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 about hide and go seek at dusk,
sitting on the porch,
Hot bread and butter, the ice cream man,
eating a 'super-dooper sandwich',
Red light, Green light.
Chocolate milk, Lunch tickets,
Penny candy in a brown paper bag.
Playing Pac-man in the corner store.
Hopscotch, butterscotch, double-dutch
Jacks, kickball, dodgeball, y'all! Mother May I?
Hula Hoops and Sunflower Seeds, Jolly Ranchers, blowpops,
Mary Janes, Grape and Watermelon Now-Laters (what about
"Alexander the Grape," "Lemonheads")
Running through the sprinkler (I can't get wet!
All right, well don't wet my hair....)
The smell of the sun and lickin'
salty lips....

Wait......

Watchin' Saturday Morning cartoons, Fat Albert, Road Runner,
He-Man, The Three Stooges, and Bugs, Catchin' lightening bugs
in a jar, Playin sling shot.
When around the corner seemed far away, and going
downtown seemed like going somewhere.
Bedtime before dark, climbing trees,
A million mosquito bites and sticky fingers,
Cops and Robbers, Cowboys and Indians, Secret Agent,
Sitting on the curb (?), jumping down the steps,
jumping on the bed. (not in OUR house either!)
Pillow fights, being tickled to death, running till
you were out of breath,
Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt.
Being tired from playing....remember that?
I 'm 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
Didn't that feel good, just to go back and say,
"Yeah, I remember that!"
There's nothing like the good old days! They were
good then, and they're good now when we think about them.
Remember when...
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.
When nearly everyone's mom was at home when the
kids got there.
When nobody owned a purebred dog.
When a quarter was a decent allowance, and another
quarter a huge bonus.
When you'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny.
When girls neither dated nor kissed until late high
school, if then.
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, for free, every time. And,
you didn't pay for
air. And, you got trading stamps to boot!
When laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes or
towels hidden inside the box.
When any parent could discipline any kid,
or feed him or use him to carry groceries,
and nobody, not even the kid,
thought 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.
Basically, we were in fear for our lives but it
wasn't because of drive by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc.
Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat!