NaBloPoMo Day 8: Andy and Ryan and One Day in 1985

It's National Blog Post Month. 30 posts in 30 days. Beware friends. No one's stories are safe around me:

Andy invited us to hang out with him and Stacie and his childhood friend Ryan. I was all in. As a rule, stories from Andy’s childhood do not disappoint. We were belly up to the bar table, drinks in hand, ready for go time.

Pretty quickly, one particular day bubbled to top of mind. It was a trifecta if you’re 14 on Long Island in 1985:

• The Madonna Penthouse issue came out
• It was the day of the Live Aid Concerts in London and Philadelphia
• Andy’s relatives from Australia were flying in for a visit

The day began at 4:05 am when Andy and Ryan zipped across the street to the deli. They nabbed a couple of bagels from the bagel delivery bag hanging on the door knob of the store. This, apparently, was not in any way special and had nothing to do with the trifecta. 

Back at Andy’s house eating bagels, the two of them immediately began plotting how they were going to get the Penthouse issue. 

Live Aid London started at 6am.

Meanwhile, Andy’s mom was having a meltdown because some Australian relatives no one had ever met before were flying in for a visit. To Newark Airport. Who the hell flies into Newark? JFK, La Guardia, no problem but Andy’s mom had zero clue how to navigate the arrivals deck at Newark. 

After a lot of angst and phone calls, one of Andy’s mom's cousins said he’d drive with Andy’s Mom to Newark to pick up the Australians. But he’d only do it if they stopped at a Seven Eleven to buy New Jersey lottery tickets. 

So the Australian cousins arrived and met everyone. When they had been there something like four hours, Andy hatched a plan. He decided he knew the one younger Australian guy relative well enough to ask him to go across the street and buy the Madonna Penthouse. 

The cousin said no. He would not go across the street and buy the Madonna Penthouse issue for two underage kids he’d just met four hours ago.

Ultimately, Ryan and Andy went to the magazine place themselves and tucked the penthouse into a Rolling Stone (the largest magazine in the place). The cashier totally knew what they were up to, but he didn’t give a shit. They had plenty of time to get back to the house.

Live Aid Philadelphia started at 8.