The Way Back Machine: Beauty School Dropout

When I was kid, we had an enormous Buick as our family car. This was quite enjoyable on road trips, since as the last of three children, I was assigned the middle of the backseat. You know, the place where all the leg room is taken up by that pointless hump on the floor. Fortunately, I was still young and my legs didn't require quite as much room as they do now.

One of the great features of the Buick was its 8-Track player. On those stretches of road in West Texas where there were few towns and fewer radio stations, we could remained entertained by listening to music like Stardust by Willie Nelson, the soundtrack from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Grease soundtrack. I was still young and there were plenty of things in the movie and soundtrack of Grease that were beyond my comprehension at the time. One of these involved the song "Beauty School Dropout." During the song, Frankie Avalon sings in one line that "no customer would go to her, unless she was a hooker." Even as a child, I needed to know and understand everything, which lead to the following exchange:

Me: Mom, what's a hooker?
Mom: Well, it's someone who...sells her body for money.
Me: (uncomprehending) Oh.
(pause)
Me: Anybody wanna buy a head?
All but me: (laughter)

I hope you enjoyed laughing at the childhood version of me. I know I did. Perhaps we'll do it again sometime.

Until later...