Middle school stories: penny loafers; pullin' socks; Famous Five; pressed shirt, no sex boys pulling off fruit loops
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Graphic memoir
ONE
The coolest boy in the seventh grade liked me even though I had orange hair, no boobs, wore homemade dresses and did not own a pair of Bass penny loafers.
Conversation with mom
Me: I need to buy a pair of Bass penny loafers. They have to be mahogany brown and I also need a shiny penny for each slot. You put them in, Lincoln head up. None of those Indian head pennies, please.
Mom: I refuse to pay out the yin-yang so that you can make a fashion statement. The shoes you have are fine.
Me: Mom!
Mom: Paul will like you whether you wear penny loafers or not.
TWO
I was the new girl in school, but this boy's dad had worked with my dad in Minneapolis before being transferred overseas to Bad Homburg v.d.Hohe. Then my dad was transferred to Bad Homburg v.d.Hohe and we were unfortunate enough to be dragged along.
Conversation with Mom
Me: I don't want to see another castle! I want to have Cindy over this weekend. Why do we have to go somewhere every single weekend?
Mom: We are in Germany! It's a foreign country! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!
Me: Cindy promised next time she comes over she will bring Five Go to Smugglers Top! I just finished Five Run Away Together. What am I supposed to read in the car?
Mom: You read too much. You need to have new experiences. Get out of the house. Those books will wait.
Me: No one has even heard of the Famous Five in the U.S. You won't let me buy any! I have to read Cindy's before we move back!
Mom: We are going to Erzbischofburg! So start packing!
Me: Mom.
Mom: Someday you will thank me.
THREE
Frankfurt International School was a prep school, full of children from prestigious households, like the son of the mayor of Bad Homburg. I always felt a bit overwhelmed by this fact but with Paul, "Die Welt liegt mir zu Füßen."
I loved my homeroom teacher, Miss Nesbitt. She had frizzy black hair, a pocked face and a hooked nose. Her eyes glowed when she spoke and her smile was like a beacon in the morning haze. A beacon that lit my way once Paul broke up with me- an event as inevitable as A's in English.
Conversation with Mom
Mom: What do you mean, you weren't invited to the party? I thought those girls were your friends?
Me: They were Paul's friends first, Mom. When someone breaks up with the new girl, he keeps all his friends.
Mom: Well, that just doesn't seem right. I'll bet her mother doesn't know she left you off the guest list. I think I will call her and tell her what is happening.
Me: Mother! It's not like I want to go! Paul is going out with a stupid blond girl who wears penny loafers. Cindy saw them making out! If I go to the party, I have to play spin the bottle, which I don't think you approve of, do you! Do you?
Mom: You did get an invitation. All that whining was a fib? (Pause. Scowl. A bright idea lights her devious mind.) I am not going to let a 13 year old boy run your social life. You are going to the party, like it or not.
Me: MOM!
Mom: You can and you will.
FOUR
I had a few loyal friends like Cindy who stuck with me despite my royal dump-- popularity by association did not apply to our Enid Blyton bond, forged in vicarious adventuring. And a boy with the whitest, straightest hair seemed pleased when I told Ms. Nesbitt I would be attending the party that night. Still, my shoulders felt saggy as I walked home from the bus stop. My big brother and his friend Roddy were planning an evening of nerdy activities sure to keep them in a good mood. But my little sister was pouty because she wanted to play Barbie dolls and I made up the best storylines.
Conversation with Mom
Mom: So, what are you going to wear?
Me: I don't know. I suppose my dumb Easter dress.
Mom: I thought you might wear these.
She swung a shoebox from behind her back. Inside was a pair of mahogany penny loafers, complete with shiny Lincoln head pennies. I inhaled the scent: pure leather heaven.
Me: Oh, Mom!
Mom: I thought they might make the evening more bearable.
Conversation at the party
Cindy: Nice shoes!
CommentsLoading...
Steffsings, gosh, thanks!
I'm WOWED! I absolutely love your style. What a great story.
You honor me, man with no pants, lol. I will check out your work! Thanks.
I'm the new kid on the block, but I love your work. You just got a new fan. (follower)
mwnp
Good story
LOL, YES Betty... or did back then anyway. I am not much of a shoe person these days. I have my black shoes and my black flats and my daughter's tennis shoes she left behind and my winter boots. Hmm. As I said, not much for shoes!
Nice shoes make everything better - just kidding. It was a lovely story.
Hey, I will accept your apology but first you will have to add me to your Christmas list, LOL!!! Seriously, I love your hubs. They make me hungry, which is a good thing.
I must have been tired when I left you the comment sorry, it should be looking mirror into the past....
zs
Aw Zsuzsy, great to have you back. I have missed you. Now on to YOUR Hubs!
You're definitely aptly named (mind you it should be greatstorytellerisme)Loved the looking mirror into the passed.
keep-em coming I'll be waiting to read more.
regards Zsuzsy
No SOCKS! Yes! Sigh. You were so cool, tdarby!
Penny Loafers. I loved my pair. I always wore mine with no socks. I loved your hub.
Glad you enjoyed the story, everyone. My Mom has pulled me out of many a doldrum by knowing exactly what to do.
Very nice story. Great ending too. You don't appear to look much different now and I would have liked you even barefooted. LOL I remember penny loafers and the black and white oxfords too with bobby socks. I bet yer toes are cute too. hehe
Storytellersrus, you do have a way of telling a story! Thoroughly enjoyed it! I'm a little jealous though. You're so lucky to have been presented with a pair of penny loafers at just the right moment!
i really enjoyed the story! it tells about the undying love of a mother. :-)
Miracles happen, Feline!
Thank you Ishavasyam.
An American who's heard of Enid Blyton?!!!! :P
Quite touching account..great work..
Blake, yes, well, I certainly was a loafer wannabe- in my dreams. My mom wouldn't have allowed it. Anyway, I was thinking. What if your parents wanted you to wear loafers because they were like me and missed out when loafers were the cool thing to wear? It could happen!
Jaspal, I need to revisit Enid Blyton. All I really remember were the Famous Five books!
What a wonderful story! I've never heard of penny loafers - they might not have been popular in India; or maybe, as has often been the case, that bit of fashion just passed me by.
But the Famous Five bring back such nostalgic memories. Do you also remember the adventure series? With all those visits, you would have loved the Castle of Adventure.
I think you would have been the coolest girl in that school! And Cindy #2. :)
"Sacagawea loafers" doesn't roll off the tongue well. I don't think "Susan B Anthony loafers" does either. These two don't work well anyway because both of these ladies had good work ethic. Neither of them were loafers. Ha ha.
Only a quarter? lol
I remember penny loafers in the 80's but only on adults and nerdy kids like me at church. I don't remember them being cool with kids the way Air Jordans were. Anyway, it is sad that kids have to feel that pressure based on shoes. When they grow up some decide "who gives a crap" and others continue with trying to fit in. As for me, I'm ready to start wearing the pennies again... Only it'll have to be a quarter by now, figuring in inflation and all.
brilliant will come back to this too tired to take it all in at the moment but it sure looks good
Good story, storytellersrus. Back when I was in middle school coincidentally, moccasins were in. The trick to them was that you had to lace them a certain way. Funny thing was (which is probably the first and only time this ever happened) the moccasins or "dock-siders" as they were called back then were uni-sex! EVERYBODY was wearing them! I had a pair and so did all of my friends. I remember the two companies that made them too: Bass and Eastland, which I don't think is still around. Thanks for the memories and for reminding me.
PegCole17 Level 7 Commenter 18 months ago
Nicely told Storyteller. I remember penny loafers too - Of course, no socks. Only nerds wore socks with them. We called them "Weejuns" I never understood why. We put dimes in ours just to be different (and for that emergency phone call).
Also popular were button-down shirts with a "fruit loop" in the back that some girls pulled off boy's shirts and collected as trophies. And "Mister" skirts with side pockets and a fly in front. (I sewed my own from a Simplicity pattern). Not cool :-(
Lovely trip into the past.