It was a different time. My teenage years were almost unbelievably different when compared to the lives of today’s teens. Were those days better? Do I see them through the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia? Those days, so long ago, were far from perfect; however, there was an innocence and a wide-eyed wonder that seems gone from today’s scene. That’s what’s sad–those wonderful things that seem to be lost forever in the hectic, advanced times of today.
We wore bobby socks and penny loafers or saddle oxfords. Those white and brown or black saddle oxfords were a challenge to polish. Wearing them scuffed or dirty would not be good, so I polished and had a damp cloth handy to wipe the dark polish away from the white. Rolled up jeans and shorts were great for Oklahoma’s hot summers at home, but, my goodness, never at school! At school, we wore dresses or skirts and blouses.
We had “home rooms” at the start of each day. We began with a flag salute. Patriotism was good and we were proud to be Americans.
A fun Friday or Saturday night outing was dragging Main. This was driving up and down Main Street to see who was out and about. We’d go to the Dairy Queen or some other Drive-In and order a hamburger for twenty-five cents or a cheeseburger for thirty-five. Cokes were a nickel for small ones, a dime for tall Cokes.
The rules for junior high and high school were rigid. We were respectful of teachers and we carried that load of books in our arms; no back packs. And certainly, no internet learning. The internet? What in the world was that? We got grade cards at the end of each nine weeks’ period and the grades were hand-written in ink. We brought them home, a parent signed them; we took them back to school.
Since I was a country kid and had older brothers who hunted, I learned to shoot a rifle at home with a brother cautioning me to be safe and watching to see that I did things correctly and my target was placed harmlessly against the wood pile. There were no school shootings. Who ever heard of such a thing? Not us, the teens of long ago.
Anyway, these are just a few of the things I remember. Radios, Elvis, Pat Boone, Patti Paige, hay rides, church on Sunday, school five days a week, homework, helping with home chores, problems and solutions, young dreams. Hopes and ambitions. We may have had stars in our eyes; we may have had a much more simple world to deal with; doubtless, we did. The hopes and dreams still survive today in modern teens but today’s young people have many more things to deal with–things they should not have to deal with at all. There’s one thing of which I’m certain–those long ago days were different and they aren’t coming back any time soon.
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