Captain s'Log
6th July 2008: On from the Balcony at Eastwood....
Paul writes
Whilst on the balcony at Eastwood, waiting for the rain to stop, the conversation somehow went to ‘days gone by'……Benno, Spinno, Andy, Rob and myself mused over days gone by. With Bradley (certainly)and Crossy (less so)not quite able to contribute due to their more tender years.
It got me thinking and came up with…………..
Close your eyes and go back in time...
Before the Internet... Before bleedin email
Before semi-automatics, joyriders and crack....
Before Playstations, x-box or Super Nintendo...
Way back......
I'm talking about Hide and Seek in the park.
The corner shop.
Hopscotch.
Butterscotch.
Skipping
Handstands.
Football with an old can or stones when you were walking home from school.
Michael Bentines Potty time.
Beano, Dandy, 2000 ad, Battle, Action
Roly Poly & Semolina.
Jumping the stream, building dams, making dens
Filling an old bottle up with tap water before you went off to play for most of the day..
The smell of the sun and fresh cut grass.
Bazooka Joe bubble gum.
An ice cream cone on a warm summer night from the van that plays a tune
Chocolate or vanilla or strawberry or maybe Neapolitan or perhaps a
screwball (what a treat that was).
Spirit knocking
Star Soccer
Wait......
Watching Saturday morning cartoons.
The Double Deckers, Stingray,
Tomorrow People, Tiswas or Swapshop?, and 'Why Don't You'? - or
staying up for Doctor Who.
When around the corner seemed far away and going into town seemed like
going somewhere.
Dressing up to go out for Sunday lunch –maybe the Commodore or the Savoy.
Earwigs, wasps, stinging nettles and bee stings.
White dog shit.
Playing Marbles. Ball bearings. Big 'uns and Little 'uns.
Cops and Robbers, Cowboys and Indians, and Alias Smith & Jones.
Climbing trees.
Building igloos out of snow banks.
Walking to school, no matter what the weather.
Your Mum baking a cake and than licking the bowl or the spoon.
Running until you were out of breath, laughing so hard that your stomach
hurt.
Jumping on the bed. Pillow fights.
Spinning around, getting dizzy and falling down was cause for giggles.
Being tired from playing....remember that?
The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team. You never wanted that and laughed at whoever was last.
Water balloons were the ultimate weapon.
Unless you had made a peg gun!!
Football cards or sucker sticks in the spokes transformed any bike into a motorcycle.
Choppers and Grifters.
Twist grip 3 speed gears
If someone had a go cart it was big news
Eatingjelly.
Carnation milk
An egg slicer sliced egg for Sunday tea
Orange squash ice pops, jublees and ice breaker chocolate.
Remember when...
There were two types of trainers - girls and boys, and Dunlop Green
Flash, Adidas was a million miles away, but you may have been lucky enough to see someone that had the ultimate – Samba.
You knew everyone in your street - and so did your parents.
It wasn't odd to have two or three 'best' friends.
You didn't sleep a wink on Christmas eve.
When nobody owned a pure-bred dog.
When 25p was decent pocket money
Curly Wurlys with Terry Scott advertising, Space Dust. Toffo's.
When you'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny.
When nearly everyone's mum was at home when the kids got there..
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 being sent to the head's office….meant one thing…. the cane!
Basically, you were in fear for our life……..exercise book down your trousers…… but it wasn't because of
drive-by shootings, drugs, gangs etc. It was your Head teacher!
Parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat! (and some of us are
still afraid of them.) Doesn''t that feel good?
Just to go back and say, Yeah, I remember that!
Remember when....
Decisions were made by going ' eanie meanie minie mo '
'Race issue' meant arguing about who ran the fastest.
Money issues were handled by whoever was the banker in 'Monopoly'.
The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was germs.
Glandular fever from kissing
There was always a girl at school that had fleas!
The nit nurse combed your hair twice a year..
I was unbelievable that 'British Bulldog – but my mate Paul Strorer was better!
The sexiest woman on TV was chasing a man who had Hai Karate on.
Having a weapon in school meant being caught with a catapult.
Nobody was prettier than your ‘girlfriend', who you dare not speak to…..you just admired from a far.
Scrapes and bruises were kissed and made better…..
Your Mum's spit better than anything out of the medical box.
If you can remember most or all of these, then you have LIVED.
I welled up doing this…..and i don't mind admitting it........why?
Because its your life, part of you, what you are, how you were brought up.
Walk the streets now, go to where you used to live, look around, look at the people, look at how they are bringing their kids up, what experiences and introductions to the world are they getting?
I think there may be trouble ahead.
I know that I wouldn't change any of it. A child of the late 60s and 70's was marvellous. We didn't have a great lot, but in some ways maybe more!
Paul 6/7/08