Penny Candy in a Brown Paper Bag






Dedicated to our dear friend Jan
 
 


 Close your eyes.....And go back....
 Before the Internet or the MAC,
 Before semi automatics and crack
 Before chronic and indo
 Before SEGA or Super Nintendo
 Way back........




 I'm talkin' bout hide and go seek at dusk.
 Sittin' on the porch, Hot bread and butter.
 The Good Humor man,
 Red light, Green light.
 Chocolate milk,
 Lunch tickets,
 Penny candy in a brown paper bag.
 Playin' Pinball in the corner store.
 Hopscotch, butterscotch, doubledutch
 Jacks, kickball, dodgeball, y'all!
 Mother May I?




 Red Rover and Roly Poly
 Hula Hoops and Sunflower Seeds,
 Jolly Ranchers, Banana Splits
 Wax Lips and Mustaches
 Running through the sprinkler
 The smell of the sun and lickin' salty lips....




 Wait......
 Watchin' Saturday Morning cartoons,
 Fat Albert, Road Runner,
 He-Man, The Three Stooges, and Bugs,
 Or back further, listening to Superman on the radio
 Catchin' lightening bugs in a jar,
 Playin sling shot.
 When around the corner seemed far away,
 And going downtown seemed like going somewhere.



 Bedtime, Climbing trees,
 An ice cream cone on a warm summer night
 Chocolate or vanilla or strawberry
or maybe butter  pecan
 A lemon coke from the fountain
 at the corner drug  store
 A million mosquito bites and sticky fingers,
 Cops and Robbers, Cowboys and Indians,
 Sittin on the curb,
 Jumpin down the steps,
 Jumpin on the bed.




 Pillow fights
 Runnin till you were out of breath
 Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt
 Being tired from playin'.... Remember that?




 I ain't finished just yet...
 Eating Kool-aid powder with sugar
 Remember when...
 When there were two types of sneakers
for girls and boys (Keds & PF Flyers)
 and the only time you wore them at school,
 was for "gym."
 When it took five minutes for the TV to warm up,
 if you even had one.




 When nearly everyone's mom was at home
 when the kids got there.
 When nobody owned a purebred dog.
 When a quarter was a decent allowance,
 and another quarter a miracle.
 When milk went up one cent
 and everyone talked about it for weeks?
 When you'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny.
 When girls neither dated nor kissed
 until late high  school, if then.




 When your Mom wore nylons that came in two pieces.
 When all of your male teachers wore neckties and
 female teachers had their hair done, everyday.
 When you got your windshield cleaned, oil checked, and
 gas pumped, without asking, for free, every time.
 And, you didn'tpay for air. And, you got trading stamps to  boot!
 When laundry detergent had free glasses,
dishes or  towels hidden inside the box.




 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 it was considered a great privilege to be taken
 out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents.
 When they threatened to keep kids back a grade
 if they failed...and did!
 When being sent to the principal's office was nothing
 compared to the fate that awaited a misbehaving
 student at home.



 Basically, we were in fear for our lives but it wasn't
 because of drive by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc. Our parents and
 grandparents were a much bigger threat!
And some of us are still afraid of  em!!!
 Didn't that feel good.. just to go back and say,
 Yeah, I remember that!




 There's nothing like the good old days! They were good
 then, and they're good now when we think about them.
 Share some of these thoughts with a friend who can
 relate, then share it with someone that missed out on them.
 And who can forget the ever important candy lipsticks
 and candy cigarettes?




 Those were the days"






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