Tweet
-So true for those of us "almost senior citizens."
>
>
> MEMORIES OF A REPRESSED AND ABUSIVE CHILDHOOD
>
>
> My Mom used to cut chicken, chop eggs and spread mayo on the
same
> cutting board with the same knife and no bleach, but we didn't seem
to get
> food poisoning.
>
>
>
> My Mom used to defrost hamburger on the counter AND I used to
eat
it
> raw sometimes too, but I can't remember getting E-coli.
>
>
>
> Almost all of us would have rather gone swimming in the lake
instead
> of a pristine pool (talk about boring).
>
>
>
> The term cell phone would have conjured up a phone in a jail
cell,
> and a pager was the school PA system.
>
>
>
> We all took gym, not PE... and risked permanent injury with a
pair
of
>
> high top Ked's (only worn in gym) instead of having cross-training
athletic
> shoes with air cushion soles and built in light reflectors. I can't
recall
> any injuries but they must have happened because they tell us how
much
> safer we are now.
>
>
>
> Flunking gym was not an option... even for stupid kids! I
guess PE
> must be much harder than gym.
>
>
>
> Every year, someone taught the whole school a lesson by
running in
> the halls with leather soles on linoleum tile and hitting the wet
spot.
How
>
> much better off would we be today if we only knew we could have sued
the
> school system.
>
>
>
> Speaking of school, we all said prayers and the pledge and
staying
in
>
> detention after school caught all sorts of negative attention. We
must
have
>
> had horribly damaged psyches.
>
>
>
> I can't understand it. Schools didn't offer 14 year olds an
abortion
> or condoms (we wouldn't have known what either was anyway) but they
did
> give us a couple of baby aspirin and cough syrup if we started
getting the
> sniffles. What an archaic health system we had then.
>
>
>
> Remember school nurses? Ours wore a hat and everything.
>
>
>
> I thought that I was supposed to accomplish something before I
was
> allowed to be proud of myself.
>
>
>
> I just can't recall how bored we were without computers,
PlayStation,
>
> Nintendo, X-box or 270 digital cable stations.
>
>
>
> I must be repressing that memory as I try to rationalize
through
the
> denial of the dangers could have befallen us as we trekked off each
day
> about a mile down the road to some guy's vacant lot, built forts out
of
> branches and pieces of plywood, made trails, and fought over who got
to
be
> the Lone Ranger. What was that property owner thinking, letting us
play
on
> that lot? He should have been locked up for not putting up a fence
around
> the property, complete with a self-closing gate and an infrared
intruder
> alarm.
>
>
>
> Oh yeah... and where was the Benadryl and sterilization kit
when I
> got that bee sting? I could have been killed!
>
>
>
> We played king of the hill on piles of gravel left on vacant
> construction sites and when we got hurt, Mom pulled out the 48 cent
bottle
> of Mercurochrome and then we got our butt spanked. Now it's a trip
to
the
> emergency room, followed by a 10-day dose of a $49 bottle of
antibiotics
> and then Mom calls the attorney to sue the contractor for leaving a
horribly
>
> vicious pile of gravel where it was such a threat.
>
>
>
> We didn't act up at the neighbor's house either because if we
did,
we
>
> got our butt spanked (physical abuse) here too, and then we got butt
spanked
>
> again when we got home.
>
>
>
> Mom invited the door to door salesman inside for coffee, kids
choked
> down the dust from the gravel driveway while playing with Tonka
trucks
> (Remember why Tonka trucks were made tough... it wasn't so
that
they
> could take the rough Berber in the family room), and Dad drove a car
with
> leaded gas.
>
>
>
> Our music had to be left inside when we went out to play and I
am
> sure that I nearly exhausted my imagination a couple of times when we
went
> on two week vacations. I should probably sue the folks now for the
danger
> they put us in when we all slept in campgrounds in the family tent.
>
>
>
> ******* were spent behind the push lawnmower and I didn't even
know
> that mowers came with motors until I was 13 and we got one without an
> automatic blade-stop or an auto-drive.
>
>
>
> How sick were my parents? Of course my parents weren't the
only
> psychos. I recall Donny Reynolds from next door coming over and doing
his
> tricks on the front stoop just before he fell off. Little did his
Mom
know
> that she could have owned our house. Instead she picked him up and
swatted
> him for being such a goof. It was a neighborhood run amuck.
>
>
>
> To top it off, not a single person I knew had ever been told
that
> they were from a dysfunctional family. How could we possibly have
known
> that? We needed to get into group therapy and anger management
classes?
>
>
>
> We were obviously so duped by so many societal ills, that we
didn't
> even notice that the entire country wasn't taking Prozac! How did we
> survive?
>
>
>
> AMEN
>
>
> MEMORIES OF A REPRESSED AND ABUSIVE CHILDHOOD
>
>
> My Mom used to cut chicken, chop eggs and spread mayo on the
same
> cutting board with the same knife and no bleach, but we didn't seem
to get
> food poisoning.
>
>
>
> My Mom used to defrost hamburger on the counter AND I used to
eat
it
> raw sometimes too, but I can't remember getting E-coli.
>
>
>
> Almost all of us would have rather gone swimming in the lake
instead
> of a pristine pool (talk about boring).
>
>
>
> The term cell phone would have conjured up a phone in a jail
cell,
> and a pager was the school PA system.
>
>
>
> We all took gym, not PE... and risked permanent injury with a
pair
of
>
> high top Ked's (only worn in gym) instead of having cross-training
athletic
> shoes with air cushion soles and built in light reflectors. I can't
recall
> any injuries but they must have happened because they tell us how
much
> safer we are now.
>
>
>
> Flunking gym was not an option... even for stupid kids! I
guess PE
> must be much harder than gym.
>
>
>
> Every year, someone taught the whole school a lesson by
running in
> the halls with leather soles on linoleum tile and hitting the wet
spot.
How
>
> much better off would we be today if we only knew we could have sued
the
> school system.
>
>
>
> Speaking of school, we all said prayers and the pledge and
staying
in
>
> detention after school caught all sorts of negative attention. We
must
have
>
> had horribly damaged psyches.
>
>
>
> I can't understand it. Schools didn't offer 14 year olds an
abortion
> or condoms (we wouldn't have known what either was anyway) but they
did
> give us a couple of baby aspirin and cough syrup if we started
getting the
> sniffles. What an archaic health system we had then.
>
>
>
> Remember school nurses? Ours wore a hat and everything.
>
>
>
> I thought that I was supposed to accomplish something before I
was
> allowed to be proud of myself.
>
>
>
> I just can't recall how bored we were without computers,
PlayStation,
>
> Nintendo, X-box or 270 digital cable stations.
>
>
>
> I must be repressing that memory as I try to rationalize
through
the
> denial of the dangers could have befallen us as we trekked off each
day
> about a mile down the road to some guy's vacant lot, built forts out
of
> branches and pieces of plywood, made trails, and fought over who got
to
be
> the Lone Ranger. What was that property owner thinking, letting us
play
on
> that lot? He should have been locked up for not putting up a fence
around
> the property, complete with a self-closing gate and an infrared
intruder
> alarm.
>
>
>
> Oh yeah... and where was the Benadryl and sterilization kit
when I
> got that bee sting? I could have been killed!
>
>
>
> We played king of the hill on piles of gravel left on vacant
> construction sites and when we got hurt, Mom pulled out the 48 cent
bottle
> of Mercurochrome and then we got our butt spanked. Now it's a trip
to
the
> emergency room, followed by a 10-day dose of a $49 bottle of
antibiotics
> and then Mom calls the attorney to sue the contractor for leaving a
horribly
>
> vicious pile of gravel where it was such a threat.
>
>
>
> We didn't act up at the neighbor's house either because if we
did,
we
>
> got our butt spanked (physical abuse) here too, and then we got butt
spanked
>
> again when we got home.
>
>
>
> Mom invited the door to door salesman inside for coffee, kids
choked
> down the dust from the gravel driveway while playing with Tonka
trucks
> (Remember why Tonka trucks were made tough... it wasn't so
that
they
> could take the rough Berber in the family room), and Dad drove a car
with
> leaded gas.
>
>
>
> Our music had to be left inside when we went out to play and I
am
> sure that I nearly exhausted my imagination a couple of times when we
went
> on two week vacations. I should probably sue the folks now for the
danger
> they put us in when we all slept in campgrounds in the family tent.
>
>
>
> ******* were spent behind the push lawnmower and I didn't even
know
> that mowers came with motors until I was 13 and we got one without an
> automatic blade-stop or an auto-drive.
>
>
>
> How sick were my parents? Of course my parents weren't the
only
> psychos. I recall Donny Reynolds from next door coming over and doing
his
> tricks on the front stoop just before he fell off. Little did his
Mom
know
> that she could have owned our house. Instead she picked him up and
swatted
> him for being such a goof. It was a neighborhood run amuck.
>
>
>
> To top it off, not a single person I knew had ever been told
that
> they were from a dysfunctional family. How could we possibly have
known
> that? We needed to get into group therapy and anger management
classes?
>
>
>
> We were obviously so duped by so many societal ills, that we
didn't
> even notice that the entire country wasn't taking Prozac! How did we
> survive?
>
>
>
> AMEN
Comment