Originally Posted by
Airhoss
I am also a late 60's model...
Some childhood memories.
My first bike was a green Schwinn Stinger with a silver sparkled banana seat. The day I got the training wheels off of and could "bank" it in the turns it became my personal P-51 Mustang which I rode 3 to 4 hours a day everyday on some kind of combat sortie to keep the neighborhood safe from the Third Reich or invading Japs. Sometimes we'd have to switch and my beloved Mustang would become an ME-109 so that the other kids could get a chance to be the good guy in the dog fight.
If you had an unresolved issue with another kid you could take it to the gym teacher and he'd supply the boxing gloves and let you two duke it out until you both came to a mutual agreement on who the winner was. And that was the end of it. Bullies don't last long when you can call them out like that.
It was a different time. And it wasn't that long ago.
After reading Airhoss' post, I couldn't help but share what one my "daydream" passions were.
As a youngster, I used to collect used airline tickets. I collected tickets from Eastern, National, Delta, Piedmont and Mackey Airlines. I think I had one or two from PeoplesExpress as well. I must have had about 40-50 tickets. To make a long story short, my Dad worked on his Ph.D. at Michigan State from 1970-1974. I'll never forget that he use to fly on Delta....the DC-8 Super 61 or63 series. I can remember watching that aircraft take off from 9L/27R.....soaring into the sky. What I would do when I got home, was to take my red hard plastic model of a DC-8 (purchased from Woolworth Dept Store) and would imagine flying that plane from West Palm Beach to Michigan State and points beyond. I use to make so many of those make believe flights/trips, flying the airplane around the house and going outside to continue the flight until I arrived at my destination. Those were the days.
The other point is similiar to what he said about confrontation. In the Hood, if you had a fight with someone back then, and I'm 47, you fought and if you got slammed...meaning you lost the fight....you just got slammed!!! At least you lived to see another day. A few days later, you and the person who fought were back on speaking terms and in most cases, became one of your best buds. Today kids want to go to the their car trunks and pull out an array of weapons. Crazy and sad.
atp