Take Me Back (Back in the Day)

Sometimes I just sit & think of how things used to be back in the day. I didn’t have much as a child, but I definitely had what I needed. Never did I feel inferior because I lived in an urbanized environment, didn’t have everything the other kids had etc. Actually, I probably had more than the other kids in my neighborhood. I was content with living in a house with 10 other people (I have a HUGE family), playing in the fire hydrant for fun, stealing penny candy from the corner store just to see if I could get away with it, playing gin rummy with my grandmother and her girlfriends and being their entertainment. The best times of my life were in the ‘80’s. I remember not being able to ride my bike past the alley b/c my grandmother had to make sure she could keep her eye on me. I was never allowed to leave my front stoop, so I sat out there like I was being paid by the metropolitan police department to keep an eye on the hood just because the “big kids” got to be outside. Observing the drug deals, crack heads and daily fights (YES people actually fought back in the day). Shit, I remember getting teased by the other girls on the block because I wore a uniform to school. One day one of the girls stepped to me and embarrassed the shit out of me in front of what seemed like the ENTIRE neighborhood. I went home crying to my grandmother and she sent me back outside to whoop that girl & the ringleaders asses & told me I couldn’t come back in the house until I did. Thanks for that Grandma. I remember getting my ass whooped EVERY weekend by my mom because of what she called my “smart ass mouth.” I can admit I gave my mother & grandmother hell growing up, but hey look at me now. I hated getting up with grandma on Saturday mornings to go to the farmers market, but loved helping her cook. I cherished our Sunday dinners that would give Soul Food a run for their money. I remember when Kool-Aid was the standard drink and of course Red was the flavor of choice. LOL I remember receiving my first name-plated ring… I thought I was the shit, buying jewelry from the corner store for $2.99… still thinking I was the shit. Do these basics even exist anymore… Dial Gold soap, Shower to Shower powder, AJAX, Colgate toothpaste (the original), Windex & Palmolive dish detergent…. These were the bare necessities. My first “skating rink” was in the basement. I would roll for hours at a time perfecting my skills. I remember begging for new shoes when mine were dirty & run down, but being forced to put white shoe polish on them to make them look new, hoping the other kids wouldn’t notice so I wouldn’t get teased. Take me back to the days of clear Pepsi, candy rings, bracelets & necklaces, ice cream trucks that sold any & everything you could possibly need, homemade hamburgers on white bread, $0.50 blunts, mood rings, herringbone chains, 4- fingered rings & bamboo earrings, sour pickles hand picked from the jar wrapped in aluminum foil. Take me back… back in the day!
**Back in tha day when I was young, I’m not a kid anymore- But sometimes I sit & wish I was a kid again** :)