Friday Fictioneers — Delinquents, 1969

Genre: Historical
Word Count: 100

DELINQUENTS, 1969    

The bus station waiting room was the in-place to hang out on Saturday afternoons, according to Anita. Two years my senior and a cross-between Raquel Welch and a rouged porcelain doll, she was the epitome of cool.

Then there was me; her shadow, stepped into a stranger’s skin for a joyride to another planet where the inhabitants communicated in unintelligible grunts and monosyllables.

Ex-borstal boys with No.2 haircuts, braces and bovver boots, roamed this planet pumped up with testosterone, looking to pick an effing fight with some poor geezer or rob the payphone for loose change.

Sensible folk queued outside.

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Friday Fictioneers: 100 word stories
Photo Prompt: image copyright © J Hardy Carroll  

Author: Sarah Potter Writes

Sarah is a British eccentric who writes offbeat fiction, haiku and tanka poetry. When stuck for words, she sketches or paints instead. She's into nature conservation, sustainability, gardening, dogs, natural health, and reading. Her sociability is something that happens in short bursts with long breathing spaces in between.

43 thoughts on “Friday Fictioneers — Delinquents, 1969”

  1. Some of the words I didn’t understand, but I certainly envisioned it all, having lived through it here. A good writer can use words her reader doesn’t recognize and still the story will shine. You, my friend, are a good writer.

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    1. Some more 60’s Brit slang to confuse my friends over the pond, as I didn’t confuse them enough with my novel Desiccation that is set in 1967! I’m glad you enjoyed the story, despite 🙂 Thanks for your kind praise, dear Bill. Much appreciated.

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    1. I wore my bovver boots later, when I wanted to kick the world D: In 1969, I’d just emerged from flower power and moved into the world of mini skirts, skimpy sweaters, bomber jackets and knee high boots. It wasn’t really me. And yes, being sensible was no fun! In those days, I found it hard to resist dares, which got me into all sorts of trouble.

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  4. Now I’m going to have that “tune” in my head for a while… Dang you!
    This was great, Sarah – bunch of bums… they have them in every generation…

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    1. Yeah, every generation. And they think they’re so tough and cool. The funny thing about it, some of them become ultra respectable further down the line, if not overnight saints, and tell their kids off about things they did themselves when they were young.

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      1. Don’t I know it! Mick was quite the hooligan in his day… his son has had his moments (so I’m ever hopeful…)

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  5. Dear Sarah,

    I delight in learning British slang. Oh the things we do when we’re young. I remember my days of long ironed hair, bell bottom jeans that dragged the ground and wire rimmed glasses. (wait, I still wear wire rimmed glasses. 😉 )
    I love the tone of this story and its ever so slight brush with the prompt. Well done. Thanks for including the video.

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

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    1. Dear Rochelle,

      I’ve got big feet, which used to tangle with my bell bottoms and trip me up. Were your wire rimmed glasses like those ones that John Lennon used to wear? They were kind-of cute. I remember having some tiny diamond-shaped dark-glasses during my hippy spell! I looked really weird in them, I’m sure.
      The things we do… and many more to come, I’m sure.

      All best wishes,
      Sarah

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      1. Dear Sarah,

        I wore moccasins or sandals. Not much has changed there either. As for the wire rims, they were then and are now, the John Lennon variety. Loved them then, Love them now. 😉

        Shalom,

        Rochelle

        Liked by 2 people

    1. I agree, sensible is very dull. Come to think of it, most guys now either go for No.1 cuts, or something longer than a No. 2. It would be interesting to ask a barber if anybody has a No. 2 cut anymore. Something to research. xxxx

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    1. Thanks, Alice. Yes, things can get awkward fast, especially if the bearers of testosterone have an audience of girls to show off to! Oh, hormones do have a lot to answer for. They can make people behave quite irrationally at times, doing many things that are classed as acting in haste, followed by the painful repenting at leisure. Life’s testing ground, and all that.

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  9. An interesting slice of British culture! I turned 16 in 1969 but here on the prairies of western Canada the story was rather different. Our Bus Depots (for Greyhound & STC busses) were for ordinary folk like us and also frequented a lot by the native people coming and going from their reserves and northern towns. You could take a bus to any small town in the province.

    Back then high schools only needed parking lots for the teachers. Now every family has at least one car and schools have huge parking lots for students’ cars. One victim of progress has been our bus service; the provincial govt has shut down the Saskatchewan Transportation Company as totally unprofitable.

    Some British imports I remember (besides the Beatles): Petula Clark; Lulu; Eric Burdon; ‘The Avengers’; and the movie, To Sir, With Love.

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    1. Thanks Christine 🙂 Your bus depots back then sound as if they were exceedingly civilised compared to ours in the UK, although it probably varied from town to town for us.

      Our bus services now have suffered, too. There is a request stop in my road, but there are only a handful of buses a day, which isn’t good for the old folk without cars, as it’s very hilly for lugging shopping up the road. It’s also too steep for cyclists, except for the very fit.

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  10. I was all of seven years old in 1969, almost eight, so I missed all of that. I only remember clean-cut, nice kids turning into freaks of nature. Scary. I DO, however, also remember the music and the fashions people wore that were classy. My era was the disco/new-wave era — where we all went 60’s retro! Fun stuff.

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    1. Kent, you are such a spring chicken! Yes, I’ve seen many clean-cut kids turning into freaks of nature at adolescence, but it’s often only a temporary aberration as they adjust to the surge of hormones. I’m not sure that their is a particular fashion just now, apart from carrying a bottle of water in one hand and a mobile in another…

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      2. I remember, as a little girl, dressing up in my mother’s 50’s skirts with all the petticoats and imagining how I’d look at 16! They were really pretty these skirts. One was dark green patterned with red cherries, and the other was silvery-grey with white cockerels embroidered on it. She also wore gingham a lot — mauve and white checks. Ah, this brings back memories. I have this thing for remembering what people wore on particular occasions, which, in turn, is linked to the music then.

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    1. Thanks, Andrea 🙂 Yes, of course, I seem to remember that you set a ghost story either on a bus or in a bus station late at night, and that it was very atmospheric/creepy. I’m not imagining this, am I? And that it was published in an anthology… please don’t tell me I’m having a memory crisis here!

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  12. I was eleven in 69, just a tad too joung for all the fun. Disco never really was my thing and my Abba loving friends were anything but tough. I dreamed of being older and loved The Beatles. 🙂 Great story, Sarah.

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    2. I’m not going to say how old I was in 69! But I was a fan of The Who, Jimi Hendrix & Pink Floyd, to name a few. I remember seeing Abba for the first time, when they won the Eurovision Song Contest. I’m glad you enjoyed my story, Gabriele 🙂

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    1. Thanks, Penny 🙂 I always sensed that those skinheads were only warming up in the afternoon, for the big stuff after dark! Definitely the bus station where I lived was best avoided on Saturday and Friday nights.

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    1. Wow, fancy that! It’s scary how quickly time flies. I always think of life being on two time-lines. One goes too fast and the other goes too slow. I was amused a little while ago, when a 16-year-old, whom I’ve known since he was 6, told me that although I was old, I was still young in heart. He’s a very insightful lad 🙂

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    1. At tech college, I managed to be good friends with both a rocker and a skinhead (both females). I used to get a bit concerned about the skinhead, when she practiced “toughening” up her head by head-butting the mirror in the girls’ room. I tried talking to her about brain damage but, being a lawyer’s daughter, she thought she was invincible. If she lived to tell the tale, I’m sure she calmed down later. It was only a spell she was going through, and it didn’t really go with her posh voice!
      I’m not really into giving a shout about my books, but you might enjoy my novel Desiccation, as one of the main characters is a mod. Vesper scooters get a mention, too! Here’s the link if you’re interested…

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  16. Isn’t it funny how every generation goes through it’s period of rebellion against the establishment? For me, it started in the late 60s and went full bore around 1972. My son went through the spiked hair and baggy pants thing. Not near as cool as bellbottoms and peace signs, if you ask me.

    Thanks for the flashback, Sarah.

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    1. It was my daughter that rebelled noisily. My son just grew his hair down to his waist and retreated into the computer to fight monsters!
      Bellbottoms and peace signs … now I’m feeling nostalgic. We were going to save the world! Do you remember making necklaces and wristbands out of love-beads? As for the cowbell that I wore around my neck…

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