Not sayin' it was better

but it was much simpler

we had the three tv networks and a local channel

there was one pro football game on a week

and one baseball game

the world series was played during the day and real baseball fans loved it that way....you'd do about anything to hear a score, catch a couple of innings after school or play hooky if you could get away with it........it felt like sneaked sex only there was a bat and a ball

no sport had playoffs, the top two teams played for the championship, the rest went home

when we weren't home, the phone just rang and rang

if we were on it, you'd get a busy signal

tv signed off at night

the best radio stations were AM

you carried around transistor radios

if you were't home, you couldn't be reached

no computers

no video games

cameras took black and white pictures

tv was in black and white and even later only a few programs were in color....there would be a (c) after the listing in the newspaper

many women didn't drive

most didn't work

going out to eat was rare

racism was rampant

you drove to vacation destinations, very few flew for pleasure

everyone had tv trays

everyone had ashtrays

most drove used cars

most families had only one

you didn't know many divorced people

you couldn't say fuck in a book, I was a freshman in college the first time I read the word fuck, it was in a Henry Miller book

you couldn't show bare tits in a movie, the first time I did was in a artsy movie called Blow Up and I think I was 18.......I do know I touched myself that night but then I probably would have anyway

you had to go to an adult theater to see adult movies and about all you saw were bare tits...sometimes the camera would slip and you could see the underwear on those allegedly fucking

the floor was stickier than the neighborhood theater and it was really sticky

a married couple couldn't be in the same bed on tv

most dogs lived outside

there were more drive-in theaters than indoor ones

soft drinks and beer came in bottles only and you had to use a bottle opener

there was almost always a store you could walk to for pop and snacks

we played sports all the time and when we weren't playing we were watching or talking sports

until girls came along

I still prefer girls over sports

kids slept out in the back yard in the summer and ran the neighborhood in the middle of the night

I sound like your grandfather don't I?

come sit on my lap and tell me what you want for Christmas