Some clouds this morning will give way to generally sunny skies for the afternoon. High 69F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph..

Clear to partly cloudy. Low 38F. Winds light and variable.

Young people seem to be getting taller every year as I walk through the hallways of the junior-senior high school where I teach. When I want to avoid someone, I just get behind a student and disappear.

While I concede that the youths of today have surpassed my generation in height, I wouldn’t be a self-respecting old codger if I didn’t brag about the young people back in “my day.”

While more than a few high school players today look as though four of them lift up the team bus for the driver to change a flat, I my generation was in better shape overall.

This might be because we were around at the height of the baby boom. There were so many kids in our neighborhood that it looked like auditions for Munchkins in “The Wizard of Oz.”

Many of the women in that era were stay-at-home moms. If they had to stay at home, they weren’t about to have stay-at-home kids all day.

They had enough work to do without having to stop every 5 minutes to ask, “OK, who broke this?”

As a result, we spent a great deal of our Saturdays, vacation days and after-school hours involved in outdoor activities.

On any given fall afternoon, you were likely to see the neighborhood guys playing tag football on the street. There one car for every three or four homes, as opposed today when there are three or four vehicles for every home.

This meant much less traffic. Instead of worrying about cars running into us, we were more concerned about running into cars.

Our friend Chauncey became an unwilling pioneer in the body piercing when he ran out for a pass and into the pointed tailfin of a 1960 DeSoto Adventurer. He sounded like a whistle every time there was a gust of wind

On school days, we walked to school like condemned criminals traveling the last mile to the electric chair. However, when school was over, we ran to its macadamed grounds to play.

There we could run as fast as we wanted and didn’t have to worry about car fins. We would occasionally run into the cast-iron railings that or stone walls that encircled the school. They hurt, but they didn’t create any holes in us.

The town did have actual playgrounds, but their sliding boards, swings and other equipment were all made out of metal. It made play a risk and adventure.

One day, I accidentally invented a new activity. I swung so high on the swing, that I went over the cross bar on my back swing and was launched onto and down the sliding board.

I still have the scars from trying that once-in-a-lifetime experience. My folks got stuck with the doctor bills.

By an odd twist of fate, our town’s playground is on the site of one of the former elementary schools. When we played there, the recreational attraction was climbing a rickety fire escape and hoping we didn’t fall off.

I’ll concede that the youths of today have thumbs that are in much better shape than the thumbs of baby boomers as a result of video games and texting.

However, I will contend baby boomers gained more skills with their hands. The reason for this is board games.

We didn’t stare at a phone or computer screen for hours. We stared at a cardboard game board for hours.

Many of the games had tin spinners that you had to use to determine how moves your token could take. Some preferred to give the arrow a backward spin with their index finger, but my gang were flickers who would flick it forward.

Most games, though, required us to shoot dice to determine our moves. While recovering from his DeSoto body piercing, Chauncey got so good at tossing dice he paid his way through college by winning at craps games.

Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.

Your comment has been submitted.

There was a problem reporting this.

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.

Copyright 2018 The News Item | 707 N. Rock Street | Shamokin, PA 17872 | 570-644-6397

Comments or Questions? Contact Us

PRIVACY POLICY TERMS OF SERVICE