The Way I C It...This world is going to hell in a hand basket but put your speakers on high because I intend to take us back to when times were much better and I would feel bad if you didn't find a few songs to sing along with.
Remember, you can always click on the pics to enlarge them
Times are long gone since the dumb waiter but why are we being treated as such?
For those of you too young to know, Mr. Marx below is sitting inside of a dumb waiter. Hey wait a minute! This is not one of the Marx Brothers! This is Charlie Chaplin! Guess that means I am not that old!
Remember when?
Has it really gotten any better?
My Good Old Days in New York
The Way I C It, we the people are getting the wool pulled over our eyes and in an "In your Face" manner. We need to realize that we are being handed the,
" whose on first" shtick.
We have all noticed that Prego and Ragu jars have shrunk in size just as corn oil has yet the prices remain the same.
In fact, packages are shrinking on aisle after aisle in grocery stores such as familiar products, like Skippy Peanut Butter. A standard 18 ounce jar of the peanut butter is being replaced by a very similar looking, but smaller, 16.3 ounce jar, but the price isn't getting smaller.
Coke boxes use to cost 2 for $5.00 and now just one box will cost us anywhere from $4.00 - $5.00
Milk? Sky high! It is hand in hand with gas prices.
Those of you with babies and elderly who must use pampers have to dish out almost $30.00 for a box containing 18.
In the last couple years we’ve seen the size of some cereal shrink from 14oz boxes to 12.25 oz (translating to about two fewer bowls per box)
Shame on you Edy's for misleading the public
To misquote Marcellus: "There's something rotten in Denmark"
My apology to Mr. Shakespeare
Please take further note regarding some other ways our world has changed.
Telephone booths are a relic now, even in New York City where they were as in your face as yellow cabs so everyone is now forced to purchase some kind of mobile telephone.
My 83 year old father refuses to make the transition into modern times so if he were out at the grocery store and had forgotten his list, he could not call his home to ask mama what it is she needed from the store. Rebooting the television's cable is treading into the unknown for many of the elderly meaning, if no one is around to do that for them, they are without cable until someone can go over to unplug the box and reset it for them.
Speaking of cable, bundles begin at $99.00 but by the following year, the price climbs to $150.00 and for what? To surf through reality shows promoting sexual deviance, alcoholism and violence.
Ipads, Smart Phones with applications and other technology have replaced the more simple life style we could all equally enjoy. Now our customer service calls are screened by automated answering machines which place us into a Que for 2 to sometimes even 8 minutes before we get to speak to a real person. Technology has replaced man power and deleted jobs yet we wonder why the unemployment rate is so high.
I remember a time when people would purchase a television, bring it home, plug it in, turn it on and they were able to watch it. Antennas to place on top of the television for better reception were also purchased; if not, a wire hanger would suffice. If there was a problem with the set it was an easy fix; just pull open the back of the television, look into it for the tube which had blown, remove the tube, take it to the television repair shop, purchase a new tube for a few cents and then return home to replace the blown one with the new one. There was no mandatory cable in order to view television like there is now; granted, there were only perhaps 13 channels to watch but they showed good stuff, not the garbage reality shows that monopolize television these days. What was wrong with The Green Hornet, The Dick Van Dyke Show, I Dream Of Jeannie or Bewitched even? Why do the elderly have to pay for cable service when they would never even venture passed the basic channels anyway? Couldn't basic cable be offered free of charge to our elderly? Some day we will all reach that age, the good Lord willing; we will remember the days of our youth and perhaps ask for forgiveness.
Back in the days, the kids went outside to jump rope, ride bikes, metal skates and sleds or play chalk games like hop scotch or skully until it was dinner time and later would watch some of those television shows I mentioned above. Now a days, the children are playing games on their Xboxes or on their Iphones, laptops, phone applications or Ipads, and never getting exercise or fresh air. Most children are raised on McDonald's Chicken McNougets and fries or pizza where before, mother would have a nice home cooked meal waiting on the table where we would sit at the table to have our dinner together as a family. If mother worked, it was usually because she was in with the times, keeping up with the women's liberation movement but most old school traditional families lived in the manner that the father went out to bring home the bacon and mom would fry it up in the pan.
Unfortunately, the way prices have sky rocketed, the single family income is almost just a vague memory and everyone who is of age in the household is expected to go out, work and contribute.
I miss the good ol' days when life was more simple. Yes, it had it's troubles and we struggled but we did so equally. It seems like just yesterday that we could travel and not pay for our luggage but our dependence on other countries for gas has made it a sacrifice for travel where it use to be a pleasure.
I will go on and on as time permits me to update this blog but for now, I will leave you with a few songs and some photos of life when it was more innocent. I have lots more to insert into this blog to make your experience a memorable blast from the past. So...keep coming back!
Hahahaha!
Twiggy
Gaylord Walking Dog
The Flying Nun
I remember writing an essay in elementary school titled, The Policemen Is My Friend. Now a days, the policemen do not even smile at civilians much less say good morning or good afternoon for fear they will not be respected or even worse, get caught with their guard down and have some psycho try to take their weapon away and go off on a rampage. Now a days, it seems like the policeman can not be our friend.
No More Phone Booths
School Uniforms
This is what we called, suicide lane. We rode our sleds down that hill and usually landed in the street unless we jumped off in time. Fortunately, not many cars traveled through there.
Suicide lane ran parallel to the wall of the Corpus Christi Monastery, except the wall turned but we didn't.
This is Corpus Christi Monastery
This place was further up on the street not too many cars went through. It is the American Bank Note Company and most of the workers walked to take the subway when they got out of work; that's when we would run up to them to ask them to purchase raffle tickets. They were very generous.
But We Don't Like Spinach
Honey West and The Man From Uncle
Lost In Space and Dennis the Menace
The Horn and Hardart Automat
Candy Coated Popcorn Peanuts And A Prize
Rest in Peace Guys
Easy Bake Oven
Rock em Sock em Robots
Remember the Duncan YoYo's? Never did learn how to do that.
Tar Beach is what we opted for on our roof tops when we did not want to be at the more crowded beaches of Coney Island or Orchard Beaches
The Rates at Orchard Beach back in 2003
Bocce Ball at Pelham Bay Park
Central Park's Bethesda Fountain
Anyone recall playing Winkum?
No Red Ants in Central Park
The Fountain again
Central Park Wollman's Ice Skating Rink
Soft Frisbee Catch
Not a good time at Central Park West and 72nd Street, just outside the Dakota Apartment House on December 14, 1980 after leaving a memorial service for John Lennon at Central Park's Bandshell. Police estimated there were 50,000 to 100,000. RIP John
Living in a giant fish bowl
Many thanks to mouseprint.org, streetplay.com,playlist.com and to my dear friends, Concetta, Anthony Russo and Liz-Beth for your photo donations. Everyone else, your tags are on the photos. ~Namaste
Swinging Joe DiMaggio
Yankee Stadium 1938
Yankee Stadium 2005
Jammed up #7 Line during rush hour
New York's Bravest On The Job
Remember when it was fun being in the snow?
Easter Sunday at the Bronx Zoo. In Fact, that's where I gathered most of my information for my paper on primates. I always loved the Bronx Zoo.
This park is a must see. I have many fond memories there. It is where I first learned how to ice skate. Upwards from then on!
Metropolitam Museum of Art on 5th Avenue
Looking out the window never goes out of style
The Feast at Little Italy.
Ellis Island 1920
The Brooklyn Bridge
The Twin Towers the way I like to remember them
