When we were kids…

I have so many things to share I just never seem to have enough time or motivation to either get it all down on paper or sort out the mess that is my ‘creative file’. I found this little ditty today which I must say has been inspired by some similar reminisces I’ve read from sentimental 40 somethings over the last few years. This is my version of ‘When we were kids”…by the way if you didn’t grow up in the UK you might wonder about certain expressions used 🙂

WWWK…

When we were kids…

A harp was a musical instrument and we’d never heard of the ionosphere, let alone that it might need to be heated.

When we were kids…

Microwaves were so dangerous that they had to be enclosed in a metal box and you were told not to watch things cook in it or get too close when it was on. Only rich people could afford one, the rest of us heated up our leftovers in a pan or in the oven.

When we were kids…

A chemitrail would be the dribbles of paraffin that would follow you up the hill from the petrol station if you’d overfilled your can. In those days we walked everywhere or took a bus and central heating consisted of a paraffin heater in the middle of the kitchen while you took a stand up bath in the washing up bowl.

When we were kids…

We ate bread and milk and cheese, because we could – no-one had allergies to gluten or lactose intolerance then, if they did they were an exception. The only irritable bowels came after eating crab apples that we stole from an old ladies tree in the avenue round the corner, and leaky gut meant you had the trots.

When we were kids…

We’d never heard of ADHD (attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder). We had fidgets and chatterboxes, and naughty children either stood in the corner or got the slipper in the headmaster/headmistresses office. Kids played outside and burned off any extra energy and fat playing tag and hopscotch or skipping, rounders, football or cricket; then they were all in bed before 9pm with no TV’s, computers or video games to distract them.

When we were kids…

We got dirty, really dirty and took a bath once a week – everyone in the house, same water! The boys wore shorts to school, even in winter! ‘Anti bacteria’ would have been mistaken for a cold country south of the equator and antiseptic was only for cuts…after all didn’t penicillin originate from bacteria?

When we were kids…

Cows weren’t mad and chickens didn’t get flu; pigs didn’t have fevers and it was normal to get mumps, measles and chickenpox. Yes, we had vaccinations but they were at the parent’s discretion – they had rights then.

When we were kids…

Remote control meant getting up and walking across the room to press one of 3 or 4 buttons (on/off and volume = 1 button; brightness = 1 button; channels = 1 button). TV’s were rented and if you had a colour telly it was a bonus and either you were well off or it was a Royal Wedding or Jubilee year. The only shades of grey in those days came from the snooker balls on ‘Pot Black’.

When we were kids…

High definition meant you’d managed to tune in the channel without any hissing, crackling or pops and no zig-zaggy lines running across the screen. A game console was a small box with two knobs on it and you could play either tennis or handball. All you saw on the screen were two vertical sticks and a white dot that, if you positioned it right just went “bloop, bloop, bloop…” and bounced between the two. If you managed to reach pro level it went “bloop, bloop, bloop…”only faster!

When we were kids…

An ipad was a flat piece of cotton wool used to clean your make-up off.

When we were kids…

Fruit consisted of apples, oranges and bananas. You only got grapes when you were sick or it was payday. And grapefruit was an exotic starter for Christmas lunch. Pineapples and peaches came in tins, as did fruit salad, and if you got a red cherry it was a real treat!

When we were kids…

One of the most exciting things to come out of your Christmas stocking was a tangerine – a real mini orange with no pips! We knew the real Christmas story and every young child was involved in a nativity play…even though I remember playing a Russian in my wellies ^^. Everyone got a selection box and was unhappy with the ‘Old Jamaica’ bar which tasted weird…until much later when we realised it had rum in it.

When we were kids…

We drank water from the tap, plastic bottles were only used for cleaning fluids and cola was delivered by the pop-man in glass refundable bottles along with sasparella, dandelion and burdock, cherryaid, orangeaid, lemonade and cream soda.

When we were kids…

A satchel was big enough for all your books, your lunch and your pencil case. You carried it yourself and bags with wheels on belonged to old people.

When we were kids…

The only ‘supermarket’ was the co-op. Most of your shopping came from the market, butchers, bakers, greengrocers, fish mongers and if you were caught on the hop from the corner shop at double the price. Everything was closed on Sunday except the newspaper shop. We didn’t have a freezer so if we wanted fish fingers, beef burgers, ice cream or peas we got them from the corner shop too right before we ate them.

When we were kids…

Pubs opened at lunchtime and after tea. Last orders was 11pm and your glass got swiped at 11.10pm. Kids got to sit in the beer garden, outside, on the swings with a bottle of coke and a straw and a bag of crisps…that was a rare treat then.

When we were kids…

It was a joy to own a little cardboard library card. Oh, the responsibility of choosing a book and making sure you returned it in time so you didn’t have to pay a fine. Woe betide if you dropped it in a puddle, no such thing as lamination in those days. Kids read books then!

When we were kids…

In the summer holidays and at the weekends kids stayed out all day. No-one worried as long as you came back for lunch and at tea time. Not all of us had a watch and no-one had a phone at home, let alone a mobile. There was a phone box round every corner and it was only 2p. The talking clock and directory enquiries were free. The only push button was to get your money back if no-one answered your call.

When we were kids…

The sky was really blue, clouds were mostly white and fluffy or grey/black and rolling; the earth was still round; daffodils only came out in spring; summers were hot and dry; leaves fell only in autumn and it always snowed in December.

When we were kids…

The future looked bright (and not just as a tag line for a phone company), wars were something only our grandparents talked about, telling the truth was a fundamental value to follow, as was respecting older people and not swearing or spitting. You blew your nose on a real handkerchief until it got so wet you had to change it for a nice clean, ironed one. The idea of modifying any form of life was still resigned to sci-fi films like ‘Frankenstein’, ‘The Fly’ and ‘The Little Shop of Horrors’.

Our generation (us and our parents) began with Martin Luther King, Mother Thereasa, Gandi, Flower Power, Peace in Northern Ireland, the collapse of the Berlin Wall…and then it all went awry…

My only hope—if I may use such a word—for 2016 is that humans the world over find peace, harmony and love. That they may be liberated, in whatever way the Divine Grace sees fit, from all their hatred, racism, animosity, desires, aversions; from their cravings and addictions both chemical, technical and sensory; from their jealousy and fears…that they may come out of their misery into a bright, light, luminous, truthful and calm existence.

Om Namo Bhagavati

Bhavatu Sabbu Mangalam

Love & light

Louise (aka Mermie)

(written 20.12.15)