>
>SOME OF YOU WON'T HAVE A CLUE WHAT THIS IS TALKING ABOUT.....SO YOU'LL
HAVE TO ASK THOSE OF US WHO READ THIS AND SMILED ABOUT A TIME GONE BY.......
>
>Stroll with me.... Close your eyes ... and go back
>...
>before the Internet ... before bombings, aids, herpes
>before semiautomatics and crack ... before SEGA or
>Super Nintendo ... way back!
>
>I'm talking about sitting on the curb, sitting on
>the stoop...about hide-and-go-seek; Simon says and
>red-light-green-light. Lunch boxes with a thermos
>...
>chocolate milk, going home for lunch, penny candy
>from the store, hopscotch, butterscotch, skates with
>keys, jacks and Cracker Jacks, hula hoops and
>sunflower seeds, wax lips and mustaches, Mary Jane's,
>saddle shoes and Coke bottles with the names of cities
>on the bottom.
>
>Remember when it took five minutes for the TV to
>warm up. When nearly everyone's Mom was at home when the kids arrived home
from school. When nobody owned a
>
>purebred dog. When a quarter was a decent allowance.
>
>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 everyday and wore high
>heels.
>
>Remember running through the sprinkler, circle pins,
>
>bobby pins, Mickey Mouse Club, Rocky and Bullwinkle,
>
>Kookla, Fran and Ollie, Spin and Marty...Dick Clark's
>American Bandstand ... all in black and white and
>your Mom made you turn it off when a storm came. When  around the corner
seemed far away, and going
>downtown seemed like going somewhere. Climbing trees, making forts,
backyard shows, lemonade stands, cops
>and robbers, cowboys and Indians, staring at clouds,
>jumping on the bed, pillow fights, ribbon candy,
>angel hair on the Christmas tree, Jackie Gleason,
>white gloves, walking to the movie theater, running
>till you were out of breath, laughing so hard that
>your
>stomach hurt...remember that?
>
>Not stepping on a crack or you'd break your mother's
>back ... paper-chains at Christmas, silhouettes of
>Lincoln and Washington, the smells of school, of
>paste and Evening in Paris.
>
>What about the girl who dotted her i's with hearts?
>(that was before that stupid smiley face)! The Stroll,
>
>popcorn balls and sock hops? Remember when there were  just two types of
sneakers for girls and boys - Keds
>and PF Flyers, and the only time you wore them at
>school was for gym. And the girls had those ugly gym
>uniforms.
>
>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 either, and
>you
>got trading stamps to boot!
>
>When laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes or
>towels hidden inside the box. When it was considered
>a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real
>restaurant with your parents. When the worst thing
>you could do at school was flunk a test or chew gum.
>
>And the prom was in the gym or the lunchroom and you  danced to a real
orchestra. 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 the 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!
>
>But we survived because their love was so much
>greater than the threat.
>
>Remember when a '57 Chevy was everyone's dream car -- used to cruise, peel
out, lay rubber, scratch off
>or
>watch the submarine races? When people went steady;
>and girls wore a class ring wi
>
Mary Coleman
Principal Secretary
Political Science, DEPT. 6356
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
615 McCallie Avenue
Chattanooga, TN 37403-2598
423/425-4281
FAX: 423/425-2373