Bless me father for I have sinned, it’s been 8 days since my last blog entry.
These days, while I work with teenagers and young adults I often ask myself if they are any different from when we were growing up back in the 70’s and 80’s?
At times, I catch myself shaking my head at some of the things they say or even do. Then I think, “did we ever act that way?”
I do know that we played a lot of ball. Much more than they play today, that’s for sure.
The Lot on Windsor Place was one spot we spent many hours playing baseball. On Saturday’s we’d spend six straight hours playing hardball. If we weren’t playing baseball you could find us in the boys schoolyard on Howard Place playing basketball from 9AM until it got dark out. It just wasn’t five on five, three on three or even one on one. Nope, we had other basketball games to play like taps, horse, 21 and Around the World.
We’d leave our house and not come home for what seemed liked days! Mom never knew where I was either. Or maybe she did? She never came looking for me.
We got up, got out of the house and walked the streets until we found a game. Is the work ethic there with today’s kids? Are they willing to do what we did to play? To go and knock on someone’s door to round-up the fella’s for a stickball game?
We shovelled snow in the yard to clear the court. Just so we could play. NO EXCUSES…
Maybe we can blame the distractions kids face today? As far as television goes, we had what five or six stations to watch? What do they have now with cable and direct TV?
Reality shows, music video stations, ten different ESPN stations, video games and i-phones where you text-message each other to communicate.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention social media like Twitter and Facebook…wow! Not sure If I could have dealt with all that as a teen.
So many choices, so little time. Who needs to be out in the schoolyard, they can stay inside!
I went back to the archives and found an e-mail from someone who grew up in the neighborhood and they explained the days of growing up compared to today, sort of.
Money was tight, that’s why we played ball….. To Become who we are today…or Just find ourselves…
Don’t be confused by our Kids. They will take the Money but that’s because We made it the Substitute for the Love and Time.
We were Happy with the Shirts and old Jeans from a cousin or a Close Family that we knew….
Potato skins were free in our Families now you pay 7.95 and they call it an Appetizer……If it wasn’t for the skins, I would have left that table Hungry….
Back then most of us couldn’t afford a coke and a slice at .25 for both….. We settled for a small box of Pretzels and enjoyed every piece of Salt at the bottom of the little box for a .05…..
The Good Old Days, I wouldn’t have Changed a Thing, Loved every minute of them….. Made us the People we are today……
Growing up on 9th avenue in the 1970’s and 80’s, I wouldn’t trade it for the world! Like Bill Parcells said, “I don’t think the kids from today and the 70’s have changed; it’s the people around them that have changed.” Well said coach, I think you may be right.
Red
Hoops135@hotmail.com