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Growing up in Ireland |
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Written by Anonymous
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Friday, 09 June 2006 |
We went to the shop down the road, played Hide and Seek in the park,
Hopscotch, Donkey, skipping, handstands, stuck in the mud, football with
an
old can:
read
the Dandy, Beano, Twinkle and Roly Poly, Hula Hoops, jumping the
stream, building a swing from a tyre and a piece of rope tied to a tree
or more frequently to a lampost: we built tree-houses, climbing up
onto
roofs. We had tennis on the street, the smell of the sun and fresh cut
grass.
Hubba Bubba bubble gum and 2p Flogs, macaroon bars and woppas, 3p
Refreshers and wham bars, superhero chewing gum, golf ball chewing gums
and
liquorice whips, Desperate Dan and Roy of the Rovers, sherbit dips and Mr. Freezes, marathon bars and everlasting gobstoppers. An ice cream cone on a
warm summer night from the van that plays a tune: chocolate or vanilla or
strawberry or maybe neopolitan.
Wait ... Watching Saturday Morning cartoons ... short commercials, Battle
of the Planets, Road Runner, He-Man, Swapshop, and Why Don't You?,
Transformers, How do you do?, Bosco(SANDY), Forty-coats, the Littlest Hobo
and Lassie, Chucklevision, The Muppet Show, MacGyver, Scarecrow and Mrs
King, Little House on the Prairie and Highway to Heaven, or staying up for
Knight Rider and Magnum PI.
When around the corner seemed far away and going into town seemed like
going somewhere.
A million midget bites, sticky fingers and mud all over you, knee-pads on
your jeans, Cops and Robbers, Rounders, tip the Can, Queenie-I-O, climbing
trees, spin the bottle, building igloos out of snow banks, walking to
school, no matter what the weather, running till you were out of breath.
Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt. Jumping on the bed. Pillow
fights,
Spinning around, getting dizzy and falling down was cause for giggles:
Being tired from playing...
Remember that?
The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team.
Water balloons were the ultimate weapon.
Football cards in the spokes transformed any bike into a motorcycle.
And don't forget the Marietta sandwiches we'd make by buttering a cupla
Marietta biscuits and stickin' them together. And that quare oul mixture
made in a tall glass with HB ice cream and Taylor Keith Red Lemonade.
I'm not finished just yet...
Eating raw jelly, orange squash ice pops.
Remember when ... There were two types of sneakers - girls and boys and
Dunlop Green Flash and the only time you wore them at school, was for
"P.E.", Gola football boots.
It wasn't odd to have two or three "best" friends, when nobody owned a
pure
bred dog, when 25p was decent pocket money, when you'd reach into a muddy
gutter for a penny, when nearly everyone's mum was at home when the kids
got
there, when it was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner
at
a real restaurant with your parents.
When any parent could discipline any kid or use him to carry groceries and
nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it.
When being sent to the head's office was nothing compared to the fate that
awaited a misbehaving student at home.
Basically, we were in fear for our
lives but it wasn't because of muggings, drugs, gangs, etc. Our parents
and
grandparents were a much bigger threat! And some of us are still afraid of
them!!!
Remember when....
Decisions were made by going "eeny-meeny-miney-mo." Mistakes were
corrected
by simply exclaiming, "do over!"
"Race issue" meant arguing about who ran the fastest.
Money issues were
handled by whoever was the banker in "Monopoly", the game of life and
connect four, atari 2600's and commadore 64's. The worst thing you could
catch from the opposite sex was germs.
It was unbelievable that Red Rover
wasn't an Olympic event...
Having a weapon in school, meant being caught with a biro barrel pea
shooter or an elastic band.
Scrapes and bruises were kissed and made
better.
Taking drugs meant orange-flavoured chewable vitamins. Ice cream was
considered a basic food group.
Getting a foot of snow was a dream come true..
Abilities were discovered
because of a "double dare"
Older siblings were the worst tormentors, but
also the fiercest protectors.
If you can remember most or all of these, then you have LIVED!!!!
Bagsy it, no returns and no magical changes. Those were the good days!!!!! |
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Reminiscence 
