Hammertime
Even though I have been around and survived over 72 years of change, I really love living in this new and exciting era, have become un-stubborn, and have very little problem adjusting to all those fancy new electronic gizmos and perks. I don’t even get frustrated any more when something doesn’t work right, that is, as long as my siblings are on hand to bail me out of ditz in la-la land. I must admit that I often enjoy taking a little trip down memory lane, where I am going this week, especially for those of us who have been there.
Wasn’t this us?
A little house with three bedrooms, one bathroom, and one car on the street.
And there was once a lawn mower that you had to push to make the grass look neat.
In the kitchen on the wall, we had only one phone and no need for recording things, because someone was always home.
We only had a living room where we would congregate, unless it was mealtime, then it was in the kitchen where we had to eat.
We had no need for family rooms or extra rooms to dine, when meeting as a family, those two rooms would work out fine.
We had only one TV set and channels maybe two, but always there was one of them with something worth the view.
For snacks, we had potato chips that tasted like a chip, and if you wanted flavor, there was Lipton’s onion dip.
Store-store bought snacks were rare because my mother liked to cook, and nothing can compare to those recipes in Betty Crocker’s book.
Weekends were for family trips or staying home to play, we all did things together, even go to church to pray.
When we did our weekend trips depending on the weather, no one every whined and stayed at home because we just liked to be together.
Sometimes we would separate to do things on our own, but we always knew where the others were without our own cell phone.
Then there were the movies with your favourite movie star, and nothing can compare with watching movies in your car.
And then there were the picnics at the peak of the summer season, where we packed a lunch and found some trees and never needed a reason.
Get a baseball game together with all the friends you knew, had real action playing ball, no matter who won, we needed no game video.
Remember when the doctor used to be the family friend, and didn’t need insurance or a lawyer to defend?
The way he took care of you or what he had to do, because he took an oath and strived to do the best for you.
Remember going to the store and shopping casually, and when you went to pay for it, you used your own money?
Nothing that we had to swipe or punch in some amount, and can we still remember when the cashier person really had to count?
The milkman used to go door to door, and it was just a few cents more than going to the store.
There was a time when mailed letters came right to our door, and came without a lot of junk mail ads sent out by every store.
That friendly mailman knew each house by name and knew where it was sent, and there were never loads of mail addressed to the ‘present occupant.’
There was a time when just one glance was all that it would take, and you would know the kind of car, the model, and the make.
They didn’t look like turtles trying to squeeze out every mile; ours were streamlined, with white walls, fins, and really had some style.
One time the music that you played whenever you would jive, was coming from a big holed black record called a 45.
Our record player had a post to keep them all in line, and then the records would drop down and play just one at a time.
Oh sure, we had our problems then, just like we do today, and always we were striving to find a better way.
Oh, the simple life we lived still seems like so much fun, and how can you explain a game as simple as kicking a ball and running?
Any why would boys put baseball cards between bicycle spokes, and for just a nickel those bright red machines had little bottled Cokes.
That life seemed so much easier and slower in some ways, and while I love the new technology I quite often miss those more blissful and uncomplicated days.
So time moves on and so do we and nothing stays the same, but we all love to reminisce and take an occasional walk down memory lane.
With all of today’s technology and frills, we grant that the 20th century is a real plus, but it’s real fun to sit down with our grandchildren and old friends, then look way back and proudly say, Hey look guys, THAT WAS US..
No matter what age or era you have come from, please live life to the fullest with those who are closest to your heart, and have a great week, all of you.