Believe it or not, I received my refund check from the cable company today. A whole $4.22. Woohoo! I can take the rest of the week off. NOT! What can I get with that? A gallon of gas, perhaps a gallon of milk, four Hershey bars, half a sandwich from my former favorite pizza place, 10 postage stamps, a loaf of decent bread.
I think I’m old. I remember when gas was 49.9¢ a gallon, Hershey bars where 5/$1.00, stamps were 6¢ and people used them to send notes written on actual paper. I also remember when milk was delivered to your doorstep as were chips and pretzels. Where I grew up we had a grocery truck that came around with fresh meats, vegetables and a few staples. Since the driver knew there kids on his route he also stocked Tasty Cakes. Real Tasty Cakes that had flavor, not the kind they mass produce today. I’m pretty sure my $4.22 would have financed one of the impromptu picnics the neighbors across the street had throughout the summer.
Do people still do that? Have spur of the moment gatherings for the surrounding neighbor kids even when they don’t have any children of their own? Do parents let their kids under the age of 10 roam for hours without knowing where they are or who’s feeding them?
Do kids still go outside and play in the sunshine? There was a creek about a mile or so down the hill from our house where we used to hunt for crayfish under the rocks. I even had a pair of sneaker just for wading since we were always splashing around in the muck. To get to the creek, we would cut through another neighbor’s yard. She didn’t mind. More often than not she’d be waiting for us with glasses of lemonade when we came back through her yard.
Yes, I really do think I’m getting old. I must be because I’m sitting here thinking that kids today don’t know what they’re missing.
I think I’m old. I remember when gas was 49.9¢ a gallon, Hershey bars where 5/$1.00, stamps were 6¢ and people used them to send notes written on actual paper. I also remember when milk was delivered to your doorstep as were chips and pretzels. Where I grew up we had a grocery truck that came around with fresh meats, vegetables and a few staples. Since the driver knew there kids on his route he also stocked Tasty Cakes. Real Tasty Cakes that had flavor, not the kind they mass produce today. I’m pretty sure my $4.22 would have financed one of the impromptu picnics the neighbors across the street had throughout the summer.
Do people still do that? Have spur of the moment gatherings for the surrounding neighbor kids even when they don’t have any children of their own? Do parents let their kids under the age of 10 roam for hours without knowing where they are or who’s feeding them?
Do kids still go outside and play in the sunshine? There was a creek about a mile or so down the hill from our house where we used to hunt for crayfish under the rocks. I even had a pair of sneaker just for wading since we were always splashing around in the muck. To get to the creek, we would cut through another neighbor’s yard. She didn’t mind. More often than not she’d be waiting for us with glasses of lemonade when we came back through her yard.
Yes, I really do think I’m getting old. I must be because I’m sitting here thinking that kids today don’t know what they’re missing.
14 comments:
It sounds like you had a wonderful childhood. Good memories:)
I've been known to have large groups of kids at my house...even for dinner:)
I remember Hershey bars 5/$1!! I also used to get two candy bars for $1.05. Now it's closer to $2.
Funny. I see young kids running down the street (I'm talking ages 5-6) and I'm instantly thinking 'What are they doing out here?' Isn't that sad. It gives me the terrors just letting my kids out the front yard, yet as a kid we used to roam the neighbourhood. We had a little bush creek down the end of our road and we used to spend most of the day down there. Gives me hives just thinking about my kids doing the same LOL!
I hope you bought 4 Hershey bars with the $4.
We used to do some wild things as kids and I doubt kids would even consider them worth doing today - their loss
...and you're not bloody old - you are an experienced goddess in the ways of the world
Thanks AJ. An experienced goddess is so much better than old.
It is sad. I don't think most of the kids I know could spend an entire day outside on their own without getting bored. I wonder how many of them still try to find shapes in clouds?
No. No they don't do that stuff because there are freaks out there in the thousands and something going wrong means you neglected your child. Then they are taken from you and you don't get them back. No, they don't play for all hours any more and they don't wade alone in creek beds like I also did.
Progress can suck sometimes.
Then I must be an ancient, very experienced goddess as I remember gas around 20 cents a gallon. Penny stamps. Candy bars 10 for a dollar. Soda pop 15 cents a glass bottle. And um, party phones.
We went out all day, took a picnic lunch with us, and came home at dark.
Ooh I forget the little green glass Coke bottles and the vending machines with the doors that opened and bottle openers on the front. Yes we had a party line for a few years too. And only 4 channels on our black and white TV.
I can't dynamite my youngest (13 yo) out of the house.
Okay, that's a lie. He'll jump on the trampoline for maybe 15 minutes once every few days. But that's it. He doesn't want to try and play with the other kids in our neighborhood.
I can hardly believe these prices.
At least I can usually get bread and pastries free - a man at work gets the day-old free stuff from Publix every morning and I try to get on break a couple times a week to collect my goodies.
I'm not sure "progress" really is "progress". What Kelly says is true. Maybe I'm better off that my son doesn't want to go out. Then again, he's a lot heavier than he should be because he doesn't run around and play like kids should. So far he's hated all the organized sports we've put him in, too.
I really think I missed something. We all seem to remember how much fun we had as kids and all did similar things. How then, did the next batch of kids end up so different? Is it because of the world economy and that a lot of moms now go out to work? Or are we the select few and others stopped caring so long ago?
I have one like that too Ashley. That's why J must choose a sport every season and participate. It can be anything she wants as long as there's a sport going on. Without it, she'd sit at home eat and watch tv. Unfortunately she has my metabolism and I don't want her to have my problems.
So far, she's enjoyed every sport she's played. Oh she whines the first week until she admits she likes it, but as her mom, it is my concern that she eat and live healthily. Her life depends on it.
I remember when gas was ninety-nine cents. :-)
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