Those Were The Days

Ann Fairbairn once said~A man cannot cast aside his childhood, though he run from it as he would the devil. He may make of it a burden under which to stumble and fall, or a shield to hide behind, or he may make of it a tool. One of the best things to keep close and look back on is our own childhood as we remember certain aspects of it that you really enjoyed. As said before, television was a big part of my childhood that ruled in the 80's, which I would gladly relive again if it were humanly possible, but I digress. When it comes to our childhood, a person can talk with others and find out if he, she, or they did the same things you did, but in a different way. Things that if you suggested that person do now either with you or alone, he or she may actually do it.

Let me ask you this question, did you ever in your childhood wear a fanny pack? For it was considered a fashion accessory for girls, but for boys it was something to keep their junk in like pencils, cards, and stuff. Essentially, it was a portable storage unit in front that fit around your waist that you could wear either in front of you, to the side, or the back of you. Personally speaking, I have one somewhere collecting dust a black Nike fanny pack that was used consistantly back in the day when no fear t-shirts were the thing to wear and bmx biking was the extreme sport to be in or watch. To be perfectly honest, I had one because everyone else had one so basically I was considered a follower and I would probably wear it again just to do it.

Without a doubt, each of us wore friendship bracelets and the more bracelets you had on your wrists the more friends you supposedly had. For the most part, you either knew someone or were friends with someone who made them and got the proverbial hookup, so to speak. Personally speaking, my friend back then Stacie Allen made a black and white one for me that I wore and never took off. Initially, the only way for it to come off was either it was old and fell off or your mom told you to cut it off due to a pungent odor coming from it. For the question can be asked to the ladies, did you ever make them and if so, did you make any profits to those that weren't considered your friends?

One the best recreational activities that mainly boys like myself participated in back in the day was pencil fighting. It was considered a sport of champions which tested the durability of one's pencil against the durability of another kid's pencil. There was strategy and a bit of underhandedness to the whole thing as you would try to get the upperhand by doing things such as taking the eraser out, flatting the metal end, and using it to your advantage which I did. Hey, it got the job done and to tell you the truth it was a lot of fun even though I did suffer many pencil casualties playing the game. Let me tell you something, if someone challenged me to a pencil fight right now, I would do it in a heartbeat.

In retrospect, there are just some things in our childhood when we look back on them the kid inside us just smiles. Just go back, look at your middle school yearbooks, and have a fun time look at what fun you hopefully had back then with the people who are either were or still are friends. Hey, you may even find out that your future best friend of 9 years went to the same middle school you did and not even know it. For the nostalgic feeling you get when look back at good times with your friends makes you wish that the hands of time could turn back for either a day or a week and relive it with one's current memories included. In the end, when you take a look back at the things you wore or did back then, you simply sigh and say with a smile on your face, those were the days.