Do You Remember
Thought
you'd enjoy this look at simpler, happier, safer times — our childhood
(if you're over 40) or close to it. Close your eyes...And go back...Before the
Internet or the IMAC. Before semiautomatics and crack cocaine were killing kids.
Before SEGA or Super Nintendo were the nation's babysitters. I mean, WAY BACK.
Do You Remember...
- Hide and go
seek at dusk.
- Sittin' on the
porch.
- Hot bread and
butter.
- Red light, Green
light.
- The five and
dime.
- Penny candy
in a brown paper bag.
- Hopscotch, butterscotch,
doubledutch, Jacks, kickball, dodgeball.
- Mother, May
I?
- Hula Hoops and
Sunflower Seeds.
- Jaw breakers,
blowpops, Mary Janes.
- Running through
the sprinkler, the smell of the sun and lickin' salty lips.
- Catchin' lightening
bugs in a jar
- Playin' sling
shot and Red Rover.
- When around
the corner seemed far away, and going downtown seemed like going somewhere.
- Climbing trees
to the first branch and thinking "This is so high".
- A million mosquito
bites and sticky fingers.
- Cops and Robbers,
Cowboys and Indians, Sittin' on the curb.
Do You Remember...
- Layin in the
summer grass, looking for shapes in the clouds
- Jumpin' down
the steps, Jumpin' on the bed. Pillow fights
- Being tickled
to death, runnin' till you were out of breath
- Laughing so
hard that your stomach hurt.
- Being tired
from playin'.... Remember that?
- Being in love
with the girl that had the big bubbly handwriting?
- Licking the
beaters when your mother made a cake.
- When there
were two types of sneakers -- Keds & PF Flyers, and the only time you
wore them at school, was for "gym."
- When nearly
everyone's mom was at home when the kids got there.
- When nobody
owned a purebred dog.
- When a quarter
was a decent allowance, and another quarter a huge bonus.
- When you'd
reach into a muddy gutter for a penny.
- When girls
neither dated nor kissed until late high school, if then.
Do You Remember...
- When your mom
wore nylons that came in two pieces.
- When all of
your male teachers wore neckties and female teachers had their hair done,
everyday.
- When you got
your windshield cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped, without asking, for
free, every time? And, you didn't pay for air. And, you got trading stamps
to boot!
- When laundry
detergent had free glasses, dishes or towels hidden inside the box. When any
parent could discipline any kid, or feed him or use him to carry groceries,
and nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it.
- When it was
considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant
with your parents.
- When they threatened
to keep kids back a grade if they failed.....and did!
- When being
sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to what was waiting for
us when we got home.
- Basically, we
were in fear for our lives but it wasn't because of driveby shootings, drugs,
gangs, etc.?
- Disapproval
of our parents and grandparents was a much bigger threat!
Do You Remember...
- Decisions were
made by going "eeny-meeny-miney-mo," and mistakes were corrected
by simply exclaiming, "do over!"
- "Race issue"
meant arguing about who ran the fastest.
- Money issues
were handled by whoever was the banker in "Monopoly."
- Catching the
fireflies could happily occupy an entire evening.
- It wasn't odd
to have two or three "best" friends.
- Being old,
referred to anyone over 20.
- The net on
a tennis court was the perfect height to play volleyball and rules didn't
matter.
- The worst thing
you could catch from the opposite sex was cooties.
- It was magic
when dad would "remove" his thumb.
- It was unbelievable
that dodgeball wasn't an Olympic event.
- Having a weapon
in school, meant being caught with a slingshot or a pea shooter.
- Nobody was
prettier than your Mom.
- Scrapes and
bruises were kissed and made better.
Do You Remember...
- It was a big
deal to finally be tall enough to ride the "big people" rides at
the amusement park.
- Getting a foot
of snow was a dream come true.
- Abilities were
discovered because of a "double-dog-dare."
- Saturday morning
cartoons weren't 30-minute ads for action figures.
- Spinning around,
getting dizzy and falling down was cause for giggles.
- The worst embarrassment
was being picked last for a team.
- War was nothing
more than a card game.
- Water balloons
were the ultimate weapon.
- Baseball cards
in the spokes transformed any bike into a motorcycle.
- Taking drugs
meant orange-flavored chewable aspirin.
- Ice cream from
the ice cream man was a quarter or less.
- Older siblings
were the worst tormentors, but also the fiercest protectors.
- Stickball,
stoopball, Simon says, kick the can, Johnny ride a pony
Do You Remember...
- Rotary phones
- Record albums
and 45's (not the caliber)
- Phone numbers
that started with CH (chelsea), WE (West), GL (Glendale) or CI (circle), because
that was the neighborhood or town you lived in.
- 10 cent slice
of pizza, 15 cent hot dogs with everything on it, 5 for a buck hamburgers.
- 1 cent Bazooka
bubble gum
- Telephone party
lines
- going home
from school for lunch
- walking to
school
- leaving the
back door unlocked
- paper drives
- playing ball
or sledding in the street
- duck and cover
drills, air raid signals, fallout shelters
- A gallon of
gas was ten cents.
________________________________
Submitted by Gregory Brown
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