Close your eyes.....And go back....
Before the Internet or the MAC,
Before semi automatics and crack
Before chronic and indo
Before SEGA or Super Nintendo
Way back........
I'm talkin' bout hide and go seek at dusk.
Sittin' on the porch, Hot bread and butter.
The Good Humor man, Red light, Green light.
Chocolate milk,
Lunch tickets,
Penny candy in a brown paper bag.
Playin' Pinball in the corner store.
Hopscotch, butterscotch, doubledutch
Jacks, kickball, dodgeball, y'all!
Mother May I?
Red Rover and Roly Poly
Hula Hoops and Sunflower Seeds,
Jolly Ranchers, Banana Splits
Wax Lips and Mustaches
Running through the sprinkler
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,
Or back further, listening to Superman on the radio
Catchin' lightening bugs in a jar,
Playin sling shot.
When around the corner seemed far away,
And going downtown seemed like going somewhere.
Bedtime, climbing trees,
An ice cream cone on a warm summer night
Chocolate or vanilla or strawberry or maybe butter pecan
A lemon coke from the fountain at the corner drug store
A million mosquito bites and sticky fingers,
Cops and Robbers, Cowboys and Indians,
Sittin' on the curb,
Jumpin' down the steps,
Jumpin' on the bed.
Pillow fights
Runnin till you were out of breath
Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt
Being tired from playin'.... Remember that?
I ain't finished just yet...
Eating Kool-aid powder with sugar
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, if you even had one.
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 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 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.
