Grandkids’ childhood different from mine

I don’t even bother telling them about having to call grandparents after 7 p.m. when long distance rates went down. They simply couldn’t envision that.

I’m sure they’d say, “Why didn’t you just FaceTime with them Poppie?”

I don’t spend near as much time on Facebook as I once did, but I do appreciate the benefits of technological advances – some more than others, which most in my generation will probably agree.

My favorite thing to do is Google stuff to get immediate answers. It really comes in handy when writing news stories.

Sometimes at night I just search for stuff on Amazon just to see what’s out there. It’s still pretty mind-boggling that we can order just about anything, and get it in a day or two. Luckily, I haven’t fallen to the impulse buying bug, unless it’s Texas A&M gear. And no, I’m never going to try to explain to the grandkids the total happiness that flowed through by little body when the Sears Christmas “Wish Book” hit the front porch.

I love history, as well as looking back at different periods in my life.

One of my favorite Facebook groups is one called “Hamman’s Baytown History … with a Twist”. I enjoy scrolling through it, especially when I otherwise have nothing to do – like when I’m sitting in a waiting room waiting on a doctor. The administrator of the page is a huge history buff and he graduated from high school in Baytown a few years after I did. There’s never a time that I don’t learn at least 10 to 20 new things, or am reminded about simpler times. That’s the one page I can lose the track of time when scrolling through.

I saw the following Facebook post the other day that I think I’ll print and share with my grandkids when they get a little bit older. It will prove to them how old Poppie really is, but it might also teach them a think or two.

Here’s the post (with a little editing). See if you can relate:

I grew up in (fill in the town). I never once questioned my parents’ income. It was never a discussion. We didn’t eat a lot of fast food because it was considered a treat, not a food group. We drank Kool-Aid made from water that came from our kitchen sink with real sugar. We ate bologna sandwiches, tuna (which was in a can, not a pouch), PB&J and grilled cheese sandwiches, and hot dogs, but mostly homemade meals consisting of meat, potatoes, and vegetables. We ate what was served or we did not eat.

We grew up during a time when we mowed lawns, pulled weeds, babysat, and helped neighbors with chores to be able to earn our own money. We by no means were given everything we wanted. We earned it.

We went outside a lot to play, ride bikes, run with friends, play hide and seek, or went swimming (in a pool or a pond). We rarely just sat inside. If we were inside, we were in trouble. We drank tap water from the water hose outside. Bottled water was unheard of. If we had a Coke, it was in a glass bottle, and we didn’t break the bottle when finished. We saved it and brought it back to a store for a refund. In fact we’d look for glass bottles to return to the store for money!

We watched TV shows like Leave It To Beaver, Gilligan’s Island, Happy Days, Bewitched, The Brady Bunch, Looney Tunes, Speed Racer, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Sanford and Son, Disney on Sunday night, Andy Griffith, and I Love Lucy. Mom decided everything we watched or didn’t watch.

After school, we came home and did homework and chores, before going outside or having friends over. We would ride our bikes for hours. We had to tell our mom where we were going, who we were going with, and be home when the streetlights came on (or when supper was served, whichever came first).

We learned from our mom and dad, or our friends’ mom and dad, instead of disrespecting them and treating them as if they knew absolutely nothing. What they said was law, and you did not question it, and you had better know it!

We watched what we said around our elders because we knew if we disrespected any grown-up we would get our behinds whipped. It wasn’t called abuse. It was called discipline!

We held doors, carried groceries, and gave up our seat for an older person or a lady without being asked. You didn’t hear curse words on the radio in songs or TV, and if you cursed and got caught you had a bar of soap stuck in your mouth.

I think I’ll share this with my grands when the oldest hits 18. I’ll be 73 then and I’ll take a picture of their reaction with my iPhone 98xl-4 with mighty megapixels equipped with x-ray vision.

Until next week, have a good week.

Mike Probst can be reached at publisher@rockportpilot.com.