Things I miss
Some things I miss:
- Having a diner a block away that serves breakfast until 4am
- A nearby playground where there’s always a good game of basketball
- Meeting my friends early at school to play Salugi in the park
- Running to the pizza place near my elementary school, for lunch, where you’d get a slice and a soda for $1
- The undeniable sense life is unimaginably long
- The freak show of White Castle on Northern Blvd and Bell, at 2am on a Friday
- The convenience store that sold us 15 year olds all the beer we wanted
- Talking to close friends for hours without an excuse for why
- Playing football in the streets
- Crusing Franny Lew, just to make fun of other people who cruised Franny Lew
- The ethereal sense of abundant undivided time
- Watching summer thunderstorms at dusk, raging on the horizon, above the street on my parents porch
Brilliant summation….if I may be so bold as to add one; and let’s keep it going….
Things I miss:
Stickball….and not having to explain to someone what stickball is/was.
Is this the same Graham Gallagher who would have written an essay in 1998 to get into college and who ended up attending Southampton U.?
Great post, Scott.
I have many of the same memories, just different locations. Capture the flag across my entire cul-de-sac with friends. Ghosts in the Graveyard. Building forts in the woods. The pharmacy around the corner from my grandmother’s house where I could buy Bottle Caps, Tart N’ Tinys and all that good stuff. Roller skating at Looney’s. And on and on.
I think most of all I remember being out, in the world. This seems to be in such start contrast to my life today, which is parked behind a screen where the world comes to me, though not in a way that is as enriching.
So these days, I’m just doing the best I can to impart in my children the same love of outdoors and physical play as I had. Every child should have the opportunity to experience and relish in these things.
Apparently street games for kids are in decline in NYC:
http://gothamist.com/2007/07/01/stickball_other.php
…Meeting on Friday nights at Peter Pan with a $10 roll of quarters in my pocket
“The convenience store that sold us 15 year olds all the beer we wanted”
I am glad you miss this one. I hope the whole world misses this crime. Perhaps you could explain the redeeming value of someone selling alcohol to 15 year olds.
Getting into trouble is part of any decent childhood.
Not that I’m for selling alcohol to kids, but I worry first about selling alcohol to people who drive. Given that all we could drive were bicycles, no innocents were harmed in whatever stupid things we did, unlike much of the alcohol sold to adults.
It’s also interesting to look at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_drinking_age
I currently live in Denmark. It’s legal here to sell alcohol to 16 year olds. Not much difference.
Ask any European and he’ll probably tell you the 21 drinking age limit is absurd. We also have a very exotic concept here in Europe: public transport to and from everywhere, also running during the night. ;) Indeed, when all you can do is hop on a bike (which will probably sober you up) or jump on a bus, there’s not that much that can happen – apart from silly, stupid things which I am a strong advocate of when it comes to teenagers.
May I jump on the coat tails of G. Gallagher..
Things I miss:
Ring-a-levio and Salugi…
Keep it going..
Since we just celebrated Halloween, I couldn’t help but wax nostalgic about a group of rowdy pre-teens with a couple of dozen eggs and three cans of Babasol each perpetrating mayhem on the community at large. Ironically, I have two competing thoughs when reflecting on those times. One, what the hell were we thinking? Two, damn, those were good times!
Test.
Diners that only serve breakfast ’till 4am suck… I like to sleep in, sometimes as late as 4:30am!
How you ever had the idea that life is long in the first place is beyond my comprehension. Hei, look at the bright side… at least you had it and enjoyed it once!