I remember liking one boy who was a ham radio operator (a fact that is relevant to the rest of my story). After a dance one night, we parked on Mulholland drive, overlooking the twinkling lights of LA. This was right near my house, in my neighborhood so it didn’t take any “detours” to get there.
I said something like, “Beautiful night,” and he replied, “Yes, great night for hot contacts.” I teased, “Like what?” (though I knew he wouldn’t “get it”), and he said, “like all the way to Japan with my ham radio.”
If he’d been even a touch more sophisticated (he was NOT), he might have understood why I almost laughed out loud. I stored the comment away to tell girl friends later. I think I was ready for “the other kind” of “hot contacts” but was “saved” because he couldn’t have been more naive. ❏
Joanne Leonard, Professor Emerita of Art and Women’s Studies, U of Michigan, is a photographer and photo-collage artist with work in The Met, The Modern, and museums throughout the U.S. She is also the identical twin sister of WryTimes contributor Eleanor Rubin.
2 Responses
Great story! From the other gender perspective – Been there, done that. I feel and know it was out of respect for the other person(young women). Not wanting to be that aggressive male at anytime, but also lacking real role models from my era. So I laugh and I cringe at the fact I may have hurt that person now. I hope it is all a lesson to know oneself.
Hope all can appreciate naive respect and responsibility.
Lovely, out of the blue, to see your good response, Robert…I read that you (or a person with same name and middle initial) is an award winning TV producer of documentaries in Eau Claire – if so, you may enjoy knowing the writer of the piece you commented on is a photographer, living in Ann Arbor (with exhibit up just now at Luhring Augustine in NYC) – sending best regards.