B is for “Babe”

The year was 1980 and Babe by Styx was the perfect song for a teenage girl to sing about her one true love. I was 16 years old back then and I thought I was in love with an older guy (all of 20!) douche bag womanizer who preyed on jail bait young girls who were oh, so gullible and flattered to receive his attention—-when he couldn’t find someone better (aka someone who would fool around with him, which I would not).

I grew up in a time when it was okay for men to call out comments to girls (and I’m talking girls- not grown women, not that either is okay) whether it was about our bodies or what they would like to do to us. And it was accepted. At the local hangout, a guy would pat a girl’s butt on the way past and she would consider it a compliment. Incredibly unacceptable by today’s standards but in 1980? It happened. A lot. It was a different time.

My hair was feathered and held in place by half a can of hairspray. I had to lay on my bed to zip up my skin tight Jordache jeans. I wore make up- every day- and could not be seen without it. The douche bag would be replaced by someone else. And this guy would become my first real love. We wouldn’t end up together but we have remained good friends all these years and I love him dearly. And that other guy? He’s a distant memory, just like this song.