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Before the Internet or the MAC,
Before semi-automatics and crack
Before chronic and indo Before
SEGA or Super Nintendo
Way back... I'm talking' bouts
hide and go seek at dusk.
Sitting' on the porch, Hot bread
and butter.
The Good Humor man, eating' a
'super dooper sandwich',
Red light, Green light.
Chocolate milk, Lunch tickets,
Penny candy in a brown paper bag.
Playing' Pinball in the corner
store.
Hopscotch, butterscotch, double
Dutch Jacks, kickball, dodge ball, y'all!
Mother May I? Red Rover and Roly
Poly Double Dog Dares
Hula Hoops and Polly Seeds, Jolly
Ranchers, blowpops, Mary Janes, Banana Splits
Wax Lips and Mustaches and
Licorice Records
Grape and Watermelon Now-Laters
what about "Alexander the grape," "lemonheads."
Running through the plug
sprinkler
The smell of the sun and licking'
salty lips...
Wait -
Remember . . .
Watching Saturday Morning
cartoons, Fat Albert, RoadRunner, he-man, The Three Stooges,
Fractured Fairy Tales, and Bugs Bunny. Or back further,
listening to Superman on the radio
Catching' lightening bugs in a
jar, Playing sling shot.
When around the corner seemed far
away, and going downtown seemed like going somewhere?
An ice cream cone on a warm
summer night Chocolate or vanilla or strawberry or maybe butter
pecan
A lemon or cherry coke from the
fountain at the corner drug store
A million mosquito bites at the
drive-in movie and sticky fingers,
Cops and Robbers, Cowboys and
Indians Pillow fights
Sitting on the curb, jumping down
the steps, jumping on the bed.
Being tickled to death Running
till you were out of breath
Laughing so hard that your
stomach hurt being tired from playing
I am not finished just yet...
Crowding around in a circle
around the 'after school fight', then running when the teacher
came.
What about the girl that had the
big bubbly hand writing?
Eating Kool-Aid powder with sugar
Remember when nobody owned a
purebred dog.
When there were two types of
sneakers for girls and boys - Keds & PF Flyers and the only time
you wore them at school, was for "gym."
When it took five minutes for the
TV to warm up, if you even had one.
When nearly everyone's mom was at
home when the kids got there.
When a quarter was a decent
allowance and another quarter a miracle.
When milk went up one cent and
everyone talked about it for weeks?
When you'd reach into a muddy
gutter for a penny.
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, free,
every time. And, you didn't pay for air. And, you got trading
stamps to boot!
When laundry detergent had a free
glass dishes or towels hidden inside the box.
When any parent could discipline
any kid, or feed him or use him to carry groceries, and not
think 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 the fate that awaited
a misbehaving student at home.
We were in fear for our lives not
because of drive by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc. Our parents
and grandparents were a much bigger threat and some of us are
still afraid of em!
Didn't that feel good just to go
back and say, Yo-I remember dat!
There's nothing like the good old
days! They were good then, and they're good now when we think
about them. Share some of these thoughts with a friend who can
relate then share it with someone that missed out on them. |
of
South Philly
