Joann Foley

Which pile is it in? Where did I put that? Am I ever going to read those old newspapers? Do I have to keep that? I’m drowning in paperwork.

Tonight I want to go to the movies. I just found a theater that has dropped their ticket prices to just $1.50 – yes, that just a buck fifty! They have a movie I really want to watch, starring Clint Eastwood. The movie is called Gran Torino. My dad used to have a 1971 orange Gran Torino and he looked a lot like Clint Eastwood, except taller and my Dad’s hair was much darker. So I want to see this movie.

My parents drank socially. We all knew that my dad kept an assortment of liquor bottles in the dining room buffet cabinet. It was never locked but we knew we were not allowed to go in there. But we did anyway.

As a teenager I wanted to try liquor and didn’t want to risk getting drunk on a date or out with a group of friends. I didn’t trust any of them to watch out for me and help out if I got into trouble. They would all probably be just as drunk or worse off than me to do anything helpful anyway.

Kids would drink at every private party I went to or heard about throughout my junior high and high school years. I found out that I could drink and tolerate beer. I seem to have a high tolerance level for beer and have never gotten totally smashed on beer.

Beer was easy to get – there was always someone with an older brother willing to drive over the state line and buy a case of beer for us. Then we would go to someone’s house where the parents were not home and sit outside or in the car in front of the house and pop a top. The advantage to being close to someone’s house was so the girls could go inside to use the bathroom if they needed to. Of course, the guys would just stand behind the car and whip it out. But the girls needed an indoor toilet and some privacy.