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NUNN HERE'S ANOTHER ONE FOR YOU
gskyhawk
Member Posts: 4,773
>"Hey Dad," one of my kids asked the other day, "what was your favorite fast
food when you were growing up?"
>
>"We didn't have fast food when I was growing up," I informed him. "All the
food was slow."
>
>"C'mon, seriously. Where did you eat?"
>
>"It was a place called 'at home,'" I explained. "Grandma Stewart cooked
every day and when Grandpa Stewart got home from work, we sat down
together
at the dining room table, and if I didn't like what she put on my plate
I was
allowed to sit there until I did like it."
>
>By this time, the kid was laughing so hard I was afraid he was going to
suffer serious internal damage, so I didn't tell him the part about how
I had
to have permission to leave the table.
>
>But here are some other things I would have told him about my childhood if I
had figured his system could handle it. My parents NEVER: wore Levis,
set
foot on a golf course, traveled out of the country, or had a credit
card.
>
>In their later years they had something called a revolving charge card. The
card was good only at Sears Roebuck. Or maybe it was Sears AND Roebuck.
Either way, there is no Roebuck anymore. Maybe he died.
>
>My parents never drove me to soccer practice. This was because we never had
heard of soccer. But also because we didn't have a car. We actually
WALKED to
school. Even when there was a foot of snow on the ground.
>
>We didn't have a television in our house until I was 15, but my grandparents
had one before that. It was, of course, black and white, but they bought
a
piece of colored plastic to cover the screen. The top third was blue,
like
the sky, and the bottom third was green, like grass. The middle third
was
red. It was perfect for programs that had scenes of fire trucks riding
across
someone's lawn on a sunny day.
>
>I was 16 before I tasted my first pizza. It was a Luigi's Pizza on the west
side of Cleveland and my friend, Ronnie, took me there to try what he
said
was "pizza pie." When I bit into it, I burned the roof of my mouth and
the
cheese slid off, swung down, plastered itself against my chin and burned
that, too. It's still the best pizza I ever had.
>
>We didn't have a car until I was 15. Before that, the only car in our family
was my grandfather's Plymouth. He called it a "machine."
>
>I never had a telephone in my room. The only phone in the house was in the
living room and it was on a party line. Before you could dial, you had
to
listen and make sure some people you didn't know weren't already using
the
line.
>
>There was no such thing as a computer or a hand held calculator. We were
required to memorize the "times tables". Believe it or not, we were
tested
each week on our ability to perform mathematics with nothing but a
pencil and
paper. We took a spelling test every day. There was no
>
>such thing as a "social promotion". If you flunked a class, you repeated
that grade the following year. Nobody was concerned about our "self
esteem".
We had to actually DO something praiseworthy before we were praised. We
learned that respect had to be EARNED.
>
>Pizzas were not delivered to our home. But milk was. All newspapers were
delivered by boys and all boys delivered newspapers. I delivered the
Cleveland "News" six days a week. It cost 7 cents a paper, of which I
got to
keep 2 cents. On Saturday, I had to collect the 42 cents from my
customers.
My favorite customers were the ones who gave me 50 cents and told me to
keep
the change. My least favorite customers were the ones who seemed to
never be
home on collection day.
>
>Movie stars kissed with their mouths shut. At least, they did in the movies.
Touching someone else's tongue with yours was called French kissing and
they
didn't do that in movies. I don't know what they did in French movies.
French
movies were dirty and we weren't allowed to see them.
>
>Drugs were something one purchased at a pharmacy in order to cure various
diseases. When you were sick, the doctor actually came to your home. No,
I am
not making this up.
>
>If we dared to "sass" our parents, or any other grown-up, we immediately
found out what soap tasted like. For more serious infractions, we
learned
about something called a "trip to the woodshed". In those days, parents
were
expected to discipline their children when necessary.
>
>There was no interference by the government. "Social Services" or "Family
Services" had not been invented. (The ninth and tenth amendments to the
constitution were still observed in those days.)
>
>If you grew up in a generation before there was fast food, you may want to
share some of these memories with your children or grandchildren. Just
don't
blame me if they bust a gut laughing.
>
>Growing up ain't what it used to be.
food when you were growing up?"
>
>"We didn't have fast food when I was growing up," I informed him. "All the
food was slow."
>
>"C'mon, seriously. Where did you eat?"
>
>"It was a place called 'at home,'" I explained. "Grandma Stewart cooked
every day and when Grandpa Stewart got home from work, we sat down
together
at the dining room table, and if I didn't like what she put on my plate
I was
allowed to sit there until I did like it."
>
>By this time, the kid was laughing so hard I was afraid he was going to
suffer serious internal damage, so I didn't tell him the part about how
I had
to have permission to leave the table.
>
>But here are some other things I would have told him about my childhood if I
had figured his system could handle it. My parents NEVER: wore Levis,
set
foot on a golf course, traveled out of the country, or had a credit
card.
>
>In their later years they had something called a revolving charge card. The
card was good only at Sears Roebuck. Or maybe it was Sears AND Roebuck.
Either way, there is no Roebuck anymore. Maybe he died.
>
>My parents never drove me to soccer practice. This was because we never had
heard of soccer. But also because we didn't have a car. We actually
WALKED to
school. Even when there was a foot of snow on the ground.
>
>We didn't have a television in our house until I was 15, but my grandparents
had one before that. It was, of course, black and white, but they bought
a
piece of colored plastic to cover the screen. The top third was blue,
like
the sky, and the bottom third was green, like grass. The middle third
was
red. It was perfect for programs that had scenes of fire trucks riding
across
someone's lawn on a sunny day.
>
>I was 16 before I tasted my first pizza. It was a Luigi's Pizza on the west
side of Cleveland and my friend, Ronnie, took me there to try what he
said
was "pizza pie." When I bit into it, I burned the roof of my mouth and
the
cheese slid off, swung down, plastered itself against my chin and burned
that, too. It's still the best pizza I ever had.
>
>We didn't have a car until I was 15. Before that, the only car in our family
was my grandfather's Plymouth. He called it a "machine."
>
>I never had a telephone in my room. The only phone in the house was in the
living room and it was on a party line. Before you could dial, you had
to
listen and make sure some people you didn't know weren't already using
the
line.
>
>There was no such thing as a computer or a hand held calculator. We were
required to memorize the "times tables". Believe it or not, we were
tested
each week on our ability to perform mathematics with nothing but a
pencil and
paper. We took a spelling test every day. There was no
>
>such thing as a "social promotion". If you flunked a class, you repeated
that grade the following year. Nobody was concerned about our "self
esteem".
We had to actually DO something praiseworthy before we were praised. We
learned that respect had to be EARNED.
>
>Pizzas were not delivered to our home. But milk was. All newspapers were
delivered by boys and all boys delivered newspapers. I delivered the
Cleveland "News" six days a week. It cost 7 cents a paper, of which I
got to
keep 2 cents. On Saturday, I had to collect the 42 cents from my
customers.
My favorite customers were the ones who gave me 50 cents and told me to
keep
the change. My least favorite customers were the ones who seemed to
never be
home on collection day.
>
>Movie stars kissed with their mouths shut. At least, they did in the movies.
Touching someone else's tongue with yours was called French kissing and
they
didn't do that in movies. I don't know what they did in French movies.
French
movies were dirty and we weren't allowed to see them.
>
>Drugs were something one purchased at a pharmacy in order to cure various
diseases. When you were sick, the doctor actually came to your home. No,
I am
not making this up.
>
>If we dared to "sass" our parents, or any other grown-up, we immediately
found out what soap tasted like. For more serious infractions, we
learned
about something called a "trip to the woodshed". In those days, parents
were
expected to discipline their children when necessary.
>
>There was no interference by the government. "Social Services" or "Family
Services" had not been invented. (The ninth and tenth amendments to the
constitution were still observed in those days.)
>
>If you grew up in a generation before there was fast food, you may want to
share some of these memories with your children or grandchildren. Just
don't
blame me if they bust a gut laughing.
>
>Growing up ain't what it used to be.
Comments
I can relate to all the above mentioned.
Can I also add, our chief of police in the small town that I grew up in never even carried a sidearm! The ones that did carry had either a .38 revolver or the massive high firepower of a .357. If a kid wanted to look at it, no problem, they'ed take the shells out and let you hold and stare at that firepower in awe. No reason for a bullet proof vest, don't know if they even had 'em back then. They didn't have S.R.T. training or drug or bomb sniffing dogs. There was a dog alright, but he mostly just laid on the steps of city hall.
What has happened to our country that in order to survive, the men and women in law enforcement must arm and protect themselves like commandos just to know that if they do there is a much better chance of returning home to their families at the end of their shift.
At what point did this happen, why has it happened?
I also wonder if someday in their future, my children will look back at the present time now and long for the simpler times.
"Just my opinion."
rabbit
squirrel
deer
antelope........
Where did you grow up?.....Mayberry?
You just described Andy Taylor and Barney Fife.
Although it's a little hard to believe they let Barney keep his gun loaded.
Remember...Terrorist are attacking Civilians; Not the Government. Protect Yourself!
NRA Lifetime Benefactor Member.
I thought of the similarities too while I was typing the post. I guess the chief did remind me of Andy somewhat. He just passed away last year. My guess is that he was chief for 35 or 40years. And yes we did have our share of 'Barneys', although they were allowed to carry a full 6 rounds.
One night when I was a teenager, a deputy cought us drinking. He took us to his house, his wife fixed us food and coffee. He was a musician also and kept us amused until our parents could be contacted.
It is still a nice quiet small town. I sure enjoy going back there often.
"Just my opinion."
There were some great dove and chucker areas not far from the school and you could usually hear the gun fire during lunch and recess. Of course that small town has grown into fair sized city now and the area around the high school is developed and the old school rebuilt into modern facility. No guns allowed any more and the rifle team is long gone. I never once heard of any trouble with those firearms brought to school back then. A period of time lost forever.
Mark T. Christian