Guest guest Posted January 8, 2009 Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 When I was a kid my folks took me to my first parade when I was around 3 or 4 years old. I remember it well to this day. It was not long before I was dressed up and marching down our dead end street by myself. People did not notice at first, but soon they began making various comments and attempts to influence me, and I quit. But my Father (who had been in WW2) said that if I wanted to march I should march. Go back out there. (I knew he would cream anyone who oppressed a kid, and he could be terrifying) Now I had a problem: I was not THAT hot on a parade, but if I didn't go back out, I'd have some reaction from HIM to deal with. I went back out. Soon a little girl was following me down the street kicking up her knees along with me. Then some kid that nobody played with turned out. So we were three. Then came the family debates as to whether " their kids " should be allowed to march with Bobby down the street. Worse, my Mother listened to Don MacNeil on the radio every morning, and he had " March Time " where they played some sort of march music and the listening audience was supposed to get up and march around the house. I have no idea if my Mom and I were the only ones in America actually marching around the dining room table, but we did back then and it all seemed right. The 50's had just begun and America was very conformist and concerned with opinions of the neighbors, and with cookie-cutter morality. The age of the individual had not yet dawned, was not even conceived on a large scale; that only existed in books. So my street parade only grew very slowly to include half a dozen kids. Then other activities took its place. These were more devilish, like building slingshots, which my Father showed me, so I had few if any followers after the parade. Many kids on the block were bigger and older, so the slingshots came in handy if only to build a reputation if not to actually use on anyone. So it goes with parades and kids and parents. The medical world is sort of like the 50's. Your parade here is small and falls to restrictions, but it is still yours and fun! bG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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