On living with a past....
Jun. 25th, 2005 02:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
joegodaIt occurred to me yesterday, on my 48th birthday, that I have a past that a great number of folks have not. Granted, there are those older, and have even more of a past, but I'm not speaking of them. I'm speaking of the folks that come after the first moon landing, which happened when I was 11.
This past of mine contains:
Using an old crank phone... was the first call I ever made, and it was from my grandmother's house to my house.
Churning butter from milk, using a new fangled churner, made of metal instead of wood. Or maybe that was the milk separator...
Going down to the co-op as a child and watching baby chicks be born. That was a hoot, but I can still remember the smell of the hay and the musk of freshly hatched eggs. Do they still take kids down to the co-op to see these things? Or are they too busy working to ensure they are drug free?
Watching the first episodes of the Jetsons, and the Flintstones.. in black and white. Watching the Beatles on Ed Sullivan.. and btw, I did NOT like Elvis even back then. Why? I think it's cuz I thought he was a punk.
Going to family reunions and getting RC cola (the best there was!) out a horse trough filled with ice.
Building a replica of Telstar, which had just been launched the year before.
Wandering round the city on Halloween, gathering candy (we covered something like 10 square miles in one night, by ourselves, thank you very much)
The concept of Gangs were limited to Spanky and.... *WE* had clubs!
Drinking from country streams, and feeling the cool water flow down my throat, and only tasting the water.. well.. ok.. a bit o' dirt, maybe a twig or two.
Nuclear testing was not even known in my town.
Going to the moon? That was for the HoneyMooners (which I didn't get to watch, cuz mom hated Jackie Gleason)
Watching ALL the Red Skelton shows.
Having a baby sitter with no tatooes, no piercings, who thought babysitting was cool..
Seeing Captain Kangaroo in person, when his hair was black.
Thinking that Mr. Greenjeans was a jerk.. now I think he was a pervert.
Seeing The Sound of Music when it first came out.
Hearing about the Vietnam war, but not really being a part of it. That was far away, and I was a kid.
Thinking that Pres. Johnson was a jerk, specially cuz he had big ears and came from Texas.. They talk funny, don't you know.
Knowing that Incredible Edibles made up for any meal, next to meatloaf.
Teaching myself how to melt glass with a blowtorch.. (yeah, dad would have shot me for sure)
Learning how to make a mimeograph from unflavored Gelatin. Oh yeah.. and Flubber! Not the movie, but the short lived toxic substance they came out with to rival Silly Putty. It glowed in the dark! And so did the kids that ate it..... But man, it was cool!
Knowing that my parents, for all the quirks they had, were the best parents in the world.
Having my mom stitch my clothes by hand, and being as proud of them as any designer clothes there were.
Oh yeah.. there weren't any designer clothes then either.. unless you counted Levis.
I saw the Three Stooges.. when Curly was alive.. in person! Wish I'd kept that autograph....
I owned a WonderWoman number 1.
Bobby Kennedy was shot the last year I was in Indiana. I was 11... maybe 10. I remember being shocked and saddened. Now, the odd thing is, I don't remember John being shot at all.
We didn't have a Martin Luther King day.. didn't even know who he was.
Lived next to a couple of kids named Hootenanny and Snookums.. it's true! Their mom was the black maid for the College dean, and that was their nicknames. I never heard them called any thing else.
My crossing guard, who looked suspiciously like Santa Claus mixed with Captain Kangaroo, gave out candy every Christmas.
There really was a Ma Bell, and directory assistance was dialing Zero. AND our phone number had only 4 digits.
Kids were spanked, and no repercussions from any state agencies. Hell, sometimes the NEIGHBOR spanked you, with no repercussions from the parents, cuz the parents knew you had done something and deserved it.
Neighbors watched out for lil kids too, and did a fine job of it.
Gas was twenty five cents a gallon when I was 12.
Gas was 15 cents a gallon when I lived in Indiana, the Gulf station had this cool pump that had little balls on the top that would twirl when the gas flowed, just to prove that it really did flow.
Baskin Robbins was the best place to go, unless it was Dairy Queen.
The very first shopping mall was built in my town when I was 9.. or maybe 10.
The idea of kids being safe relied upon them being smart enough to know that if they fell off a 2 story building, they could die.
Children were much less protected then, I think. Yes, don't talk to strangers, unless the stranger was asking for directions and you knew you could run faster than them. Look both ways when crossing the street. Stop, Look, Listen at railroad crossings. If you burn your hand on the stove, then what the hell did you expect? You knew it was hot! Electricity can kill you. Don't take medications not prescribed by a doctor.. and back then, doctors made house calls.
Drugs were something you got at a Rexall, that had a counter where you could sit and order a club sandwich and a Malt. You also bought your fireworks there. And sometimes they let you shoplift, knowing that when you were caught, being caught was enough to scare you into never doing it again. And I never have since. I was 6, btw.
Being poor didn't suck, cuz we were ALL poor. If you went digging in someone's trashbin, they didn't throw you in jail, claiming you were stealing their trash. Hell, it was trash.. why do you thnk they threw it away in the first place?
My past has given me a lot of insight that I don't think may kids will reach. I hope so. I've seen examples of parents (Trace, Anthony) who raise their kids to THINK responsibility.
See, I believe that as much as we needed the 60's and 70's to free us from some really retarded thinking (hmm.. I think we've taken a few steps backward), I believe that in the release of all that personal freedom, we forgot something. Freedom requires Responsibility. The "oh, I would never spank my child" mentality has opened a whole can of worms where a "talking to" is what a person expects when they screw up. Granted, that spanking thing can get out of hand. There are a lot of frustrated folks out there, that can't control themselves when dealing with less strong folks, and can actually do a lot of damage to a child. There are a lot of frustrated folks out there that can't control themselves when dealing with an adult, either. I tend to think this frustration comes from not realizing that every decision we make is our responsibility.
The idea that folks "can't make you feel something, can't make you choose something" is a lot of bull, even though I subscribed to that concept for a very long time. I promise you, that there is someone, somewhere in your life, that knows the exact button to push to make you feel an emotion they want you to feel. We are a race of manipulators, and you can be manipulated, no matter how much you may argue against it. Hell, even arguing against it you are being manipulated, by your past, by your present, by your ego.
This concept that "nobody can make you do anything" comes directly from the 60's and 70's idea of personal freedom. See, in a truely free society, where we have the ability to make up our own minds in a world that has no external pressures which control those choices we can choose freely, given the information we have. Unfortunately, in today's world, that doesn't work.
There too many folks that are more than willing to say 'This is YOUR fault', and ride the constructs surrounding that statement like a wild pony. Finger pointing has become not only a way of life, but an accepted form of expression. Don't believe me? Check out frivolous lawsuits through any search engine. And guess what? These minds have given birth to childen and passed that 'Twern't me McGee' mentality on to the little ones. These are the kids that fall down in school yards, don't cry til they get home, and then go into great detail about how they weren't doing anything, it just happened, and it must be the school's fault, which in turn causes the parents to sue the schools.
Or... how bout, more pertinent stuff. A child makes a C on his report card. Of course, it's not his fault.. he didn't deserve it, he's intelligent, and just cuz he didn't study, just cuz he spent most of his time playing vid games, just cuz the books he was supposed to open were left uncracked is no reason why he should not receive at least an A. I mean, he did go to school after all, didn't he?
So the parents sue the school for giving their child a C. The schools are forced to modify their curriculum for the LOWEST denominator (the stupidest kid), rather than causing the child to think and grow in curiosity and willingness to learn.
Yeah, I think children are stupid, mostly. Lacking in knowledge and the will to expand beyond 'who do we kill next and where do you get the cheat codes?' And I blame the parents, who I also think are stupid, lacking knowledge and the will to expand beyond 'how do I get rich quick, and who do I sue to get there'. There are folks like that. I know an entire family that lives in Claremore, OK, who live their life just like that. Nobody there holds down a job, because .... why? There's always some sucker out there.
The positive side of this is that their life spans tend to be short, but not short enough for me.
Yeah, I'm pissed today. Feeling the signs of old age (general grumpiness.. but I've had that forever), and knowing that I've worked my tail off to end up with no car, no savings, a fear of lack of everything.
Now.. here's the positive side of that. I've lived long enough to have developed good friends, loved ones and a life that has been, to say the least, adventurous. I have stories that would raise your hackles, cause belly laughs galore, tears to fill the bucket, and rev that sexual engine to the point of a cold shower. It's been a good life, and dammit, it's good for the very same reason it's not as good as it could be.
It's been my own fault, my own choosing, and I would have chosen no other path. And though YOU can make me feel something, though you can make me choose a road, the fact remains that it is MY road. And that is MY responsibility.
Love you all, even those that I don't.
Rev. Chet
This past of mine contains:
Using an old crank phone... was the first call I ever made, and it was from my grandmother's house to my house.
Churning butter from milk, using a new fangled churner, made of metal instead of wood. Or maybe that was the milk separator...
Going down to the co-op as a child and watching baby chicks be born. That was a hoot, but I can still remember the smell of the hay and the musk of freshly hatched eggs. Do they still take kids down to the co-op to see these things? Or are they too busy working to ensure they are drug free?
Watching the first episodes of the Jetsons, and the Flintstones.. in black and white. Watching the Beatles on Ed Sullivan.. and btw, I did NOT like Elvis even back then. Why? I think it's cuz I thought he was a punk.
Going to family reunions and getting RC cola (the best there was!) out a horse trough filled with ice.
Building a replica of Telstar, which had just been launched the year before.
Wandering round the city on Halloween, gathering candy (we covered something like 10 square miles in one night, by ourselves, thank you very much)
The concept of Gangs were limited to Spanky and.... *WE* had clubs!
Drinking from country streams, and feeling the cool water flow down my throat, and only tasting the water.. well.. ok.. a bit o' dirt, maybe a twig or two.
Nuclear testing was not even known in my town.
Going to the moon? That was for the HoneyMooners (which I didn't get to watch, cuz mom hated Jackie Gleason)
Watching ALL the Red Skelton shows.
Having a baby sitter with no tatooes, no piercings, who thought babysitting was cool..
Seeing Captain Kangaroo in person, when his hair was black.
Thinking that Mr. Greenjeans was a jerk.. now I think he was a pervert.
Seeing The Sound of Music when it first came out.
Hearing about the Vietnam war, but not really being a part of it. That was far away, and I was a kid.
Thinking that Pres. Johnson was a jerk, specially cuz he had big ears and came from Texas.. They talk funny, don't you know.
Knowing that Incredible Edibles made up for any meal, next to meatloaf.
Teaching myself how to melt glass with a blowtorch.. (yeah, dad would have shot me for sure)
Learning how to make a mimeograph from unflavored Gelatin. Oh yeah.. and Flubber! Not the movie, but the short lived toxic substance they came out with to rival Silly Putty. It glowed in the dark! And so did the kids that ate it..... But man, it was cool!
Knowing that my parents, for all the quirks they had, were the best parents in the world.
Having my mom stitch my clothes by hand, and being as proud of them as any designer clothes there were.
Oh yeah.. there weren't any designer clothes then either.. unless you counted Levis.
I saw the Three Stooges.. when Curly was alive.. in person! Wish I'd kept that autograph....
I owned a WonderWoman number 1.
Bobby Kennedy was shot the last year I was in Indiana. I was 11... maybe 10. I remember being shocked and saddened. Now, the odd thing is, I don't remember John being shot at all.
We didn't have a Martin Luther King day.. didn't even know who he was.
Lived next to a couple of kids named Hootenanny and Snookums.. it's true! Their mom was the black maid for the College dean, and that was their nicknames. I never heard them called any thing else.
My crossing guard, who looked suspiciously like Santa Claus mixed with Captain Kangaroo, gave out candy every Christmas.
There really was a Ma Bell, and directory assistance was dialing Zero. AND our phone number had only 4 digits.
Kids were spanked, and no repercussions from any state agencies. Hell, sometimes the NEIGHBOR spanked you, with no repercussions from the parents, cuz the parents knew you had done something and deserved it.
Neighbors watched out for lil kids too, and did a fine job of it.
Gas was twenty five cents a gallon when I was 12.
Gas was 15 cents a gallon when I lived in Indiana, the Gulf station had this cool pump that had little balls on the top that would twirl when the gas flowed, just to prove that it really did flow.
Baskin Robbins was the best place to go, unless it was Dairy Queen.
The very first shopping mall was built in my town when I was 9.. or maybe 10.
The idea of kids being safe relied upon them being smart enough to know that if they fell off a 2 story building, they could die.
Children were much less protected then, I think. Yes, don't talk to strangers, unless the stranger was asking for directions and you knew you could run faster than them. Look both ways when crossing the street. Stop, Look, Listen at railroad crossings. If you burn your hand on the stove, then what the hell did you expect? You knew it was hot! Electricity can kill you. Don't take medications not prescribed by a doctor.. and back then, doctors made house calls.
Drugs were something you got at a Rexall, that had a counter where you could sit and order a club sandwich and a Malt. You also bought your fireworks there. And sometimes they let you shoplift, knowing that when you were caught, being caught was enough to scare you into never doing it again. And I never have since. I was 6, btw.
Being poor didn't suck, cuz we were ALL poor. If you went digging in someone's trashbin, they didn't throw you in jail, claiming you were stealing their trash. Hell, it was trash.. why do you thnk they threw it away in the first place?
My past has given me a lot of insight that I don't think may kids will reach. I hope so. I've seen examples of parents (Trace, Anthony) who raise their kids to THINK responsibility.
See, I believe that as much as we needed the 60's and 70's to free us from some really retarded thinking (hmm.. I think we've taken a few steps backward), I believe that in the release of all that personal freedom, we forgot something. Freedom requires Responsibility. The "oh, I would never spank my child" mentality has opened a whole can of worms where a "talking to" is what a person expects when they screw up. Granted, that spanking thing can get out of hand. There are a lot of frustrated folks out there, that can't control themselves when dealing with less strong folks, and can actually do a lot of damage to a child. There are a lot of frustrated folks out there that can't control themselves when dealing with an adult, either. I tend to think this frustration comes from not realizing that every decision we make is our responsibility.
The idea that folks "can't make you feel something, can't make you choose something" is a lot of bull, even though I subscribed to that concept for a very long time. I promise you, that there is someone, somewhere in your life, that knows the exact button to push to make you feel an emotion they want you to feel. We are a race of manipulators, and you can be manipulated, no matter how much you may argue against it. Hell, even arguing against it you are being manipulated, by your past, by your present, by your ego.
This concept that "nobody can make you do anything" comes directly from the 60's and 70's idea of personal freedom. See, in a truely free society, where we have the ability to make up our own minds in a world that has no external pressures which control those choices we can choose freely, given the information we have. Unfortunately, in today's world, that doesn't work.
There too many folks that are more than willing to say 'This is YOUR fault', and ride the constructs surrounding that statement like a wild pony. Finger pointing has become not only a way of life, but an accepted form of expression. Don't believe me? Check out frivolous lawsuits through any search engine. And guess what? These minds have given birth to childen and passed that 'Twern't me McGee' mentality on to the little ones. These are the kids that fall down in school yards, don't cry til they get home, and then go into great detail about how they weren't doing anything, it just happened, and it must be the school's fault, which in turn causes the parents to sue the schools.
Or... how bout, more pertinent stuff. A child makes a C on his report card. Of course, it's not his fault.. he didn't deserve it, he's intelligent, and just cuz he didn't study, just cuz he spent most of his time playing vid games, just cuz the books he was supposed to open were left uncracked is no reason why he should not receive at least an A. I mean, he did go to school after all, didn't he?
So the parents sue the school for giving their child a C. The schools are forced to modify their curriculum for the LOWEST denominator (the stupidest kid), rather than causing the child to think and grow in curiosity and willingness to learn.
Yeah, I think children are stupid, mostly. Lacking in knowledge and the will to expand beyond 'who do we kill next and where do you get the cheat codes?' And I blame the parents, who I also think are stupid, lacking knowledge and the will to expand beyond 'how do I get rich quick, and who do I sue to get there'. There are folks like that. I know an entire family that lives in Claremore, OK, who live their life just like that. Nobody there holds down a job, because .... why? There's always some sucker out there.
The positive side of this is that their life spans tend to be short, but not short enough for me.
Yeah, I'm pissed today. Feeling the signs of old age (general grumpiness.. but I've had that forever), and knowing that I've worked my tail off to end up with no car, no savings, a fear of lack of everything.
Now.. here's the positive side of that. I've lived long enough to have developed good friends, loved ones and a life that has been, to say the least, adventurous. I have stories that would raise your hackles, cause belly laughs galore, tears to fill the bucket, and rev that sexual engine to the point of a cold shower. It's been a good life, and dammit, it's good for the very same reason it's not as good as it could be.
It's been my own fault, my own choosing, and I would have chosen no other path. And though YOU can make me feel something, though you can make me choose a road, the fact remains that it is MY road. And that is MY responsibility.
Love you all, even those that I don't.
Rev. Chet
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2005-06-26 04:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-06-28 10:47 am (UTC)The post above I mostly agree with. We're a shackled, spoiled country and WAY too PC for my tastes.
Thanks for the invite, but like I said, I don't think you could Drag me any further East from here! Maybe visits sometimes tho. Gads, there are SO Many ppl I'd love to just visit for awhile. (I miss fireflies) *s
(no subject)
Date: 2005-06-28 02:56 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-07-01 10:26 am (UTC)As far as the fireflies, we can Propogate Arizona with 'em! That'd be so cool! My yard looks like a fairy land except for that one thing. Should I get some blinkie lights ya think?
(no subject)
Date: 2005-07-01 03:16 pm (UTC)