froom Sally funny but true a kid in the 50's

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THE FABULOUS 50'S

> > >

> > >"Hey Dad," My Son 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."

> > >

> > >"C'mon, seriously. Where did you eat?" "We ate at

> home," I explained.

> > >

> > >"My Mom cooked every day and when Dad got home

> from work, we all sat down

> > >together at the table, and if I didn't like what

> she put on my plate I

> had

> > >to

> > >sit there until I did like it."

> > >

> > >By this time, my Son was laughing so hard I was

> afraid He was going to

> > >suffer

> > >some serious internal damage, so I didn't tell

> him the part about how I

> had

> > >to get my Father's permission to leave the table.

> > >

> > >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 Levi's, set foot on a golf

> course, traveled out of

> > >the

> > >country, flew in a plane or had a credit card.

> > >

> > >In their later years they had something called a

> "revolving charge card"

> > >but

> > >they never actually used it. It was only good at

> Sears-Roebuck. Or maybe

> it

> > >was Sears and Roebuck. Either way, there is no

> Roebuck anymore.

> > >

> > >My parents never drove me to soccer practice.

> This was because soccer

> back

> > >then was just for the girls.

> > >

> > >We actually did walk to school. By the time you

> were in the 6th grade it

> > >was

> > >not cool to ride the bus unless you lived more

> than 4 or 5 miles from the

> > >school, even when it was raining or there was ice

> or snow on the ground.

> > >

> > >Outdoor sports consisted of stickball, snowball

> fights, building forts,

> > >making snowmen and sliding down hills on a piece

> of cardboard. No skate

> > >boards, roller blades or trail bikes.

> > >

> > >We didn't have a television in our house until I

> was 12. It was, of

> course,

> > >black and white, but you could buy a piece of

> special 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 13 before I tasted my first pizza. It was a

> Sam's Pizza, My friend,

> > >Steve took me there to try what he

> > >called "pizza pie." When I bit into it, I burned

> the roof of my mouth and

> > >the

> > >cheese slid off, swung down and plastered itself

> against my chin. It's

> > >still

> > >the best pizza I ever had.

> > >

> > >Pizzas were not delivered to your house back

> then, but the milk was. I

> > >looked

> > >forward to winter because the cream in the milk

> was on top of the bottle

> > >and

> > >it would freeze and push the cap off. Of course,

> us kids would get up

> first

> > >to get the milk and eat the frozen cream before

> our mother could catch

> us.

> > >

> > >I never had a telephone in my room. Actually the

> only phone in the house

> > >was

> > >in the hallway and it was on a party line. Before

> you could make a call,

> > >you

> > >had to listen in to make sure someone else wasn't

> already using the line.

> > >If

> > >the line was not in use an Operator would come on

> and ask "number please"

> > >and

> > >you would give her the number you wanted to call.

> > >

> > >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 your

> > >"self

> > >esteem." We had to actually do something

> praiseworthy before we

> > >were praised. We learned that you had to earn

> respect.

> > >

> > >All newspapers were delivered by boys and most

> all boys delivered

> > >newspapers

> > >I delivered six days a week. It cost seven 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 on

> screen. Touching someone

> > >else's

> > >tongue with yours was called French kissing and

> they just didn't do that

> in

> > >the movies back then. I had no idea what they did

> in French movies.

> French

> > >movies were considered dirty and we weren't

> allowed to see them.

> > >

> > >You never saw the Lone Ranger, Roy or

> anyone else actually kill

> > >someone. The heroes back then would just shoot

> the gun out of the bad

> guy's

> > >hand. There was no blood and violence.

> > >

> > >When you were sick, the Doctor actually came to

> your house. No, I am not

> > >making this up.

> > >

> > >Drugs were something you purchased at a pharmacy

> in order to cure an

> > >illness.

> > >

> > >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 "this hurts me more than

> it hurts you." I never

> > >did

> > >quite understand that one....

> > >

> > >In those days, parents were expected to

> discipline their kids. There was

> no

> > >interference from 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.)

> > >

> > >I must be getting old because I find myself

> reflecting back more and more

> > >and

> > >thinking I liked it a lot better back then.

> > >

> > >If you grew up in a generation before there was

> fast food, you may want

> to

> > >share some of these memories with your kids or

> grandchildren. Just don't

> > >blame me if they wet themselves laughing. Growing

> up today sure ain't

> what

> > >it

> > >used to be like in my day.