At The Movies

Now and again my mind wanders back to when I was a young bloke and the Saturday night movies at the local theatre. Before entering the theatre, if I didn’t have a girlfriend at the time, I had to ask himself an important question. Do I ask one of the more presentable young ladies from those gathered outside the theatre to sit with me and pay her way in, or wait until everyone was seated and save money, but take a chance on which ladies were still available? Eat your hearts out, millennials.

Arriving after the movie had started presented another problem. The theatre had canvas seats throughout. If you weren’t aware you’d end up sitting in an inch of coke that someone had poured onto the seat in the dark. Another caper was to creep down to the front seat area where nobody sat and lay a lighted cigarette across the wick of a threepenny bunger. When it eventually exploded the culprit was long gone.

I still kick myself over this missed opportunity. One Saturday night after the movies had finished, an attractive young lady asked me if I would drive her home. But I had to decline because I didn’t have enough petrol in the car, and had barely enough to drive myself home. To add to all that, she had a reputation as being a very friendly girl and the local park was en route.