Before

Back in the time before…wait…wait for it…wait………………………..

DIVERSITY!!!

Before all these assholes showed up

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_slurs_by_ethnicity

We were different then. I (56) always assumed that we were going to be nuked and that we would go road warrior as God’s remnant. We took so many risks on bicycles, skateboards, motorbikes, cars, swimming rivers, jumping from cliffs and trees. There were many fights with dirt clods, BB Guns and diving masks, bottle rockets and of course fists. Usually though the neighborhood kids that you fought with at 10 became your best friends at 12. Sure we egged cars and houses and threw oranges (Florida) but never stole anything, ever. Didn’t even occur to us. The days were endless, no shoes, no shirts and brown way beyond tan. We played tackle football without pads, basketball not knowing Lacrosse or Soccer. Lost 8 teeth in 4th grade playing football across the street and was lucky a Dentist wired them all back in. There was little or no govt, no wailing sirens of police going to a crime scene, we had a sheriff who coached football who also somehow knew when we did something out of line (Egging houses, oranges thrown at cars)…..we did indeed run laps an entire practice or two. I did apologize for my transgressions and learned a lesson, fun at someone else’s expense is unacceptable. Simple days, we worked hard, we played hard and were close to the land as Marion points out. Fishing and small game until we could go for deer! But that’s another story. I regret we somehow let the nation down….my late Boomer/Gen X generation. We were too busy working and didn’t bother to notice the country changed and that a new dynamic has taken hold. Well better late than never, time to join the fight to push back the coup that has taken control of our country.

I’m 66 and also have the same memories. I’m from Western PA, but grew up in SE DC and then the Maryland suburbs, just outside the beltway. We were 2-3 miles from the DC border, but it was very rural then. No street lights. Lived along the Potomac River and ran thru the woods for miles without any hassles. There were numerous tobacco farms, where work was REALLY tough. Not many other jobs due to not much development. We got a McDonald’s, and it was the only one in the County. We hit driving age, and that was our only hangout. We all had Detroit Iron. We had plenty of places to drag race, and did so often, since there wasn’t any organized sports, or midnight basketball, after school programs, etc. I was in a band with several good friends, and that was my job. We packed 8-9 people into a Ford or Impala and went to Georgetown to hear a band or walk around the ,”long hair” culture. We loved our life. And despite no government oversight, we had fun and didn’t get into trouble with the law. (Other than running from the DC cops when racing on I295, right across the DC line.) It all changed with bussing and the heavy hand of uncle Sam. The Federal govt expanded in the late 70s – early 80s and it all went downhill from there. I feel sorry for the young now. No free thinking, lots of rules, restrictions, regulations, helmets, safety gear, etc. And now drugs carry a lot of BAD baggage. Then, you smoked a little weed, got high, laughed, relaxed. Now it’s meth, roofies, crack, guns, death.

I am 60 and have so many great memories of growing up in those carefree times. How lucky I was to have been a child then! We lived in a suburb of SoCal back when it was a wonderful, safe place to raise a family. I remember long summer days when every kid on the block would gather to play on the Slip N Slide. Or to play Red Rover or Mother May I. No parents interfering or setting rules for the games, we learned how to negotiate and settle our differences by ourselves. Valuable life lessons lost on today’s kids. We rode sting ray bikes with banana seats, no helmets, two kids to a seat with one sitting backwards, even pulled brodies. And what do you know, we all lived to tell. Roller skating all around the neighborhood, walking on 6 foot block walls separating yards, flying kites, baking with our EasyBake ovens (oh the horror!). We got called home for dinner by our Moms when Dad came home from work. Everyone ate a home cooked nutritious, balanced meal at home and Mom didn’t care whether you liked it or not, you had to eat it because it was good for you. Those were the days of good health, great imagination, learning to get along with others, and most of all, great fun. Today’s neighborhoods are ghost towns with no kids to be found outside. Sad times for society, and especially for kids as childhood only occurs once in our lifetimes and when it’s gone, it’s gone. And, no, organized sports don’t count.

Nice article Francis.

I’ve been somewhat glum the last few days after reading an article regarding the prevalence of porn. All those fresh, pretty young women wallowing in the gutter, who at one time would have been seeking out worthy young men, future fathers and husbands and members of the community. The same can be said somewhat about men, sadly.

My Father, God rest his soul, with third stage Parkinsons disease and the ensuing dementia, was still able to recall, after falling from his wheel chair, what was drummed into him in those times you write about.
“Shame on my ignorance” , he said.
Those words, however simple, when taken in a historical context, described humanity and led me to finally piece together enough of a eulogy for when the silent warriors time came.
I mention this because it was the embrace of shame in any format that molded a society. Without it, you’re playing tennis without the net.