From the ages of 16 thru 19, I worked at a local McDonald’s. There were a lot of other kids there my age, and for that time in my life – my social circle consisted of several of these individuals. We would hang out every night – doing various teen age things. We went to the movies – we drank – we hung out in the back of the parking lot – we drank – we hung out in other parking lots – we drank.
Basically, we hung out, wherever we could – and drank. We got chased out of a lot of places, because who wants a bunch of drunken teenagers hanging out, right?
One time that I remember fondly, was the night after Hurricane Gloria. The reason I remember, is because this big old wind decided to come down smack on my 18th birthday. Now, you must know, I was not happy at all about this – as we had big plans for that night – hanging out and drinking.
So, here I was – 18 years old – young and innocent. A true romantic at heart. Looking at the world with a sense of Magic, like things that happened in the movies, really did happen to people. I had yet to be shattered by the harshness of reality.
There were four of us that night, Tom and Nicole – two friends who were like an old, married couple. Think, Raymond’s parents from ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ – Tom was a bit obnoxious and annoying – but deep down, a pretty nice guy. He talked a lot. So much in fact, that it was nearly impossible to get a word in when you were having a conversation with him. Nicole was great. She gave off the impression of a stereotypical ‘dumb blonde’ – but in certain aspects, she was once of the smartest people I knew. She has theories on people and friends – that at the time I thought were a little odd – but now, after so many years, I realize that she really knew what she was talking about – and she was right! And then there was Brian Z. Brian was a year younger that the three of us – and the thing I remember about Brian Z was that he had these amazing eyelashes. Oh, and he was nice.
So the four of us ventured off, a case of Bud, and 2 4-packs of Calvin Coolers – tropical fruit flavor. They were nauseating to look at, but easy to get down. We drove to a wooded area behind the 7-11 in Coram. It was a decent looking spot. I had never been there before – and never went back after that night. There were logs set up as makeshift benches – and a bonfire pit that was pretty worn and looked like it had been the home of many fires before. So we all sat down, Tom and Brian got a decent fire going, We talked, and we drank. The sun was going down, the fire gave off a nice warmth in the cool September air, and the Calvin coolers were giving me a nice little buzz. The four of us at the time had what seemed like so much in common, working together all day, hanging out together at night – we were all a part of each other’s lives. We understood each other. The evening grew darker. Tom and Nicole snuggled together in their own makeshift cocoon, and Brian and I continued talking. We laughed and joked, and talked about our plans to quit that job – and then.. he kissed me. My first real kiss. It was sweet, exactly how you would expect a 17 year old boy to kiss, not a lot of skill, not a lot of lip.. but all the same, something that I will always remember. We kissed for a long time that night – and to me, it was absolutely perfect. The fire, the cool, fall breeze, his lips grazing my neck.
I didn’t want that evening to end, but eventually, the fire burned out, and we made our way back to our cars. My head was spinning, not from the Wine Coolers, but from the fact that I had just experienced my first real kiss. I felt different, like I knew this amazing secret, and couldn’t tell anyone.
After that night, Brian and I were kind of awkward around each other – it was hard to work with him. As time went on, we had our ups and downs, even tried to re-create that night a few times. But the one night, was unique..special.. and we just could not get that Magic back. I will always remember that night – and I hope that when the time comes, (God forbid) that my girls get to experience their first kiss, as wonderfully as I did. And I hope that they treasure that memory, like I do.
Brian is on the left - Yes, that's me in the Grimace costume. As you can probably guess - I was a huge hit with the guys!!
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