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Alumni Sandstorm ~ 01/08/01

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>>From: Mike Davis (74)

This was sent to me and I added quite a bit to
"Richlandize it" 

Do you remember....
before the Internet... before semiautomatics and crack...
before SEGA or Super Nintendo... hide and go seek at
dusk... sittin' on the porch... Simon Says... Kick the
Can... Red light - Green light... Red Rover, Red Rover...
Annie Annie Over... lunch boxes with a thermos... going
home for lunch... penny candy from the store... your first
slurpee... hopscotch... patrol boys... skates with keys...
Jacks... Mother May I?... Hula Hoops... sunflower seeds...
Twister... Old Maid... Crazy Eights... wax lips and
mustaches... silly putty... saddle shoes and wing tips...
running through the sprinkler... stretch levis... Eddie
Haskell... Mickey Mouse Club... Rocky & Bullwinkle... Fran
& Ollie... Mr. Greenjeans... huge black & white
televisions with the always fuzzy screens... When around
the corner seemed far away, and going downtown seemed like
going somewhere... hating bedtime... climbing trees...
tree forts... backyard shows... lemonade stands... Cops
and Robbers... Cowboys and Indians... sittin' on the
curb... staring at clouds... making your own toy
hydroplane and pulling them behind your bike... jumping
out of the swings... jumping on the bed... pillow
fights... getting "company,"... Old Yeller (did you
cry?)... swimming off the docks at the river when you
"outgrew" the big pool... Beatles on Ed Sullivan... Jackie
Gleason... Toyland upstairs at Newberry's... walking to
the movie theater... the Cartwrights and the Ponderosa...
being tickled to death... running till you were out of
breath... laughing so hard that your stomach hurt... being
tired from playin'... sleeping out in the backyard...
being told, "Wait till your father gets home"... Not
steppin' on a crack or you'll break your Mother's back...
paper chains at Christmas, silhouettes of Lincoln and
Washington... the smell of paste in school... Flubber...
What about the girl that had the big bubbly handwriting,
who dotted her "i's" with hearts?... popcorn balls... sock
hops... room mothers... Remember 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"...
then your first pair of Chuck Taylor Converses... girls
had to wear those ugly uniforms for P.E... When it took
five minutes for the TV to warm up... When nearly
everyone's Mom was at home when the kids got home from
school... When nobody owned a purebred dog... push
mowers... When a quarter was a decent allowance, and
another quarter, a huge bonus... When you'd reach into a
muddy gutter for a penny... 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, every
day and wore high heels... the smoke-filled foyer during
half time of Bomber Games... When you got your windshield
cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped without asking, all
for free, every time... And, you didn't pay for air... all
those Mayfair grocery stores... S and H Green Stamps...
dip tops at Tastee Freeze... 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... Quisp and Quake cereals... When
it was considered a great privilege to be taken out to
dinner at a real restaurant with your parents...
Carmichael Hill... knowing someone with divorced parents
was so rare... little league tryouts... getting "cut" off
a team... sitting in the front row as a little kid at
Bomber games... November 22, 1963... that distinct smell
when you walked into B.B.&M... When they threatened to
keep kids back a grade if they failed... and did!... When
the worst thing you could do at school was smoke in the
bathrooms, flunk a test or chew gum... When a '57 Chevy
was everyone's dream car... to cruise, peel out, lay
rubber or watch submarine races... And no one ever asked
where the car keys were 'cause they were always in the
car, in the ignition, and the doors were never locked...
And you got in big trouble if you accidentally locked the
doors at home, since no one ever had a key... straights
and bents Pasco-Richland Basketball games when the gym was
filled by 6:00 for the 8:00 varsity game... Remember lying
on your back on the grass with your friends and saying
things like "That cloud looks like a... And playing
baseball with no adults to help kids with the rules of the
game. Back then, baseball was not a psychological group
learning experience -- it was a game... Remember when
stuff from the store came without safety caps and hermetic
seals 'cause no one had yet tried to poison a perfect
stranger... remember Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Laurel &
Hardy, Howdy Doody, Jinx and Pixie and Dixie, The Lone
Ranger, The Shadow Knows, Magilla Gorilla, Richotte
Rabbit, Roy and Dale, Trigger and Buttermilk, Yogi, Boo
Boo and Ranger Smith... the sound of your Dad mowing on
Saturday morning and knowing you better get up and take
over... summers filled with bike rides, playing in Cowboy
and Indians, baseball games, bowling and the big pool...
and eating Kool-Aid powder with sugar... making snow ice
cream... The Man from U.N.C.L.E... Chief Jo-Carmichael
basketball games in Bomber Gym... floating down the river
on tubes... that long, long hall at Jason Lee... before
Columbia Center... Sanders-Jacobs Field... going to drive
ins wearing pajamas... 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 were a much
bigger threat! But we all survived because their love was
greater than the threat.

-Mike Davis (74)
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