My First Kiss

Monday, December 2, 2013 Permalink

Again I’m participating in Kerri Sackville’s #MyFirst challenge and this week we’ve been tasked to write about #MyFirst Kiss.

Oh dear.

I thought about skipping it entirely cos my first kiss was (unfortunately) neither romantic nor salacious – either of which would make for a more interesting blog post. In fact, my first kiss is – sadly – kinda reminiscent of the exploits we saw when Puberty Blues appeared on our TV screens in here in Oz last year.

pubertybluesI’m a bit younger than the book’s authors and so when I saw the original movie back in the early 1980s I was rather slightly shocked by it. (I did mention I was a fairly naive smalltown girl back then: more into sports, clothes, Dolly magazine and the idea of boys, than being with a boy, or in a relationship of any kind.)

Indeed, in 2012 (now in my 40s) I sat in front of Puberty Blues – the television remake with its fabulous cast – and was aghast. Well, that and entertained.

Oh. My. God. Those poor girls!

Like I said, I wasn’t quite like the characters at that age (or ever, really) but I cringed at the notion of 15 – 16 year old girls losing their virginity in the back of a panel van (1), ably assisted by a communal jar of “Vaso” (2).

The romance of it all: “Do you wanna ‘go’ with me?” was only topped by, “Do you wanna root?” (3)

Of course much of the show was hilarious (the fashion, the music, the ridiculous simplicity of life) but much was also depressing and I cringed watching the girls on the beach who were NOT allowed to surf or swim but there solely to compliment their surfer boyfriends and buy them their Chiko Rolls and Polly Waffles. (4)

I was torn between wanting my (then 15yr old) niece to be watching to see how idiotically the girls were behaving AND not wanting her to be watching to protect her innocence!

Of course, anyone who saw the movie or the slightly rewritten TV series would know that our two heroines eventually cast aside stereotypes and peer pressure.

As a complete aside, I’m looking forward to Season 2 of the TV show – which for unknown reasons won’t return until 2014 – and hoping we continue to see some ‘girl power’!

Until then however I’ll regale you with the details of My First Kiss which could easily have come out of a pre-Puberty Blues novel / movie / show. (Mum, you may want to stop reading now!) 

I was 13 or 14 I guess and at a boy/girl ‘party’, in the billiards room of a friend’s house. His parents stayed in the house and let we rebels dance the night away downstairs. The pool table was covered with a sheet – presumably to prevent us spilling soft drinks and food on the green felt – but… it was the perfect spot for THE KISSING BOOTH. (And I do believe it was often signed thus.)

I wasn’t as popular as my smaller and cuter friends so I wasn’t a frequent visitor in my younger years (and in my older years I’d kinda lost interest). But… my first kiss took place under the pool table IN the kissing booth and I was wooed by the words:

“Who wants a pash?” from one of the boys in my grade.

Either I got in first or he wasn’t overwhelmed with offers as I was the lucky girl who did indeed get that ‘pash’. And although it was my first kiss I have to admit I cannot remember a thing about it, which probably says something!

Do you remember your first kiss? Was it more romantic than mine?

PicMonkey CollagePB

* Translations for my international readers:

  1. Panel Van – car with front seats and covered back – providing room to lie down. If one so desired.
  2. Vaseline or KY Jelly
  3. Bonk / shag and so forth
  4. 1970s – 1980s Aussie cuisine (I’ve included links in the post in case you are a ‘details’ person.) 😉
18 Comments
  • Lee-Anne
    December 2, 2013

    I’m beginning to think that NO ONE had an enjoyable first kiss! Mine was mortifying… http://bit.ly/17YMg9h
    I too watched the remake of ‘Puberty Blues’ with my teenage daughter, who sat calmly through the entire series and didn’t bat an eyelid (while my eyelids were batting wildly!) 🙂

    • Debbish
      December 2, 2013

      Lee-Anne, it’s a wonder we’re not all scarred for life (given our unfortunate ‘first kiss’ experiences), although…. I am still single, so maybe…

      Puberty Blues was actually one show I watched while also monitoring Twitter cos the response from people who lived through that era was hilarious!

  • Jill
    December 2, 2013

    I grew up in the 70’s & Puberty Blues could have been the story of my life (except for the drugs) I hang out with surfies in panel vans & never surfed!
    My first kiss came a few years earlier under the Bathurst grand stand while at the “Trotts” one night with a boy I lusted after for many years, we were both 13 & it was so quick, a split second & done, but I remember it & him very well.

    • Debbish
      December 2, 2013

      Oh how nice to remember your first kiss in some detail! Plus it’s nice it was with someone you actually liked! Mine was more of a ‘default’ type thing! 😉

      I wasn’t into the surfie / PV lifestyle – came from living in regional Qld and being more into sport and stuff I guess.

  • Jess
    December 2, 2013

    I haven’t seen the movie or the show sounds hilarious. My first kiss was pretty lame. In the backyard of a friends party with a very unremarkable boy!

    • Debbish
      December 2, 2013

      Sadly that mostly seems to be the consensus Jess.

  • Char
    December 2, 2013

    “Who wants a pash?”

    What a romantic question! How could you resist?? And under a pool table. That’s the stuff of a good Mills and Boon.

    • Debbish
      December 2, 2013

      I know… I read romance novels back then as well. We used to buy them from the school book club and they were ‘Sweet Dreams’ novels (I’d graduated from Famous Five, Secret Seven, Trixie Beldon and Nancy Drew and obviously found nothing in the crime-fiction genre appealing to teens!)

  • Kerri Sackville
    December 2, 2013

    Vaso. Just….. VASO

    • Debbish
      December 2, 2013

      Oh yes. I’ve never looked at a jar the same since the movie or TV show. I try to only buy tubes of the stuff to put on my lips now. Just cos…

  • Rhianna
    December 2, 2013

    How exciting under the pool table! I was never privy to such parties. Well not till I was nearly 17 really, and by then we all had cars to make out it, well the cool kids and those that made out did!

    • Debbish
      December 2, 2013

      I didn’t want to put this in the actual post… but after the initial glow of a pash or two I mostly gave up on it all for A VERY LONG TIME!

  • Satu
    December 3, 2013

    Huh, I think most people’s first kisses and first times are pretty underwhelming romance-wise. The younger you are when you first try sex the more disappointing it is. It’s probably even worse these days because young girls/boys assume they are supposed to be very knowledgeable about sex at a very early age. I can’t stand thinking what my little nieces may need to go through.

    Anyway, kissing is the one activity I really miss from relationships. I haven’t kissed anyone for years and it sucks! 🙂

    • Debbish
      December 3, 2013

      Yep… same here. (As in years since…)

  • Jo @ BabbleOn City blog
    December 3, 2013

    Oh how I just laughed!
    Pashing and panel vans and vaso and Pollywaffles.
    Hahahaha love it!’
    These #MyFirst stories are fab :o)x

    • Debbish
      December 3, 2013

      I know… I sometimes cringe at the topic Kerri sets us though!

  • Jo Tracey
    December 4, 2013

    I wasn’t game enough to blog this one…but between you & I, it was a sleazy guy who worked at the local pool. I was 16 (I think) & was glad to get it all over and done with.

    • Debbish
      December 4, 2013

      If only we knew then what we know now….

I'd love to hear your thoughts