B-Bopping, Brooklyn, Broward and Bruce

Anyone reading this who hasn't heard about B-Bopping probably never lived in the midwest during the 1960s. I have so many grand memories of growing up in Brooklyn, Ohio, where I regularly B-bopped around town as a kid and teenager. Not that I'd ever go back there and live. For one, it's much too cold.

And, second, I'm persona non grata in town after my award dinner speech in 1998 to the community and Hall of Fame Committee for Brooklyn High School.

In hindsight, I will admit it was not very tactful of me to tell everyone that Brooklyn was dying. And that I would never return to see the tree they planted in my name. But I couldn't help but notice, when I gave my speech to the assembled masses of students earlier during the day, that the entire auditorium was "white bread." Just like it was from 1967 to 1971, when I went to school there. No African-Americans. No Hispanics. No Asians. Hello. No wonder the town has never developed. Hmmm. I wonder how my tree is doing?

But I digress. And that's a D. Two weeks from now.

So anyway. When I was still thinking Brooklyn was the entire world, I B-bopped around town or my neighborhood a lot. For us mid-westerners, B-bopping meant just cruising around, listening to oldies, surfer music or Motown on the radio, getting a suntan at the pool, hanging out and giggling with my girlfriends, and trying to be "cool". Whatever that meant in those days.

And today I was B-bopping around Broward County in my new Audi TT Roadster. With the top down, of course. Listening to an all-Bruce station on the Sirius radio.Trying to be cool as I remembered how to shift gears on the manual transmission. And figuring out what all the bells and whistles (and iPod connections, top down, airfoil up features) are all about. And then I B-bopped off to work, where we "Ladies of Records" giggled and enjoyed this funky Christmas party that was a lot of fun.

30 years later. Still B-bopping. That's me.