Remember...
When the worst thing you could do at school was smoke in the bathroom, flunk a test or chew gum. If you don't then you might not have been around during the nifty 50's or you were too young. The jukeboxes were in the Clubhouses and you didn't have to play golf to enjoy your favorite beverage and sandwich while listening to the oldies but goodies but they were not called that then... this was the music that was very popular with Elvis being at the top of the charts.
Another memory was that at the Junior and Senior Prom all the gals wore fluffy pastel gowns that went all the way to the floor. There was enough material to clothe a tribe of Kuna's for a year. The boys wore suits with pencil thin ties and everybody was allowed to stay out until midnight.
The '57 Chevy was every kid's dream car... to cruise Balboa Avenue, go to the drive-in, peel out and leave rubber on Balboa Road and go parking up on Contractor's Hill or on the Balboa Causeway. Guys going steady would let their girlfriends wear their school ring around their necks. The jocks would even let their girls wear their letterman sweaters for it did get cool at night even in Panama.
Nobody asked where the keys of your car where because they were always in the ignition. All steering wheels had a knob or cheater to making parking at Balboa Bowling Alley a breeze. You would also be in trouble if you accidentally knocked the front door of your tropical government quarters because nobody knocked their doors back then.
Remember when lying on your back on a slope near your house and looking up at the sky and somebody would say, "That cloud sure looks like...."
Where baseball, football, basketball and all sports were played for fun not for some ego trip or look here we is the best...
Remember when going to buy stuff at the commie was a Saturday Morning ritual and there were no such thing as safety caps or stuff sealed so tight with plastic that you had to take it to the wood shop to open it using a vise.
Another thing about the 50's was the slow pace... nobody and I mean nobody seem to be in a hurry. The standard phrase on doing something was "Manana is good enough for me... yes Mon."
So who still remembers the Howdy Doody Show on AFRTS-Fort Clayton? Or what about these favorite shows, The Shadow Knows, The Lone Ranger, Gunsmoke, Fibber Magee and Molly, Amos and Andy, Jack Benny Show, Danger, Hit Parade and so on.
Walking the halls of your Alma Mater wearing black engineering boots with horseshoe taps to listen to the sound.
And the worst thing you could do was end up at the principal's office. You could take whatever the principal gave you to change your behavior but when you got home your Mom and Dad would probably ground you for a year. Yes, our parents and grandparents could really dish out the punishment. Taking out the garbage for a year was nothing to some of the other stuff that could happen.
Then there was the Cold War... yes the Atomic Bomb was something we heard everybody talk about at grownup gatherings. Living in the Old Canal Zone with the Panama Canal in our backyards meant we would be hit first. We also knew that the siren at noon was not make believe. So, back then everybody had their white sheets ready to run into your back yard and thrown yourself down and cover yourself. I could never figure out how a white sheet would save you from becoming toast but as little kids we never argued with grownups, especially our parents.
Hope you have enjoyed a trip back to the 50's when things were quite simple, not too complicated and rather easy.
Buena suerte... Hasta la vista... |
