If you are old enough . . . take a stroll with me. . . close your eyes. . . and
go back . . . before the Internet . . . before semiautomatics and crack .. . .
before SEGA or Super Nintendo . . .way back I'm talking' about hide and go seek
at dusk. Sitting' on the porch, Simon Says, Kick the Can, Red light - Green
light. Lunch boxes with a thermos. . Chocolate milk, going home for lunch, penny
candy from the store, hopscotch, butterscotch, skates with keys, Jacks, Mother
May I? Hula Hoops and sunflower seeds, Whist and Old Maid and Crazy Eights, wax
lips and mustaches, Mary Janes, saddle shoes and Coke bottles with the names of
cities on the bottom, running through the sprinkler, circle pins, bobby pins,
Mickey Mouse Club, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Fran & Ollie, Spin & Marty . . . all in
black & white. When around the corner seemed far away, and going downtown seemed
like going somewhere. Bedtime, climbing trees, making forts, backyard shows,
lemonade stands, Cops and Robbers, Cowboys and Indians, sitting' on the curb,
staring at clouds, jumping down the steps, jumping on the bed, pillow fights,
getting "company," ribbon candy, angel hair on the Christmas tree, Jackie
Gleason, white gloves, walking to church, walking to the movie theater, being
tickled to death, running till you were out of breath, laughing so hard that
your stomach hurt, being tired from playing' . . .Remember that? Not stepping'
on a crack or you'll break your mother's back .. . . paper chains at Christmas,
silhouettes of Lincoln and Washington . .. . the smell of paste in school and
Evening in Paris. What about the girl that had the big bubbly handwriting, who
dotted her "i's" with hearts? The Stroll, popcorn balls, & sock hops . Remember
when . . . there were two types of sneakers for girls and boys (Keds & PF Flyer)
and the only time you wore them at school was for "gym." And the girls had those
ugly uniforms. When it took five minutes for the TV to warm up. When nearly
everyone's Mom was at home when the kids got home from school. 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. 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 and wore high heels. When you got your
windshield cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped, without asking, all 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 the worst thing you could do at school was smoke in the bathrooms,
flunk a test or chew gum. And the prom was in the auditorium and we danced to an
orchestra, and all the girls wore pastel gowns and the boys wore suits for the
first time and we stayed out all night. When a '57 Chevy was everyone's dream
car . . . to cruise, peel out, lay rubber or watch submarine races, and people
went steady and girls wore a class ring with an inch of wrapped dental floss or
yarn coated with pastel frost nail polish so it would fit her finger. And no one
ever asked where the car keys were, cause they were always in the car, in the
ignition, and the doors were never locked. And you got in big trouble if you
accidentally locked the doors at home, since no one ever had a key. Remember
lying on your back on the grass with your friends and saying things like "That
cloud looks like a . . . " And playing baseball with no adults to help kids with
the rules of the game. Back then, baseball was not a psychological group
learning experience -- it was a game. Remember when stuff from the store came
without safety caps and hermetic seals 'cause no one had yet tried to poison a
perfect stranger. And . . . with all our progress . .don't you just wish, just
once, you could slip back in time and savor the slower pace. . . and share it
with the children of today . . . So come on and join the ones who can still
remember Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Laurel & Hardy, Howdy Doody and The Peanut
Gallery, The Lone Ranger, The Shadow Knows, Nellie Belle, Roy and Dale, Trigger
and Buttermilk . . . as well as the sound of a reel mower on Saturday morning,
and summers filled with bike rides, playing in cowboy land, baseball games,
bowling and visits to the pool, and eating Kool-Aid powder with sugar. When
being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that
awaited a misbehaving student at home. Basically, we were in fear for our lives,
but it wasn't because of drive by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc. Our parents and
grandparents were a much bigger threat! But we all survived because their love
was greater than the threat.
Wouldn't it feel good, just to go back and say, "Yeah, I remember that!!!!!!"