Two Men Kissing

ATOMIC FLASHBACK--1979--ABBA, Fleetwood Mac & the Eagles ruled the airwaves; the A-bomb siren sounded testily at 12 noon every day in my lil Southern town so close to those Cuban missiles & I was deep in love with bionic Jaime Sommers & Angelic Kelly Garrett. Then, two Cold Warriors went where no man had gone before...Do you recall the 1st time you saw 2 men kiss? I was 13 or 14 when the Soviet and East German leaders locked lips & recall the lessons about communism & even how the teacher tried to teach about kisses as simple greetings in other cultures; however, after, during break & lunch at school, I recall that all the talk was rampant homophobia mixed in with the usual Cold War fears. Dear Lord, how could we help it with that damn siren going off every day? Fear, fear, fear...!!! I even recall that we all "forgave" French guys for kissing each other, since we were allies with that country & that it really was just a greeting with them--we'd never do it & it was kinda' weird--but it was OK for French guys to do it. BUT, East Germans & damn Russkies, no way--Evil is what they were--their men kissing just proved it! Oh, the innocence; the betrayal. It was coincidentally around this time though that leather-jacketed Arthur Fonzarelli became a postered addition to my teenager's wall. All that fear didn't quite jump the shark with our Fonzie but got gobbled up instead...--1979-- good times... "Good times! Scratchin’ and surviving--Good Times! Hangin' in & jivin'--Good Times! Ain’t we lucky we got ‘em--Good Times!"