Music Memories: Beastie Boys

When I was in University, I applied for a job posting to work in the post office. I was hired on the spot and was scheduled to work Tuesday and Thursday afternoons to start the following week. I turned up at my scheduled time and my new boss started walking OUT of the post office. What?


I diligently followed and she walked me into the arcade next door. For some reason, one that wasn't clear on the job posting, the job I actually got was to be the quarter girl at the campus arcade and pool hall. She introduced me to what I guess you'd deem a Skater Boy named John. He showed me the ropes. How to work the pool table computer system, how to unstick the air hockey if a puck got stuck (you'd lift one end and drop it. Fixed.) and how if you didn't abuse it, you could get a free Nantucket Nectars drink and a packet of crisps if you said a machine ate someone's money and you had to give a refund. The tank game always ate Loonies so it was prime target for our free snack abuse.

The next shift was to be on my own. As a tomboy, I was comfortable around the massive amounts of testosterone and video games. And I could read on the job, or stare at the boys, most of whom were sport majors as the gym was right across from the student union where the arcade was.

When I arrived, there was a note from John. It was hilarious and totally put me at ease. And best of all it was filled with Beastie Boy lyrics. And that day marked the first of many notes. All of which were filled with Beastie Boy lyrics. The more obscure the better. I'd go home and skim the cover liners of CDs to bring in the perfect wording (yes - there was a time before looking up everything on your iPhone). For a whole year, we wrote back and forth. And the next year, when I didn't have time to work at the arcade, I left the notes behind. My first year of Uni was marked by the Beastie Boys and I can't help but think of the din of a dozen arcade games played at once, the smell of boys, iced tea and Cheetos whenever I hear a little "Fight for your right to Party."