'83 flash flashback

On my drive home last night, I was listening to Arrow 103.5 FM's "Ten at Ten" from 1983. When Bryan Adams' "Cuts Like a Knife" came on, I immediately remembered where I was (at my friend Fred's house) when I saw the video for the first and, to my recollection, only time. All I could remember about it was the girl changing into something skimpy in the dressing room, and how mesmerized --and, yes, aroused-- we were by a few, brief glimpses of her skin.

It's interesting to reflect on that, and consider the conversation I'd had with my boss (who was made a bishop recently) earlier in the day of wondering how on earth adolescents survive adolescence today, with everything that's literally, well, at their fingertips. I mean, we had to have connections to get a Playboy; today, you just need a web or WAP connection. But I imagine each generation says something similar about the next. In this same conversation, he mentioned some of the struggles couples in his ward are having --easily attributable by a third party to selfishness, pettiness, unforgiveness and short-sightedness-- and said, "I tell you, if you ever step out of line, I'm gonna kick your butt." It (the conversation, not the threat of butt-kicking, although he's got about half a foot and sixty pounds on me, so that's not something to which I'd look forward) made me want to try harder as a father, husband, and Priesthood holder. That night --I got home after the kids were asleep-- I sat near her on the couch and continued with Rough Stone Rolling (I've been making slow progress on it over the last few months) while she read about Neal Maxwell, one of her favorites.

Coincidentally, I also passed a billboard for Tanya Tucker's upcoming show in Wendover, and remembered being glued to the TV as she strutted her glued-on, black leather pants on Solid Gold, singing...must have been either "Can I see You Tonight" or "Baby I'm Yours," which would have been right around the time of "Cuts Like a Knife."