At 14..........
Posted: Saturday, July 30, 2011
by Patricia Barbee
http://www.patriciabarbee.com
I was still being highly protected by all family members from the woes of the world except the evening news. Back then, the clearest channel we got in Boston was WNAC, "The Yankee Network", a CBS affiliate. Huntley and Brinkley's Evening News was gospel.
The local news media kept us up on the City news. Nothing we heard back then occurred as we hear today. Now in a split second, I'm in contact with friends especially in Australia.
What I know now as an adult with silvering hair is that grown-ups are BIG liars.
Back then in our City, many adults drove luxurious vehicles and lived worse
than the downtrodden checking in at a benefit center for the night.
Many would "buy" outfit one day, hide the attached sales tickets and party all
evening and return the outfit the next morning.
When Food Stamps were paper, adults would pay for beauty treatments or
clothes, etc. with those chits. Retailers would take them. I've seen wealthy
people who took the Stamps buy the best foods I guess they'd usually buy in the
supermarkets. Never were they asked for identification.
Since the Food Stamps became a debit card, I've heard some heated arguments
waiting in the checkout line at the supermarkets.
America is losing its pride of working for what is needed. The children are learning
the system.
Children ride the free school bus to school. Instead of going to the classroom, all
go to the cafeteria for the free breakfast. Some children want to learn. They get
teased. Lunch is free again to most of the children. After lunch, most don't care
to learn. They are sleepy. The end of the day bell rings and the children ride
home free on the same bus that brought them.
When I was fourteen, our values were to get better grades than even our best
friends. We did not have the mentality to "get over" on anything. We knew
we had to work for what we wanted.
Our role models were our extended family members, all well-educated and our
teachers who were partners with our parents. Those ladies at our all girls' school
did not tolerate baloney from any one and we knew not to try their patience, too.
Patricia Barbee © 2011
Patricia Barbee
SearchWarp.com
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)I remember Chet Huntley and David Brinkley's newscast very well Patricia. Those were some troubling times weren't they?Thanks for the Love. Yes. The Berlin Wall. The Cold War. Uprisings all over Africa and always some trouble in the Holy Land.
Thanks for the essay and memories.Thanks for the Love.
Thanks for the flow of information, news, history and human comment. Wonderful reading, nice organization. Blessings.
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