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Friday, July 14, 2017

My Good Old Days

My Good Old Days
I started a post as a follow up to my sarcastic piece (yes it was not intended to be serious) about SpongeBob Ice-pops.  Somewhere in this yet to be finished post, I used the term “The Good Old Days.”

I have referred to my youth in the 50’s and 60’s as “The Good Old Days” in the past and I’ve been lambasted with talk of poverty, hunger, polio, and numerous other really bad things about those days, many that still exist today, and I’ve been advised that in fact those days were not good old days for many people at all.
Somehow this got my cranky up.  It does not take much, because Gol Dammit for me those days were GOOD OLD DAYS.  I do have fond memories of those days, and to ME they were good old days.  I liked those days, I was lucky and all that bad stuff that I am always reminded of did not touch me, or as a child I did not worry about it, so for me they were GOOD OLD DAYS!!
If those days sucked for you, I am truly sorry.  Some children never experience the good old days, the days when you are a child and are carefree and all is good with the world, days where all the bad stuff goes over your head because you are a kid and you are lucky, but Gol Dammit I refuse to feel guilty because I never went hungry, always had a roof over my head and had heat in the Winter.  I will not feel guilty for not having polio.  I had mumps, measles, rubella and chicken pox, but no polio…. SORRY!!
Kids from 6 to 16 should all have their own good old days.  Many do not and that is sad.  I know I am a very lucky person.  I knew kids who had polio, and parents in those days must have gone to bed every night praying that that scourge did not touch their loved ones.  I remember seeing children my age picking cotton in the fields in the hot sun.  I did not have proper empathy for them, I was a kid, SORRY!
There is a lot of bad stuff today.  These days will never truly be “The Good Old Days”, there has never been and never will be an age that will truly be “The Good Old Days” for all, but if you are young and lucky you will have your own Good Old Days.  If you never had any Good Old Days. I am sorry, I was lucky, I did.  Don’t hate me for it.
As a matter of fact, as an old dude looking back, even with some bad stuff like…well trust me, there has been some bad stuff, almost all my days have been good old days.  I have been a very lucky person, SORRY!
Someday, in the not too distant future, if I escape a sudden and quick demise, I will be in bed taking my supper through a bendy straw and waiting for the inevitable.  If on that day I reminisce about the “Good Old Days” and someone corrects me to tell me about all the bad stuff that was around way back when; I will somehow find the strength to raise up, grab him by the neck, shake him till he cries and yell, “THEY WERE THE GOOD OLD DAYS FOR ME…Gol Dammit!”

19 comments:

  1. AS someone who grew up in the 50's and 60's I agree. As long as the necessities of life are provided by reasonably good people a kid can usually look back at whatever they've survived and smile about growing up. Kids are amazingly flexible and resilient and can bounce back from a lot and find joy in much. Oldsters' job is to do what they can to provide a relatively consistent and comfortable place for the kids to live in. Grownups who don't see that miss out, Gol Dammit.

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  2. Yes there were Good Old Days, I like how you said that as a kid all the bad stuff goes over your head, I think this fact is what helps us have Good Old Days.

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  3. There will always be someone, somewhere who has it worse off than the rest of us. If people choose to dwell on that, then I can see why prescriptions for anti-depressants are at an all-time high. Good grief, people need to chill . . .

    However, I'm going to disagree and say that the 70's and 80's were the REAL good old days.

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  4. Mine too, until I was 8, then, well, it wasn't.

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  5. I'm with you. Even though my mom was a tough women to live with, and my parents split up when I was in my senior year of high school, I still have many good old days. Granted, not all were good, but many were. A friend told me she thought I took the best from both my parents and marked the not so great parts as "learned from and will not duplicate with my family" and got on with my life. There's enough crap that goes on, that sometimes it helps to reminisce and remember it's not all bad. Keep the faith. Ranee (MN)

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  6. They were the 'good old days' for me too. As a child I wasn't aware of any of the problems my parents were facing...it was just a wonderful time to be a kid and to grow up in.

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  7. Your post had me thinking of my childhood in the 50's and 60's. Was it perfect? No. Did we have troubles? Yes. Was it the "Good old Days"...YOU BET! I have many wonderful memories of playing outdoors in every weather with my siblings...4 bros and 1 sis. We didn't live in a McMansion. We had 3 bedrooms, 1 bath. Livingroom was the "family room". How did we survive without stainless steal appliances? How did we manage without cell phones? How did we not die of boredom with only 3 tv stations and PBS? Oh, and my Grandparents lived with us for a time and Mom and Dad shared a room with my 3 bros and my sis and I shared the other bedroom with my baby brother. However, it does explain why there were no more kiddos after that! Ha! Anyway, we had plenty of love, food, shelter and imagination to get us to adulthood. My Dad had a fabulous sense of humor along with a great work ethic, and Mom kept us all grounded in responsibility and good manners. I could go on and on but like you I won't apologize for a good childhood. My hubby and I also tried really hard to make our kiddos have a good childhood too...not perfect...but hopefully it was good. Have a great weekend!

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  8. I agree. My childhood certainly wasn't idyllic, but I still think of those days as the good old days, too. The freedom to run and play, fish, crab, just to be a kid without the weight of the world on our shoulders... Then again, as old farts, we have some of that same freedom. Phooey on anybody who tries to rain on your parade by bringing up all the bad stuff about the '50s and '60s. (Hey! Our MUSIC was definitely better!)

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  9. You are so right. Depending on how the events directly affected you determines how you view those days. We were often poor but I didn't know it since my belly was always full and family love was readily available. We played freely and laughed a lot so they were the good ole days for me too. You tell em Joeh.

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  10. I agree. And you shouldn't have to apologize for it either.

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  11. I'm with you. Those were definitely the good old days in spite of anything bad that happened to me or others. When I was young, I could look over the bad stuff and still have a wonderful day. That's the way it was when we were young and innocent. That's the way it was supposed to be.

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  12. You are correct, there is enough bad in this world. All of us should be able to look back on days that were wonderful and carefree and enjoy reminiscing and called them good old days.

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  13. I guess "the good old days" are relative. We all judge the differently. Happy weekend.

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  14. But did the Good Old Days have BENDY STRAWS? I remember drinking my little bottle of Coke with a white paper straw. Hopefully, we won't have to go back to them for your bed-supper.

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  15. Mine were pretty dang good too. We didn't have a pot to piss in, as the old hillbilly saying goes, but everybody around us was in the same boat so who knew that we were all living below the poverty level. We had food to eat and woods to explore. Fish to catch and room to grow.
    The thing is, life is unkind to some people. And others seem to get a free ride. At the end of the path I think it's important to look back and say, "I made the best of what I had."

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  16. I am going to ask my eight grown offspring about their Good Old Days. I hope they have them too.

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  17. I like your attitude!!

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  18. I was born in 1963 and I always thought the 50's were the "good old days." Everyone seemed so much happier then and everything seemed so much more cheerful and colorful. My aunt had polio. I never heard her complain and I'm certain she didn't dwell on it. She and my mother always talked about the fun they had. I don't think you have anything to apologize for. Enjoy your good old days. :)

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  19. EVERYONE has some good old days. I have quite a few from every decade, and a couple of "good ole days" just happened last week.

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