The neighbor kid came over again this morning with more questions about my childhood. He was primarily interested in the things we and our parents âdid notâ have when I was growing up. So, I began; âThere are exceptions, of course, but, most of our parents NEVER owned their own home; we rented. Most never set foot on a Golf Course or even traveled outside of the local county, let alone out of state or outside the country. Most never had a credit card; although, in their later years, they had something called a ârevolving charge card which was only good at Sears & Roebuck (but nowadays there is no more Roebuck).â Many parents did not have a car, and those that had one, did not chauffer their kids to events all over the area. Soccer practice? Heck, we never even heard of soccer! To get around, I had a bicycle that weighed about 50 pounds and only had one speedâŠâslowâ. We didnât have âTELEVISIONâ in our house until I was nine and the tiny picture was only in black & white. The four stations we received went off the air at about midnight; with the playing of the National Anthem and a prayer or poem about God; it generally came back on at around 6a.m. with locally produced news about local people. There was no such thing as a âremote controlâ so when the volume or channel needed changing, someone had to get up and turn the knobs manually. When the weather was bad or the station signal was weak, you had to adjust the ârabbit earsâ antenna, which was usually wrapped in tinfoil to enhance the signal reception.â As the kid sat there with an open mouth and wide eyes, I told him I had some chores to do, but that he could come back tomorrow, if he had more questions. If you too grew up in a generation before there was âfast foodâ, share those memories with your children and grandkids.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Oct 2013 17:52:05 +0000
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