Those Were The Days

[martymas]

any one remember these days

A little house with three bedrooms and one car on the street,

A mower that you had to push to make the grass look neat.

In the kitchen on the wall we only had one phone,

And no need for recording things, someone was always home.

We only had a living room where we would congregate,

Unless it was at mealtime in the kitchen where we ate.

We had no need for family rooms or extra rooms to dine,

When meeting as a family just one room would work out fine

We only had 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-bought snacks were rare because my mother liked to cook,

And nothing can compare to snacks 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.

Sometimes we would separate to do things on our own,

But we knew where the others were, without our own cell phone.

Then there were the movies with your favorite movie star,

And nothing can compare to watching movies from your car.

Then there were the picnics at the peak of summer season,

Pack a lunch and find some trees and never need a reason.

Get a baseball game together with all the friends you know,

Have real action playing ball -- and 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 that 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 when the skies were oh so sunny,

And when you paid for what you got you used your very own money?

Nothing you had to swipe or punch, or put in some amount,

and you had a friendly cashier that actually could count?

The milkman went from door to door,

For just a few cents more than a trip to the store.

The mail was delivered right to your door,

Without the junk mail that we all deplore.

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;

They were streamlined, white walls, fins, and really had some style.

One time the music that you played whenever you would jive,

Was from a vinyl, big-holed disc they called a forty-five.

The record player had a post to keep them all in line,

And then the records would drop down and play one at a time.

Oh sure, we had our problems then, just like we do today,

As always we were striving, to find a better way.

But how the simple lives we led, still seems like so much fun,

when the only way to explain a game, was just kick the can and run?

And why would boys put baseball cards between bicycle spokes,

And for a nickel red machines had little bottled Cokes?

This life seemed so much easier and slower in some ways,

I love the new technology but I really miss those days.

So time moves on and so do we, and nothing stays the same,

But I sure love to reminisce and walk down memory lane.

[betamaxman]

What also amazes me is how we were lucky enough to live to our present age. Lol think about it, we talked to strangers, we rode our bikes with out helmets, were never placed in car seats or wore seat belts, I was given wet asbestos to model with in grade 1 class that i later was told to sand smooth with pipe cleaning cloth, I helped dad paint when I was ten with led based paint, walked to school across a busy highway, didn't get to stay at home on stormy school days (walked in the blizzard across same highway), if i cam home and told dad I was spanked by mr so and so for throwing stones at his house i was spanked again and made to go with dad and apologize with him to mr. so and so and I had to help repair the broken window, rather than go see mr police man about pressing charges against mr. so and so, we roamed the neighborhood till past dark, before we were sixteen we worked for farmers service stations, or small store keepers to earn a bit of cash, some of my friends drove tractors. And miraculously I managed to live to adulthood as did my pals and girl pals. If my kids were found doing any of this today they might be taken from me lol.

Edited October 29, 2006 by betamaxman

[martymas]

betamaxman

yes i agree with you

times and culture change as we become more modernised

un fortunately i live in the past

im to old to change

marty

[Naming is hard]

I wish i was born 100years later -.-, i want my touch, smell and feel virtual reality mmorpgs.

[JDoors]

In the kitchen on the wall we only had one phone

I can still almost get by with one phone, but most of the people I know have one glued to one ear. ALL. DAY. LONG.

(Who the heck are they talking to at three in the morning?!?)

My dad was a firearms collector and marksman, he poured his own lead bullets. In the kitchen ... where we ate. I used lead bullets as toys. (Explains a lot, huh?)

I never used a seatbelt until I was in my late teens.

Never wore a helmet (still don't own one).

Got stuck with rusty nails while playing in construction sites and condemned buildings.

Ate tree nuts and soy and milk and seafood and never had an allergic reaction.

Times, they are a'changing.

[blim]

Thanks, Marty. Your post made me thankful that I'm raising my kids in a small town! Yes, they sometimes complain about their "electricalAmishFamily" and call our town Mayberry, but they went to the drive in this summer and they LOVE Lipton Soup chip dip! We have a phone on the kitchen wall--a cordless, too, but I never use it. Too much fun watch Hubby trip over the cord

Liz

Edited October 30, 2006 by blim