I often write about the “good old” days, but sometimes in certain areas they were not the best. I thought about that the other day when I came home in a driving rain. When I got to my house, I just clicked a button, the garage door opened and I pulled the car in and exited to a nice dry haven. That was not necessarily the case in some of my good old days. I recall that quite often I would come home and the cats and dogs type rain would be inundating everything. I would have to get out of the car, scramble to the door and heave it up. Then it was back to the car before I could drive to the dry spot – but by that time I was very wet.
Eventually though garage door openers did come along which led to one of my few handyman successes. The house we were living in then did not have a garage door opener. When it was built, no one had even heard of them. In any case, I knew that we could not afford to pay someone to put one in. Thus, I declared that I would do it myself. The Blonde in the house blanched, but said nothing. Thus, I moseyed over the Sears store and bought one. Then on a day off, I laid the stuff out in proper sequence, screwed various parts to the wall and then to the garage door. Finally, I plugged it in and pushed a button whereupon to my astonished eyes it opened the door and then even closed it. It was a perfect job, and I would not be surprised that close to 50 years later that it still works. My handyman work is not often rewarded, but when I succeed it ranks at the top!
If I am going to discuss changes from the good old days to now, I need to look at the total picture. For example, many will say that the mail (the real thing not email) service is far from what it used to be. It is true that when I was a little lad stamps were three cents – and post cards were a penny. Being young I thought they would always remain that price instead of 55 cents as they presently are. For that three cents everyone even got mail delivered twice a day over Christmas. Now to be fair, the latter was back in the day when people actually wrote letters and sent Christmas cards solely through Uncle Sam’s mail system. Today, your mail box is usually filled with catalogs, bills, charity requests and advertisements (one of these days I will get the winning key from the car dealer). You must remember that Congress in its wisdom tells the Post Office that it must stay open so that with letter income down, it has to raise prices on what is left. You could try talking it over with your elected representative if it bothers you!
People constantly complain about the price of gas compared to the good old days. That there is a slight difference in price can be stated without fear of reproof, but way back you did not have the federal and state taxes on a gallon that now exists. When you talk to your elected representative about the price of stamps, you might also bring up the price of gasoline. You should have a nice conversation with him/her that will make both your days. However, what I miss from the good old days is that back then when you drove in the station an attendant came swooping out, filled your tank, checked your oil, the air in your tires, and washed your windshield. If you tried to pump gas in yourself, you would probably have been arrested as an anarchist or someone from a looney bin.
The Blonde notes that I should mention penny candy. I can easily recall heading for the candy store when I had accumulated a few pennies. Most likely my hoard would come from finding pop bottles and turning them in at the grocery store where you received 2 cents for a small bottle and 5 cents for the big ones. Once at the candy store, you could buy a box of cigarettes for a penny, or very little bottles that you would bite the heads off and drink the flavored liquid they held. The main problem was picking out what you really wanted from a wide selection. Heck, if you wanted to splurge you could buy a full size chocolate candy bar for 3 cents. They were known as Klein bars, were very good and were made in Elizabethtown, Pa.
Those were the good old days! I might mention that if you need help in installing your garage door opener, I will be happy to come over and help.
Barry Evans writes about Life in The Villages for Villages-News.com.
