvis!! I love this song! He is just so handsome!"

I think instantly of the scene in "Grease", where Rizzo moans: “Elvis! Elvis! Let me be! Keep that pelvis far from me!”

A car rolls near the sidewalk. It is a gang of young men sitting in their convertible car, again à la Danny Zuko and his gang in their Greased Lightning. I love this time.

The 50’s were pretty cool, or at least, that’s what I will allow myself to think, after fantasizing about this trip to the past. Moving on to the 60’s now, after having seen enough of those good old 50’s.

I’m in some random teenager’s bedroom. Posters are scattered aimlessly on the wall – The Doors, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Bob Dylan. I’m in the 60's, and The Rolling Stones are just becoming a hit. A record player is on the floor next to us, where we are flipping listlessly through magazines, which we have nicked from our mothers. My magazine has Twiggy on the cover, we “uuh!” and “aah!” at her figure. The record spits out a scratchy tune, “Honky Tonk Woman” by The Rolling Stones. The young girls squeal and swoon over the dirty, dirty lyrics, and Mick Jagger's, filthy big mouth. Finally free from their mothers’ protective shield, they let loose, and start doing the Twist on the floor. Smoke billowing from the cigarette of one of the more rebellious girls’ hands, we twist and shout and do the Pony, the Swim.

 

Out on the street, the ladies are still ladies, and the ladies still men. The women resemble Twiggy, or at least they try to – elegance is still the code word here. Well, it is if you ask the grown-ups. It’s a completely different matter, if you ask the young people. Gone are the Danny Zuko’s. They have been replaced with dudes with long hair and a goofy look on their faces. A young couple walk next to each other in front of me, and, viewed from the back, I can’t really see who’s the man and who’s the woman. Go unisex!

We follow the crowd to a hippie, anti-Vietnam-war rally – yeah, my friends are hippies. Or maybe we even go to Woodstock! The possibilities are endless – fight the power, dude! Sit on a patchwork blanket in the sun, humming aimlessly along to the songs of Hendrix, Dylan, the Beatles, passing a joint to a waiting hand. Yeah, I would go all out as a hippy! I’m wearing awesome clothing by the way. I have long, straight hair, and I’m wearing some sort of scarf around my head. Moccasins. A flowery shirt. I look groovy – like some of those surreal photos you see of your parents sometimes, where you find yourself thinking “Geez, she really was young once!”

Peace out, man. Chill.

I know I have no right to say this, but I think that the 60's was my favorite time. And I know that I OF COURSE wasn't alive to see those times. But I think they sound amazing anyway.

Even though those times sound cool – and YES, they really do – I kind of like where I am right now. 2010 baby, it’s a whole new era to my mind! It’s the only one I’ve known, it’s fresh, it’s new and yet so familiar. Yes, I bet that the 50’s were great. I bet that sitting at a milkshake café looking at boys resembling Danny Zuko was awesome. And I doing the twist in your room to a scratched Rolling Stones record with your hippie friends would have been possibly even more awesome. I like having these little daydreams, and putting myself in another situation than I am now – another time. But my time, 2010, where “Sex and the City” is my bible, and where fashion, style, music and life in general is a free-for-all frenzy… I think it’s pretty damn cool to be here, too.

Thanks for listening,

I Am Roseberry.