Grant McGee: Yard sale brings back memories of 'draggin' Main'

Grant McGee

Do you remember “draggin’ Main”? You know, spending Saturday nights riding up and down the main street of your town.

I got to thinking about this after encountering three sisters having a yard sale. I had picked up an old cassette they were selling and was looking at the tunes on it from the 1970’s.

“We used to listen to that when we dragged Main,” said the oldest of the three.

“A Coke and the floorboard,” said the youngest sister.

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“Momma said they couldn’t take the car unless they took me,” said the youngest.

“So we’d buy her a Coke and make her sit on the floorboard so boys wouldn’t see her,” said the middle one.

Ah, the memories of “cruisin’” came back; that’s what we called “draggin’ Main” in my home town. Up and down the main drag of town until midnight or so. Guys trying to look “cool,” girls generally waving and smiling and giggling.

Most times I’d cruise with my buddy Catfish. Catfish knew how to talk to girls so I figured with him riding shotgun and me driving my dad’s big ol’ four-door 1959 Lincoln we were a winning combination.

One time we were at a light right beside a car full of cheerleaders. This was going to be great. Catfish leaned over, I thought he would say something cool to the girls. He honked the horn then dropped out of sight on the passenger side. The girls were all staring at me. I thought I’d die from embarrassment. Catfish was on the floorboard laughing.

Then there was the time I tried cruisin’ on a Saturday night on my one-speed bicycle. A bunch of guys from another high school across town tried to run me down. But that’s another story.