Tuesday, April 14, 2015

REMEMBER SLOW FOOD?




I saw this in our local paper today and got a kick out of it.  I thought I would share it with you.  I'm probably dating myself by saying it reminded me of my childhood.  Hope you enjoy it.

REMEMBER SLOW FOOD?
Someone asked the other day, "What was your favorite fast food when you were growing up?"

"We didn't have fast food when I was growing up," I informed him.  "All the food was 'slow'."

"C'mon, seriously.  Where did you eat?"

"It was a place called 'at home'," I explained.  "Mom cooked every day and when Dad got home from work, we sat down together at the dining room table and if I didn't like what she put on my plate I was allowed to sit there until I did like it."


By this time the kid was laughing so hard I was afraid he was going to suffer serious internal damage, so I didn't tell him the part about how I had to have permission to leave the table.

But here are some other things I would have told him about my childhood if I figured his system could have handled it.

Some parents NEVER owned their own house, never wore Levis, never set foot on a golf course, never traveled out of the country or had a credit card.  In their later years they had something called a revolving charge card.  The card was good only at Sears Roebuck.  Or maybe it was Sears & Roebuck.  Either way, there is no Roebuck anymore.  Maybe he died.

My parents never drove me to soccer practice.  This was mostly because we never had heard of soccer.

I had a bicycle that weighed probably 50 pounds, and only had one speed, slow.



We didn't have a television in our house until I was 10.  It was, of course, black and white, and the station went off the air at midnight, after playing the national anthem and a poem about God; it came back on the air at about 6:00 a.m. and there was usually a locally produced news and farm show on, featuring local people.



I was 19 before I tasted my first pizza.  It was called "pizza pie."  When I bit into it, I burned the roof of my mouth and the cheese slid off, swung down, plastered itself against my chin and burned that, too.  It's still the best pizza I ever had.




I never had a telephone in my room.  The only phone in the house was in the living room and it was on a party line.  Before you could dial, you had to listen and make sure some people you didn't know weren't already using the line.

 

Pizzas were not delivered to our home, but milk was.

All newspapers were delivered by boys and all boys delivered newspapers.  My brother delivered a newspaper six days a week.  It cost 7 cents a paper, of which he got to keep 2 cents.  He had to get up at 6:00 a.m. every morning.  On Saturday, he had to collect the 42 cents from his customers.  His favorite customers were the ones who gave him 50 cents and toldhim to keep the change.  His least favorite customers were the ones who seemed to never be home on collection day.



Movie stars kissed with their mouths shut.  At least, they did in the movies.  There were no movie ratings because all movies were responsibly produced for everyone to enjoy viewing, without profanity or violence or most anything offensive.

If you grew up in a generation before there was fast food, you may want to share some of these memories with your children or grandchildren.  Jut don't blame me if they bust a gut laughing.

Growing up isn't what it used to be, is it?


(I would gladly give the author credit, but he/she did not sign their name.)


16 comments:

  1. Wow! What a trip down memory lane. I'll date myself too. As a little girl,I remember our washing machine was small & had a hose that was connected to the kitchen sink. There was no "spin" you put the clothes through a hand-turned 'wringer' & newspapers covered the floor to sop up the excess water.
    Thank you for the 'remember when'....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We had an automatic washer and a dryer in a laundry room and thought we were the richest people around.

      Delete
  2. My Goodness! Were you looking right over my shoulder for my first forty years? All these memories are just flooding back, in such a good way, this Spring morning.

    We had newspaper delivery, but no milk-man, though we did belong for several years to the "Rich Plan," which was a sort of precursor to Schwann's and such, for they brought you frozen meats and vegetables, and oh, those frozen peach slices in deep cold January, rattling into a pie crust for a taste of Summer!

    And I don't believe I ate a bite in a "caffay" for twenty years that was not a hamburger---hamburgers were sacred things, arriving wrapped in those thinnest-waxed-paper squares with the little pinked edges. Mustard, pickle, onion and flat crisp-edged meat sending up a scent beyond imagining as you loosened the paper.

    And Ii was ten when we got our TV---it was the most beautiful piece of furniture we had. Mahogany, polished to a shine, standing a yard high and wide, with pretty little doors that swung shut over the screen. My parents didn't mind how late I stayed up, just so I did my homework, made good grades, and got up for school on time. So at night, I'd sit within a foot of the TV, with the little doors snugged up to the sides of my face so the light wouldn't bother them in their room right down the hall. Jack Paar and the late movie and the flag waving as the Star Spangled Banner played and the screen went to that target-thing with the Indian on it---those were my late-nights when I was not even a teenager.

    What a great post!

    rachel

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh my, Rachel, thank you SO MUCH for all your memories! That was just wonderful reading your reply. Those were the good days, weren't they? If we could only bring them back.

      Delete
  3. I loved this. And, I was only born 40, + a couple, years ago!! I can so terribly relate to this. LOVE IT!!

    We ate slow food. Had no TV. Didn't play on a soccer team... Seriously!! I still have no credit card! and would I ever enjoy MILK delivered to my front door.

    Folks tell me I have an Old-Soul. Well... I'm proud of that fact. Because, it's totally okay. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes it certainly is OK to have an old soul, Bevy. We had a TV, but it was a big old black and white. Didn't get a color one until the 1990s. And we ate at home every night. Who went out to eat? No one we knew.

      I still do not have a credit card, nor do I want one. Tried that, got in trouble and no more.

      Delete
  4. I would gladly go back to those days...a more simple, happier life. Family was the most important thing. Thanks for sharing this....great post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was simpler. Maybe because I was a kid and didn't have to worry about paying bills!

      Delete
  5. Kathy, That is the true too. LOL. But even way back then what we saw on TV was worth seeing. Eating at the table was something I had my girls do growing up. May be not so enforced on weekends as they grew older.:) Blessing, xoxo,Susie
    p.s. love that slow food.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Me too, Susie. I'd rather eat at home than out.

      Delete
  6. Oh- that sounds like a piece I could have written myself! So many of those things were true for me. xo Diana

    ReplyDelete
  7. Kathy, I can relate to some of those for sure.
    the phone was a problem at our home and a phone
    in the living room . You betcha!
    Wish we could go back to simple lives once again
    society just inst the same...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I remember when I was really little we had a party line. The lady on the other half of the line used to yell at my mom because she was on the phone so much.

      Delete
  8. That's really something to think about! And some of it is the 'good ole days' but most, I wouldn't want to go back to. Sure brings back good memories though! Enjoy your day sweet lady. Hugs, Diane

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It brought back good memories for me also!

      Delete

Thanks for visiting. I love hearing from you. A name must accompany your comment No anonymous comments will be accepted. Thanks for your understanding.