When I was 8, I looked at the world in a different way. I thought everyone had parents who were married, and stayed that way, well, because all of my friends did. My world was safe and I didn't have constant reminders of the evils in the world, presented to me, streaming live at all times, I had a playground. It was down the street and I was allowed to go alone to and from it. With 11 siblings, I rarely did, but I was allowed. When I
was 8, I didn't have to worry about what was in the meals that I ate, admittedly, I was suspicious of the liver, but I didn't have to read the labels to see what I was actually ingesting, but on those few occasions that I did, the labels were shorter, for instance, ground beef read "Ground Beef". When I was 8, I thought it was cool that my hair grew naturally like Eddie Munster. That was when I was 8, but not so much now.
When I was 8, we wore uniforms in Catholic school and we were proud to support our Parrish. We were taught by nuns and they were allowed to punish us, and it wasn't always by calling us "dumb bunnies". We went to church on Sundays, and the church would be full. My dad was a member of the Knights of Columbus and they had a group of a couple of hundred men, when I was 8. That same group now numbers in the handful and meets in the church basement. People went to Confession when I was 8, but I wonder how many do now? When I was 8, people went and worked for one company and sometimes for life. For their loyalty, they were rewarded with a pension. By the time I entered the workforce this benefit had all but disappeared and people started to job-jump, myself included. 401k's you see, are transportable. We had a TV when I was 8, but it remained off for most of the day (except for Saturday morning cartoons, when our chores were finished). We may have gotten 5 channels, that was until we got cable and all of us promised Mom and Dad that we would pitch in for that. I don't recall that any of us ever did. After church each week we'd visit my Dad's relatives that lived nearby. Sometimes nearby meant Buffalo, but back then it was important to keep up with family, is it still? In summer, I had a lake to swim in, a park to play in, and an amusement park that was located at the south end of my town. The park still exists but with fewer summer programs, the lake has much less access to it, and the amusement park has been gone for 20 years, but it was all there when I was 8.
It's a short blog this week, but maybe you'll fill it up with some comments of things that you know have changed since you were 8. I suspect my kids wouldn't know how to communicate if the satellites for their cell phones went down. It's amazing how dependent we become on things we didn't even imagine a decade or two ago. When I was 8, we didn't have a computer in the house. When my youngest was 8, we had 3, not counting all the ones embedded in our appliances. I'm sentimental today, missing the simplicity of the life I had at 8, care-free and with broad boundaries. I wonder what this generation will remember of the time when they were 8? Probably not Eddie Munster.
When I was 8, we wore uniforms in Catholic school and we were proud to support our Parrish. We were taught by nuns and they were allowed to punish us, and it wasn't always by calling us "dumb bunnies". We went to church on Sundays, and the church would be full. My dad was a member of the Knights of Columbus and they had a group of a couple of hundred men, when I was 8. That same group now numbers in the handful and meets in the church basement. People went to Confession when I was 8, but I wonder how many do now? When I was 8, people went and worked for one company and sometimes for life. For their loyalty, they were rewarded with a pension. By the time I entered the workforce this benefit had all but disappeared and people started to job-jump, myself included. 401k's you see, are transportable. We had a TV when I was 8, but it remained off for most of the day (except for Saturday morning cartoons, when our chores were finished). We may have gotten 5 channels, that was until we got cable and all of us promised Mom and Dad that we would pitch in for that. I don't recall that any of us ever did. After church each week we'd visit my Dad's relatives that lived nearby. Sometimes nearby meant Buffalo, but back then it was important to keep up with family, is it still? In summer, I had a lake to swim in, a park to play in, and an amusement park that was located at the south end of my town. The park still exists but with fewer summer programs, the lake has much less access to it, and the amusement park has been gone for 20 years, but it was all there when I was 8.
It's a short blog this week, but maybe you'll fill it up with some comments of things that you know have changed since you were 8. I suspect my kids wouldn't know how to communicate if the satellites for their cell phones went down. It's amazing how dependent we become on things we didn't even imagine a decade or two ago. When I was 8, we didn't have a computer in the house. When my youngest was 8, we had 3, not counting all the ones embedded in our appliances. I'm sentimental today, missing the simplicity of the life I had at 8, care-free and with broad boundaries. I wonder what this generation will remember of the time when they were 8? Probably not Eddie Munster.
5 comments:
Loved this one Will. brought tears to my eyes over the things you reminisced about. Don't forget in those days we had to be home/in when the street lights came on. :)
When I was 8 , had to be in the house when the streetlights came on at night....great Blog Bill, keep em coming, ya dumb bunny,,,,,
rotary dial phones so people couldn't reach you 24/7, pulling a sister around in a laundry basket, playing board games, interaction with family members instead of a keyboard - priceless times and memories.
We played outside WILLINGLY - not because our mom pushed us out the door and told us we had to stay out for at least an hour!!! Too much tech available to the kids now! Great blog! I miss Roseland - that was the most fun thing to do over the summer!
Ah yes walking to school, uniforms, Roseland, the park with many summer activities (tetherball), Evan's field, the many Sunday visits, and church, the musical icecream truck, penny candy, memories galore especially with my siblings...those were the good ole days...(Tag You're it)
Meter Maid
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