Monday, January 30, 2012

The Good Old Days

it was a simpler time
we didn’t have cell phones
or the internet
we got our exercise
running from the bullies
who had to confront us face to face

we played outside
and breathed fresh air
then went back inside
to breathe second hand smoke
everybody smoked back then,
even the doctors who let us play with mercury

we had plenty of energy
from the dyed, sugary, breakfast cereals
with sweet surprises
that were “Magically Delicious”
and we drank Tang

moms liked doing dishes back then
because the dish washing liquid made their hands soft
they wore dresses and smiled
vacuum cleaners had just been invented
so women actually enjoyed housework

our school desks were made in the USA
from sturdy American hardwood
strong enough to hide under
in case the Communists
decided to drop an atomic bomb on us

we collected pennies
to feed the poor children
who were starving by the thousands
in Third World, under-developed countries
while in our First World, over-developed country
children starved alone, just one or two at a time

political correctness wasn’t popular yet
it was still okay to make fun of fat people
and the Blacks were just beginning to start trouble
so we put them on busses
and tried to mix them in with the rest of society

we were at war with the Soviet Union
but it was a “Cold War”
which meant that whatever country
won the race to get to the moon would win
and the other country had to disband
it wasn’t even close
we beat the Commies by over 238 thousand miles

it was a simpler time

8 comments:

  1. Interesting observations of times gone past. Some I'm really grateful for because "times, they were a changing". Playing with mercury not so much.

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  2. great memories,

    I do recall the cold war, this is such a lovely reminder.

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  3. This is 100% the times I grew up in. You have said it all so beautifully. The comment about the starving children is so true. I often question why Americans adopt kids from Africa and China etc., when they have got orphaned/unloved/abused kids in their own backyard. Love the hardwood desks to hide under in case of atomic attack. :-)))

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  4. Yes, lived through all of this. Before PC when ethnic jokes abounded, especially at home. Being of Polish decent we at least knew how to laugh at the jokes, laugh at ourselves; the tang, the second-hand smoke, the "Finish your food, there are children starving in China." It was a simpler time, before the lawsuit happy world took over, and cyber bullies started driving kids to suicide. Great capture on an era, thanks for sharing this.

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  5. Great piece! Thoughtful and funny, too. How far we've come and yet how really we've just traded old paranoias and must-dos for new ones, eh? Little editing note... I think you mean to have "incase" in your 5th stanza be the traditional two words, "in case", yes? Forgive me if that's too forward! :D

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  6. thanks, for reading and commenting, Danielle...you are right on the fifth stanza I will correct it. Thanks.

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