I had a bike that I would ride on the side of the highway to get to town and spend the $8 I got for my allowance on some soda and whatever toy struck my fancy at the Eckerds. Sometimes my parents would let me rent a video game from the Blockbuster, which would always be Chrono Trigger. On Friday nights we would go to Pizza Hut and I would get a plastic cup that was a tie in to whatever kids movie was out at the time. Usually I’d have some Book-it stars to turn in to get my free personal pan pizza, which was always pepperoni.
There always seemed to be a fair at the fairgrounds. When I was old enough, I started working the parking lot in exchange for a free ride bracelet, and then I’d go in and ride The Zipper till I puked up my nachos. My friends would all meet me there, though we had no way to communicate where we’d be, we always found each other. Sometimes there would be a girl I liked, and I’d walk next to her and make small talk and that would be good enough.
I didn’t watch a lot of TV. Sometimes a show like Sliders would come along and the family would all settle in to watch it, but for the most part, visual entertainment wasn’t a big part of my life. There were free weekends where you’d get premium channels like HBO or Showtime and I would use blank VHSs to record movies. Some of them had 8 hours worth of recording time on them, so you’d have to label them with really small writing so you could read Captain Ron, Ghostbusters II, Backdraft, and Power Rangers Movie. I read more than I watched, and I played outside more than inside. Goosebumps and Animorphs over The Hardy Boys and The Babysitters Club. Encyclopedia Brown is still the goat, though.
The Florida summers were hot, and the winter’s temperate. I wore shorts with cargo pockets because no one really cared, and I could carry extra stuff that I always seemed to have a reason to drag around.
Church was something you did because it’s what you did, but no one really took it that seriously. That would change in my teens, but for most of my childhood it was really just something to do on a Sunday to have an excuse to socialize. I used to volunteer to clean up after the whole bread and wine thing we did once a quarter because the bread was fresh and the wine was welch’s grape juice, and I could eat all of the bread and drink all of the juice. My pastor liked black people.
We had swimming classes, which were put on by professionals that, when I look back on it, were probably 16 year old kids with their lifeguard permits. I remember someone jumped into the pool and landed on a girl that was swimming under the water, and her collarbone broke. That was the only time those 16 year olds were put to the test. We just kept swimming while Christine was taken to the hospital.
All in all, it was different, but the same. I have good memories, and bad, and some that make me feel a certain kinda way. I don’t wish I could go back, but I’m happy I got to enjoy them the first time around.
I had a bike that I would ride on the side of the highway to get to town and spend the $8 I got for my allowance on some soda and whatever toy struck my fancy at the Eckerds. Sometimes my parents would let me rent a video game from the Blockbuster, which would always be Chrono Trigger. On Friday nights we would go to Pizza Hut and I would get a plastic cup that was a tie in to whatever kids movie was out at the time. Usually I’d have some Book-it stars to turn in to get my free personal pan pizza, which was always pepperoni.
There always seemed to be a fair at the fairgrounds. When I was old enough, I started working the parking lot in exchange for a free ride bracelet, and then I’d go in and ride The Zipper till I puked up my nachos. My friends would all meet me there, though we had no way to communicate where we’d be, we always found each other. Sometimes there would be a girl I liked, and I’d walk next to her and make small talk and that would be good enough.
I didn’t watch a lot of TV. Sometimes a show like Sliders would come along and the family would all settle in to watch it, but for the most part, visual entertainment wasn’t a big part of my life. There were free weekends where you’d get premium channels like HBO or Showtime and I would use blank VHSs to record movies. Some of them had 8 hours worth of recording time on them, so you’d have to label them with really small writing so you could read Captain Ron, Ghostbusters II, Backdraft, and Power Rangers Movie. I read more than I watched, and I played outside more than inside. Goosebumps and Animorphs over The Hardy Boys and The Babysitters Club. Encyclopedia Brown is still the goat, though.
The Florida summers were hot, and the winter’s temperate. I wore shorts with cargo pockets because no one really cared, and I could carry extra stuff that I always seemed to have a reason to drag around.
Church was something you did because it’s what you did, but no one really took it that seriously. That would change in my teens, but for most of my childhood it was really just something to do on a Sunday to have an excuse to socialize. I used to volunteer to clean up after the whole bread and wine thing we did once a quarter because the bread was fresh and the wine was welch’s grape juice, and I could eat all of the bread and drink all of the juice. My pastor liked black people.
We had swimming classes, which were put on by professionals that, when I look back on it, were probably 16 year old kids with their lifeguard permits. I remember someone jumped into the pool and landed on a girl that was swimming under the water, and her collarbone broke. That was the only time those 16 year olds were put to the test. We just kept swimming while Christine was taken to the hospital.
All in all, it was different, but the same. I have good memories, and bad, and some that make me feel a certain kinda way. I don’t wish I could go back, but I’m happy I got to enjoy them the first time around.
Wowza, that dredged up a memory I haven’t accessed in… maybe ever
That sounds intense, I hope Christine made a full recovery?
Yeah, Christine was tough as shit. She did just fine.