I was born and grew up in Smalltown Califronia; midway through 1958. The Livermore valley at that time had two towns, and maybe 20,000 residents. As I grew, so did it. In 1979 I moved on, leaving behind 4 towns, and some 120,000 residents or so.
Fall, Winter, and Spring was up at 5, roll papers, load the bike and ride a route of several miles throwing the morning news, then back home in time for breakfast, and off to school. After school it was off to the Nursery, the Drycleaners, the Bakery, or Garage for our second job, then home to chores and dinner. Push mower the lawn, feed and water the animals, holes to be dug to improve the soil, dishes to wash, weeds to pull, and vegetables to water.
Summer was up at 5, roll papers, load the bike and ride a route of several miles throwing the morning news, then back home to rush through the chores. The list was always longer; including the usual chores as well as painting the fence, trenching for a new waterline, tearing down an old bird cage, digging out an old stump, straightening nails, and sorting bolts.
We had many chores, and many responsibilities, and because of that, we valued each moment of free time that we got. We learned to help each other with our chores so that we could get them done faster, and have more free time to play and explore.
And unlike today, when most youth have mostly free time, we knew exactly how we spent it. Back then, you could ask us if we had done anything special on Tuesday three weeks earlier, and you would get in exacting detail a story of having carried our shotguns out to the edge of town and knocking on the door of the vineyard owner to ask permission to hunt rabbits, or biking out to the arroyo to catch crawfish, or whatever it is that we had done.
Those free time activities stuck in our minds because we had worked hard to earn them. And they never, ever consisted of just sitting around doing the “same old thing”.
Society has taken all of that away for kids these days.
It has created laws and regulations, and rules, and pressure. It has stopped boys from owning guns or having after school jobs. It has fenced in the growing kids, protected them from experiencing life. It has protected them from being able to earn their own respect.
And they are the more vulnerable because of it.
Copyright © 2013 - Marty Vandermolen - All Rights Reserved
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