Preacher's Kids Anonymous Part II

After high school I went to school at '...that college in West Texas that is between San Angelo and Dallas....'

I soon found out that if I had desired to listen to bad country music in a dive, it was not only a sin against God and just plain bad taste, but it was also a punishable crime against the school to visit any such place. If one was to be caught at such an establishment, then one would be sent to the dean of men or the dean of women and be required an explanation.

I always wondered if they were so curious, why didn't they just go themselves? I think they were trying to live vicariously....

The reason 'that college' was built where it was when it was, was because at the time they built it, that particular area was the most boring part of the world. People figured that if there wasn't anything to do, then there wouldn't be anything to do, especially things that shouldn't be done, whatever those things might be.

In the years to come, this particular town never got on much past that, either. In fact, in the 1980s, comedian Steve Martin, who may still own a house there, also affirmed that this town 'was the most boring town in the world'.

Eyewitness accounts indicate that back in the 50s there were some newly built and vacant houses surrounding this particular college. Every weekend night, the driveways of these houses would be filled with one car each.

Eventually, those houses were filled with real owners 24/7, and that was the end of that.

The city finally took pity on the students and built some very nice parks around the area of the college. They all had plenty of parking. One of them initially had a petting zoo and a train that ran around the whole park.

The city ended up taking the train out, and that pretty much just left the parking lot and the petting zoo....

These parks were popular during the daytime, and equally popular at night, especially for the nightly submarine races.

Then we found out what everybody was worried about.

Nobody ever thought that if you put people in a boring town with nothing to do that there would be trouble...but isn't it the older generation that also said that 'boredom is the devil's workshop?'

So anyway, here I am, 38 years old, still working through the issues that people less than half my age are working through....

In my recent adult life I have taught myself how to two step, salsa dance and swing dance. More than the fear of rejection from a woman is the fear of God giving just punishment to just such an errant preacher's kid, or possibly getting called into the Dean's Office for such deviant behavior.

But that hasn't happened, and I like to think that that God's not only playing tambourine when I'm dancing, but he's also smiling and having a good time himself.

Many times I have considered myself fortunate for not growing up dirt poor, living in a 3rd World Country, etc...there's probably not much I would have changed.

But the dancing? I would have changed that.

And, we would have danced to r&b or soul music rather than 'Wang Chung'.

Group: "Thanks, Brian. Keep coming back."