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| Biology (Photo credit: natashavora) |
In 1948 I was 5 years old. I lived in a small town in
northern California. I was allowed to ride my tricycle up and down the sidewalk
on the block where I lived. Sometimes I did that for hours… I was never
abducted or bothered in any way.
I
want that America back…
A short time later, when I was about 7 years old I was
allowed to walk to Sunday school alone. That was about 8 to 10 blocks. Sometimes
my sister would walk with me, but she was only 1 ½ years older than me. We were
never bothered.
I
want that America back…
During this same period we walked to school without adult
protection. Every day… about 5 blocks. We were never bothered.
I
want that America back…
When I was about 10 (1953) on Saturday we were given 20
cents each and allowed to walk to the uptown area where the movie theater was.
It was 10 cents to get in and 10 cents for a bag of popcorn. We saw a Newsreel,
a cartoon and a western cereal main feature. We saw a lot of Hopilong Cassidy,
The Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers, The Cisco Kid, etc. Oh, and the guys in the white
hats always won.
I
want that America back…
Then we moved to a larger town but not much changed. I
continued walking to school, but since I was now a bit older, I had a morning
paper route. I delivered my papers on my bicycle. I got up a 4 AM, rolled the papers
and put rubber bands on them. I had 52 to deliver over an eleven mile
route. I had to be done by 6 AM. Once a
month I had to collect from all of the people I delivered to. I think I netted about $25.00 a month. I had
that route for about 3 years. No one
ever bothered me.
I
want that America back…
After I turned 12 years old I was given a lot of freedom.
I was allowed to purchase a 22 cal. rifle and permitted to take the NRA rifle
safety course. I was also allowed to go on overnight camping trips with a
friend or two. The parents had no idea where we were camping. Oh, no cell
phones either. No one ever bothered us…
I
want that America back…
We often went frogging or fishing at the nearby quarries
and creeks. Without adults of course. I learned a lot during these years. And
guess what… No one ever bothered us…
I
want that America back…
As a child I saw my father go to work to feed and provide
a home for his family. My mother, and the mom of all of my friends, stayed home
and took care of the house, and was the primary charge for taking care of and
raising us kids. What is wrong with that
plan?
I
want that America back…
During at least the first 15 years of my life, when I was
thirsty and outside, I would grab the garden hose and drink. I would drink as
much as I wanted, and guess what? It
apparently did me no harm as I am now 70 years old. There was no bottled water
in those days. We drank from the hose…
I
want that America back…
From the age of about 12 until I got a driver’s license,
if I needed to move any distance at all, I would hitchhike. Yep, I would stand
just off the roadway with my thumb appropriately positioned and accept any ride
offered. I did this a lot! I mean A LOT! Guess what?
No one ever bothered me. And I got around…
I
want that America back…
I bought my first car when I was 13 years old. It was a
1950 Ford. I think I paid $50 for it. Oh, it did not run, but it gave me many
hours of learning about things mechanical trying to fix it. With my father’s
help, it eventually became fully operational, and I had learned a lot.
I
want that America back…
As a teenager I attended a 4th of July parade.
When representatives of each branch of our military services passed by carrying
the Stars and Stripes, the crowd stood and cheered. Some placed their hands
over their hearts… some saluted and a few even showed some tears. Tears of
pride I suspect.
I
want that America back…
When I was a youngster I did not know anyone who was on
welfare or receiving “food stamps”. Oh,
I know they were around, but in those days, no one was proud of being in that
position so they kept it quite and worked hard to change their circumstances.
I
want that America back…
When I was in my mid-twenties and had a couple of young
sons, I was a Little League baseball coach for a few years. One of those years
my team was the “Indians”. Guess
what? I never encountered a single
American Indian that was irritated by the name of the team. Of course, PC had
not really been invented yet, so they didn’t know they were supposed to be
outraged. Can you imagine how they would be damaged if there were some NFL team
named “Redskins”?
I
want that America back…
I could go on with a lot more of these, but at the risk
of losing you. I think you get my point. While progress is good, not all change
is good.
I want my America back! And I want it back NOW!!!
COME BACK AMERICA!
Wayne
.
1 comment:
Wayne: Garden hose probably still available to you. Used to drink from one myself, frequently. Now I drink tap water, now and then bottled water.
Hey, I used to walk to school rather than ride the bus: One way about 2 or 3 miles. Thought nothing of it. Nobody ever bothered me.
Something about America has left, slipping away a bit at a time, so we hardly noticed, even if we paid attention.
We have something left, though -- our memories of a time special in America, before computers, space flight, and, yes, cell phones. We seemed to have the time to live the day.
I remember it that way.
Ed Burbee
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