I did a fair amount of skipping school during high school. It certainly was a different time; there wasn’t a lot of chasing truants down or reporting home on absences. Whenever we were hanging out in a coffee shop, restaurant or pool hall, the employees didn’t appear to be overly concerned that we weren’t in school. As I managed to catch up & pass easily, I didn’t feel any personal repercussions from my excessive skipping.
One of the places we frequented while skipping and in the evenings was the 8th Street pool hall. It was a place that many of our crowd hung out at, and we’d discuss other plans while playing pool. There was always a table or two open, and we’d while the time away playing snooker or 101. We’d load up songs on the juke box, rack ‘em up & play away. There were always a couple of songs that were my favourites and while they were playing, I felt I’d make every shot I’d need to. Sadly, reality was a different story. I never was a stellar player, but I could hold my own, and occasionally beat a much better player.
Here are a few songs that would have been on the juke box in those days, best played in shuffle mode especially as the juke box was pretty random. The soundtrack to perceived invincibility was provided by “Lady”, “Angie”, “Rock On”, and “Let It Rain”.