Stuck In the 70’s

Baby Boomer!

google.com, pub-4203312099339445, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0

I was born in 1961, so I am considered a “Baby Boomer.” Technically, a Baby Boomer is the demographic group (1946-1964) following the Silent Era (1925-1945) and preceding Generation X(or Baby Bust) (1965-1979). Being a Baby Boomer at the time I was born, to me was the best time ever! I truly believe that if you took a group of kids from this day and age and just stuck them in the ’70s that they would barely survive! After their getting over the initial shock. They would flounder first and foremost, and once they realize there are only 4 maybe 5 channels to choose from on the TV and that they actually had to get up to change the channel! Oh, Lord……they would be so doomed!!!

Not to mention the fact that we had most of our fun playing outside because video games weren’t even a thought. We would ride our bikes, play kickball, jacks, Red-Rover, Red Light-Green Light and drink water from the outside faucet. We didn’t have a cell phone, internet, X-Box, CD Players, Netflix, Laptops, the bottled water………the list goes on and on.

I’m telling you, growing up in the ’70s was the BEST! The rules were so much easier back then. At least in my house, they were! We had to be in our front yard before the streetlights would come on. Or when our dad whistled, you’d better run back home, no questions asked. We didn’t have Starbucks…..we had the Ice Cream Truck that would slowly drive up and down the streets in the neighborhood. We had to wait until Saturday morning to watch cartoons because we couldn’t “On-Demand” anything. The Jetson’s, Flintstones’s, Jonny Quest, Felix-the-Cat and The Archie’s, just to name a few.

All in a day’s work!!

Searching for empty soda bottles to take to the local grocery store in exchange for some “cold-hard-cash”. Well at least enough to buy some penny candy and maybe even an ICEE!

Everyone was usually friends with everyone in the school. But there was always the quiet kids that no one would bother. Don’t get me wrong, we had a bully or two, here and there. But they usually got “the paddle” in school and that was nipped in the bud real quick. Detention usually followed suit! Acne, a bad hair day, braces and even being too nervous to talk to that girl or guy you’ve seen from afar. This is a just sample of what we had to deal with when growing up in the ’70s. But we all survived.

And, Then There Was The Music!

We all shared the same love of music. Whether it be The Beatles, Peter Frampton, Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones or Chicago. Music was in our blood. We danced to it, sang along with it. And even cried with a broken heart while listening to it. The music of the ’70s meant something to those who listened. The lyrics were what we could all relate to. Slow dancing at the “Sock-Hops”, or the radio blasting out the windows of the car as you would cruise down the main strip on a Friday or Saturday night! There was no Pandora, I-Tunes, Spotify or iHeart Radio. It was a transistor radio, 8-track player or the old 45 records! Let’s not forget that dang needle that would skip and you’d have to rest a penny on it to stop the skipping. Oh…those were the days my friend.

If the truth is known. I really am a fan of all genres of music. But ’70’s music is what is near and dear to my heart. It can bring a smile to my face and a tear to my eye. Most every song has a memory all its own, even to this very day. “Old Days…….Good Times, I Remember…….”

With all of this being said. Don’t you agree that kids of today would never have survived growing up in the ’70’s? Maybe that should be a prerequisite for kids in high school today! I love that idea! Maybe, just maybe it would make them learn to appreciate what they have now.