![\"\"](\"http:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/skate2-300x250.png\" "\\"skate2\\"")
Emil\u2019s thumping the Wurlitzer and the vibrating bases drive the rhythm through your body. A boy at the roller rink\u2019s edge skates over and places his arm around your waist. \u201cYou want to do the next dance?\u201d Giddy with teenage delight you skate off together. It\u2019s Friday night at the rink and where, if you don\u2019t fit in at high-school, your social life begins.<\/p>\n
High-school years for my friend, Grace, and me became bearable because of those evenings. The bus carried us overMilwaukee\u2019sNorthAvenueBridgeto the Riverview Skating Rink. Steep concrete steps led down to the river\u2019s edge where a shabby monster of a building belched out Emil\u2019s beat. Inside, rolling wheels bruising wood planks created a dusty, nostril assaulting odor that clung to your clothes, and yet, beckoned us.<\/p>\n
Grace\u2019s strict parents took issue with short skating skirts that scarcely covered one\u2019s hinny, but under persistent pestering allowed her to wear slacks. I sewed my skimpy skirts topped by buttoned-down-the-back sweaters\u2026such hot stuff. I daringly smoked my first and last cigarette at the rink and learned how to flirt and gently say, \u201cNo thank you,\u201d to boys much too old for me.<\/p>\n
The rink was a \u201850\u2019s melting pot thrusting together the offspring of parents who did not look kindly on their offspring crossing narrow cultural and religious boundaries. My generation ignored those rules and formed friendships based on Rule #1: showing up and Rule #2: keeping one\u2019s butt off the floor.<\/p>\n
My first skating partner was Polish\/Catholic; I was Lutheran and soon we were going steady at and off the rink. Unfortunately, his father discovered our mismatched religions and banned him from the Riverview (See Rule #1).<\/p>\n
However, the roller rink offered up an Italian\/Catholic and my mother sniped, \u201cCan\u2019t you find any Lutherans there?\u201d Apparently, religion trumped German ancestry. Two years later his family moved toMichigan, dashing our plans to enterWisconsin\u2019s Roller Skating Championships.<\/p>\n
My expectations for another skating partner were foiled when my college boyfriend flunked Rule #2. After several roller rink dates, he still clutched my sleeve while his knees skimmed the floor. Decision time\u2026Skating Partner or Boy Friend?<\/p>\n
Mom asked, \u201cIs he Lutheran?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think so.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, there you are. Who cares if he can\u2019t skate?\u201d Head coyly tilted, she added, \u201cAny chance he would be German?\u201d<\/p>\n
A miracle \u2013 two out of two!<\/p>\n
But, the real miracle for Grace and me was our roller rink gang kept our self-esteem intact during those years when we couldn\u2019t infiltrate the high school \u201cin\u201d group.<\/p>\n
P.S. I wed my non-skater, Grace married one, too, and now we circle the rink only in our memories.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Emil\u2019s thumping the Wurlitzer and the vibrating bases drive the rhythm through your body. A boy at the roller rink\u2019s edge skates over and places his arm around your waist.… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24811"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24811\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}