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 Cruising
                                                                                      
  I just finished watching American Graffiti again.  It's a Saturday night and I am suddenly in the mood to go cruising.  Of course, nobody really does that sort of thing anymore, at least not like they used to.  Sure, I have seen cars rolling up and down certain sections of highway between rows of fast food restaurants and convenience stores.  The cars are different now and so is the attitude.  The cars are tricked out Hondas and Mitsubishis with tinted windows that are lowered just enough to let the cigarette smoke drift out without letting anyone see inside.  They are little cabins of exclusion whose massive audio systems shake every panel and bolt each time the bass thumps down.  I get the feeling that today's cruisers are just out to be seen, not to interact with others, but just parade their cars up and down the street basking in the envy of others.   It seems to be a solitary ritual fueled by boredom.
  I don't believe it was always that way.  It seems that it once was a social ritual that fueled the desires and dreams of young people in towns all across the country.  Back in the day when towns had a city center with a strip of road running through it, a place where everybody would go to congregate on Saturday nights and try to meet up with the opposite sex.  Some were just looking for a challenge, others were in pursuit of trouble, while most needed to find a little excitement.  They ran their machines through that endless loop, seeing and being seen, while shouting through lowered windows to familiar faces in other cars.   Its seems like it was once a worthwhile pastime.   Everything changes and nothing last forever.
  I used to a bit of cruising when I was in my late 'teens.  I was too old for the mall (not that I ever liked the mall in the first place), too young for the bars and clubs, but just the right age to take the car out on a summer night and kill some time with my friends.  The year was 1986 and I was driving a 1979 Mazda 626.  I was home from a year of college still lacking direction in my life.   I was working and living at home, so when the weekend rolled around I wanted to be out and having fun, looking for girls.  I was living in Bristol, TN at the time and the cruising culture was still fairly strong up on the strip, the name given to a short stretch of four lane that ran between the state line and 11W proper.  There was Wal-Mart at one end, which made a nice  turnabout, and a Texaco on the other.  Sometimes people would take 11W out as far as the interstate before circling back towards the strip, and 11W was home to its share of impromptu drag races in the small hours.  I never saw one myself, but I used to see the cars rumbling up and down the strip, their wide rear wheels and huge rumbling V8's a silent challenge to anyone willing to accept.   
  I was never much for just driving in circles all night, so I used to do a couple of laps and then just park the car in a prominent spot facing the strip and sit on the hood watching the traffic go by.  Before long I would see someone I knew and they would pull in to join me.  Then another come along, and soon we had a small crew together hanging out and watching the cars and faces (most people had windows down because they wanted to be seen) go by, making eye contact and shouting to the pretty girls, hoping for a bit of luck.  Occasionally luck would be on our side and we meet up with friends of friends or just some adventurous types who up for a little "whatever" and proceed with the evening from there.  Those nights were filled with harmless fun for the most part and I still think back on them with fondness.  
  I am much too old for such things these days, so my solo nights out usually consist of walking around downtown, watching people, and reminiscing about good times I have had.  I will stop in to one or two of my favorite pubs for a brew then do a bit more walking, enjoying the architecture and letting my mind wander freely, just appreciating the night air and the stillness.  That is how participate in cruising these days - on foot.   Maybe that's part of the reason I liked the cruising scene back then, because I was outside under the night sky and felt free and unencumbered, as if anything might be possible.  Sometimes I feel that way walking around downtown.  
  It's a good feeling.