Watching my Daughter maneuver & strap her 2 1/2 year old twins into their restricting car seats made me reflect on how the experience of riding in a car has changed for children since I was a little girl...
I can remember one particular time in my life when I was around 8-10. There were 6 kids in our family including a baby. We had a car that must of been built for a large family. It was a 1960 Chevy Impala Sedan. I don't remember my Dad ever getting a new car and this one was a few years old when we got it. In later years when it became even more out dated, I was ashamed to be seen in it, as it was as conspicuous as a black & white killer whale cruising down the road. Apparently these cars are now sought after classics. Back in the day, they were just ugly. This picture I found on the net looks just like that car, same color and everything.
I remember it had large seats & 4 kids would fit comfortably in the back with room to play around. No seat belts of course, & my mother always held the baby in the front seat on her lap.Me & my two brothers closest in age, (We are all about 2 years apart) loved playing around in the back seat.
One game my brothers & I made up involved pulling our knees up, and locking our arms around them, so that every time the car went around a corner we'd have to fight to hold our balance & would end up careening into each other. If one of my older, grumpier sisters was forced to sit in back with us, we'd figure out ways to terrorize her. Mostly just touching her did the trick, then we'd be scrambling around the seat dodging her blows.
We must of been pretty bad, as we were always being threatened with spankings & told we were never being taken anywhere ever again. I remember my Dad actually pulling off the road a couple of times, to smack us around. The worst punishment was being forced to sit in the front, between our parents.
It all seems like innocent fun now, but if we'd gotten into a bad accident, the results could have been horrible.
Oh I almost forgot to post
I have a new pet! A male rat. My oldest daughter got him for my 3 year old grandson, but he's too young for a pet, so I inherited him. I've named him Algernon.
posted by Rita @ 7:59 AM
15 Comments
15 Comments:
Hmmmm, you should make fractal labyrinth for the rat, maybe you could put a minataur mousetrap to gaurd the exit too. If the rat is smart enough, it will board a hexacopter and fly away before you have the chance to put it in the maze.
As for the kids acting stupid, Rita, I'm sure there's drugs for that these days (lol).
Last week one of my co-workers brought one of those ancient, huge cars with fins to work. Boy, it was enormous. We do tend to forget. My parents had one around the same time you're talking about (if memory serves, it was light green -- do they even paint cars light green any more?), but I only vaguely remember it.
Algernon may prove interesting -- rats are smarter than most people think. Be on the watch for escape attempts.
Don't let the Rat see your worms! You may find you have less pets if you do ;-)
Lone Star Greeting's Ms.Rita!
That is one bad ass looking ride Ms.Rita .... bet you wouldnt be shamed today riding in that! I know a couple dude's(lowrider's) who would probably kill for a ride like that! I went also to a couple Lowrider Show's, year's back with a friend Tess, who done Lowrider artwork and such as a business .... the car's were immaculate, engine's so clean you could eat off them. You probably remember them first push button dash automatic's too, heh? They actually are back to doing them button auto's I noticed on a couple high scale vehicle's like Aston Martin's, Bentley's and such, from what I seen. What was ugly to me back then was them goddamn station wagon's with the side wood paneling on the exterior, and I still think their ugly! We had one when I was a kid too(station wagon), but in Brooklyn .... I mostly rode the subway! :) Them classic's especially with the tail fin's like that sell well these day's .... a convertible like that may go in good condition for over $40/45 grand! Short story here this post reminded me of.... once I was with a friend Steve (early 70's) driving through a rural Georgia county coming from Miami and going to Atlanta area. The car was his, it was an old fin ride like that but Chrysler and actually had the push button auto on the dash, well .... we had a car full of dope, and I mean ALOT of dope, like 25,000 4-way hit's of paper bladder acid (LSD) 50- $50 dollar vial's of hash oil, about 10 mpound's of pot, and a few extra's even .... we were moving it from Miami to Atlanta in that (which was a piece of shit in them day's). We got a cop behind us way out in the stick's of rural Georgia, he put on his light's .... my buddy decided to run .... the chase was on (it was either run or get popped with all that stash). Anyway's .... after about 5 miles (we had to be doing about 100 mph) the goddamn front hood of the car flew up (it had a loose latch) and the wind power caught it .... ripped the hood off .... it flew back over us and hit the squad car, causing the cop to run off the road and wreck .... I'll never forget that one .... it was almost like one of them movie chases, yep .... we got away, needless to say our adrenaline level was in high gear as well as the transmission! :) I love them new Dodge Charger's these day's .... kick ass engine too! I'll leave it there or I'll never shut up on this subject. :)
BTW .... cute lil Guy .... ole Algernon that is!
Later Girl .......
Woohooo! Ranch Chimp's story's a mini movie all on its own!
I can see that hood fly up, wrench free, and arc, lazily spinning, slo-mo, until it hits the police cruiser, screech of tires, siren drops from scream to moan, steaming wreck, whoops from the crazy, fishtailing, hoodless fugitives..
The cars, the cars, oh yes, over here in yurp, our cars were stunted things, by comparison, what to us was a large car was 'barely adequate' to you folk, we looked at yours, seen in black'n'white t.v. flickerings, saw your jet-age rocket-finned dreams, every year a new heap of fantasies, the wrap-around windshield, hydra-shift, electra-drive, motorola dreams.
wide bench seats for canoodling, drive in movies, drive thru-banks, oh yes, you guys loved your cars, we watched, in the movies, how you built your cars too long and too soft to negotiate the transit from driveway to road, every time a car slid out of a driveway, it would lurch onto the road with a screech of metal on curb. "why do they do that?", we wondered.
A nation that never learned to drive a real gearbox, a nation where cars wallowed sluggishly, like bathtubs floating in oil. Where handling was a joke.
But big engines, we loved your disregard for economy, conspicuous consumption. We loved that slow beat of a big V8....
And yes, we loved seeing the fins, the chrome, the jet-exhaust lights, you had some great fantasies.
They were just that, to us. Perfect for their world, ridiculous for ours. I recall watching an american car, hopelessly stuck in York, a city not built with cars in mind. Our little european cars fit our little european roads, and a mini looks pretty silly thrashing its tiny engine, crawling across Nevada, like a tiny bug.
qf
Interesting links. I esp. love the hexacopter. The controller has amazing control over it & it is so fast & zippy! Could you actually make one? I wouldn't put Algernon in it though.
Personally I'd rather be annoyed by bratty kids then see them on drugs.
infidel
Algernon seems to be mostly nocturnal. But, as I am gone all day, so who knows what he is up to?
Mac
Algernon could never eat his way through all the worms that live under my kitchen sink. I might not be good at some things, but I can raise a mean crop of worms. :)
Ranch chimp
The good ole Days...when you could actually break the Law & get away with it. I wonder, does anyone get away with breaking the law any more?
one brick
Thanks for the "yurp" perspective. I never gave it much thought, but you do have some frumpy little cars over there. Although, some of the classics immortalized in old world war II movies are pretty cool.
A few my Dear ...... it is not difficult to be a law breaker these day's ..... farting on the wrong day is a crime now (just humor, considering all the new law's). I certainly done my share over the year's .... but never been what's widely considered a "criminal" these day's .... being I never was out to hurt folk's or bring folk's any harm .... I had to make a living ... and the petty thing's I done .... if I didnt ... someone else would have ...... supply must meet demand, only. Today you simply have to be more savvy, having a clear basic understanding of how criminal law worx is a plus .... and planning for the worst before you run into it, so you have a "plan" in place. So many folk's that break the law (most actually) are downright dumb as a goddamn doorknob stupid .... they dont plan a damn thing .... and deserve to get busted, they do the stupidest shit and the reward's vs. risk's are way out of balance! Unnecessary violence and such has permeated the atmosphere .... and frankly many that we call "criminal" arent even worthy of the title, it's not "criminal" it's "stupidity" .... some of the folk's that I have met in jail's .... I wouldnt even say "Good Morning" to on the street they are so goddamn stupid! A good thief, dealer, etc. alway's does their homework, and never get's too greedy and stay's on top of their work .... keep's them sharp and competitive .... and know's especially how to make money without using violence and such. This country is filthy rich ... especially a town like Dallas .... if you cant figure out how to make money without using dumb violent technique's and operation's .... you are not cut out for a criminal career let's say! I'll shut the Hell up now.
Thank You Ms.Rita ..........
Another thing I want to just point at here .... considering your comment's to Mr.Infidel on your buddy (rat) being nocturnal that is. When I lived in NYC area (Brooklyn) we had a big rat problem .... there are also rumor's (I think mostly pop culture myth though) of the rat's and size's that are under NYC, that we dont see.I have seen some that were big too .... like a small cat in size, even walking utility line's in the city at night like a damn tightrope. And clever lil creature's as well, dont underestimate their lil brain's/ instinct's. But the biggest problemo was that these were "nocturnal" actually .... in that they only came out and done their damage and hunt's it seemed like when the city was sleeping. They have been especially a menace recently from what my Aunt Anna (mom's sister)has told me.... in even the most upscale restaraunte's in the city, just prowling through the night and shredding everything in sight and scraping up what ever they can, when these place's are closed.
I blame sugar and caffiene for the brattiness that kids have. What's wrong with giving them a little chamomile tea though, or a spoonshot of Jack Daniels to shut the little chimps down once in a while?
rc
I read up a little on the rat problem in NY. It seems the opinion is anywhere from the numbers are exaggerated to the problem is worse then ever. I found Rat Mapping an interesting read. Also, this, debunking the one rat for every person belief.
This was amazing!
qf
I think modern diets lead to worse problems in kids then brattiness.
My brothers & I hardly ate sugar or anything with caffine. We were just energetic farm kids.
Children now eat so much processed food with dyes & sugar & sodium in them, it really seems like it must be unhealthy.
Wow! Thanx for the two article's and video on rat's/ mice .... those were kick ass! No .... I havent read up on rat's before, so it was a treat over some hot cocoa and breakfast. Even though the Aussie video was a tragedy ... I couldnt help laughing my ass off when I seen the look on that cat's face watching the lil rodent's scramble around .... that ole boy/ gal(cat) must have thought it was at a "buffet"! :) And the part where that ole gal started saying her lil girl started to try to eat the mice .... had me busting a gut! It was kind of hilarious. :) I reckon those right wing folk's must like it .... being the lil creature's are so "pro-life", heh? They damn sure are some fruitful and multiplying lil critter's, heh? :)
But I havent even heard of the stuff in the articles either, I just knew when I lived in the city we had a bunch of the lil critter's around .... their kind of cute in a weird way. Although I wouldnt want them munching out on my limb's or anything. But I never been attacked by them or had any bad experience. My former residence here in Dallas was next to a beautiful park, lake, and recreation area that had a wooded area .... and had a large patio overlooking the wood's .... beautiful view. I'd like to have morning coffee or cocoa out there and a bite early am. And had a "possum" that visited .... we kind of became buddies ... he just looked like a big ole rat .... but real big fella. I used to put out lettuce scrap's and other scrap's for the ole boy to eat .... and he would alway's stop by, he was a veggie type fella. :)
Later Ms.Rita!
Yeah, stupid kids eating at the Heart Attack Grill all the time and such...
My favorite era for car design is around 1960. They all looked like space craft. The next 40 years were pretty awful.
Rats ... Worms ... You have interesting taste in pets.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home