Through the Past Dorkily: Working Man

Editor's note: Through the Past Dorkily is a recurring feature that looks back at the embarrassingly dorky diary I kept as a 16-year-old in 1984.

Sunday, June 3, 1984

Song of the day: Working Man - Rush

Well, I don't know what to do for an oral report in Civics. I'm dead.

We went to Methuen Mall where I got a blue blazer and 2 ties. That took till around 4. Then I had to mow the lawn. Fun. 

Hey! It was a beautiful day, sunny and in the '70s. This week is supposed to be wicked nice!

At the mall, I saw that girl from the party last night. She's the one we pretended to gang-bang! Now you remember, eh? Seriously, though, she's pretty nice.

Tomorrow's my first day at work. I hope everything goes alright.

- The Barbarian

Monday, June 4, 1984

Song of the day: No Surrender - Bruce Springsteen

Everybody cracked up at my Hawaiian shirt and etc. I got an 82 on Bi Sci test, 96 on Algebra test, 78 on my Vocab project, and a 95 on a French test.

Work went all right. My shoes suck, though. They're too dressy and uncomfortable. I work 3-7 tomorrow and Wednesday (damn) and 5-10 Saturday. Hope [cute girl]'s working tomorrow. I need a ride!

Today was wicked nice! Sun!

I watched the Toronto-Detroit game til midnight. Detroit won 6-3 in 10 innings. Stupid umpires!

- The Barbarian

Tuesday, June 5, 1984

Song of the day: She's Mine - Steve Perry

Man, I'm tired! I went to bed at 12:30 last night and got up at 5:30 to take a shower.

The school day went by pretty uneventfully. Everybody's psyched about tomorrow, including me!

Our driveway was paved today. It kicks!

[Cute girl] gave me a ride to work today. What a babe!

I'm taking [cute girl], Jeremy and [buddy] to the beach tomorrow. [Another buddy]'s getting a ride from [another guy]. Man, it's gonna be great.

The weather's supposed to be awesome!

I finally got those 2 issues of Guitar magazine I've been waiting for. One has Eddie VH on the cover and the other Randy Rhoads. Next month has Alex Lifeson!

I worked till close today. My dinner was 3 candy bars and a root beer. I got home at 10. Whew!

- The (tired) Barbarian

Wednesday, June 6, 1984

Song of the day: Sex and Drugs and Rock 'n Roll - Ian Dury and the Blockheads

What a day!

I left for Jeremy's at 9:45. Then we picked up [buddy]. Backing out of his drive, I almost had a heart attack when I hit this massive rock! Fortunately it only nicked the plastic fender part. Phew.

Then we picked up [cute girl] and went through Salisbury to the beach. We got there just before 11. It was packed! We parked in a motel parking lot for $2. I almost hit a car while parking. It took me 5 minutes to park it right.

When we got on the beach, it was beautiful. And the weather wasn't bad either! Man! Girls everywhere! There were Sanborn people everywhere! I think the whole school skipped (except two dorks). Wow! [Several attractive girls] and more. Thank God for mirrored sunglasses! It started getting cloudy around 12:30, though. We went to McDonald's and met [two hot classmates]. Gaga! Better boobs can't be found!! Incredible. It started getting chilly and we left around 1. That sucked. I wanted to stay till 2. Me, Jeremy and [buddy] left. [Cute chick] stayed and got a ride from [another classmate]. As it turns out, I got home at 2. I worked from 3-7 today. Ironic: [Dude possibly dating ex-gf] works at the Bucket, too. He's cool.

- The (beach) Barbarian

Thursday, June 7, 1984

Song of the day: The Mask - Roger Glover


Steamy day. In the 90s.

Believe it or not, I got a B on my oral report in Civics. It sucked! I would have given it a D! Well, I"m not complaining.

I was pretty tired today.

About half the school ( 250 or so) skipped yesterday! Awesome turnout!

I got home and collapsed on my bed for about 3 hours!

Later,

The Barbarian

Friday, June 8, 1984

Song of the day: We're Not Gonna Take It - Twisted Sister

Top 5 at Five
1. Life Sucks, Then You Die - The Fools
2. My Oh My - Slade
3. Round and Round - Ratt
4. We're Not Gonna Take It - Twisted Sister
5. Little Lady - Duke Jupiter

Today was even hotter than yesterday. This weather leaves me kind of sluggish.

We made the paper! The Haverhill Gazette had a front page story about our skip day. I cracked up!

We got our prom pictures today. In one of them, I have my damn eyes closed. That sucks. The other one's alright, though.

Next week is finals. Ugh.

- The Barbarian

Postscript: Getting used to working at the Bucket. It was definitely a transition. I was going from a day that went from 6 a.m. to about 3 p.m. and extending that by another seven or eight hours on my feet doing manual labor. It was good, though. Got some cash in my pocket, made some friends and definitely got a little more of a work ethic. 

This first few months of driving definitely had some close calls like me driving into that stupid rock, but fortunately nothing remotely close to an accident. And this was before we had cell phones and other shit to distract us. It was just our own stupidity, as it was meant to be.