My ten year old niece was reading one of the stories I had written.  She finished reading and brought it back with a puzzled look.
            “I understand all of it except this”, she said, and pointed to one sentence.  “What is this?”
            The troubling phrase was ‘wringer washer’.
            Things that I have taken for granted all these years are being lost.  She had no idea that her grandmother had washed clothes for many years in anything except an automatic washer with detergent and bleach dispensers and spin dry cycles.  We didn’t even get into the discussion of clotheslines and washboards.
            Years earlier, her older brother had talked with his grandfather concerning Halloween pranks.  He came back to us laughing because ‘Papaw had told him about turning over peoples’ ‘porta-potties’.  He could not believe that at one time many people did not have indoor plumbing and or that outdoor toilets existed.

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            Children and young adults in this time have missed so many things.  The fast paced world has jumped ahead and left behind so many experiences, both good and bad, that current and future generations will never know.
            I can remember going downtown when there was a downtown.  One of our biggest pleasures was going to J.C.Penney’s candy counter and taking time to choose which treat we’d get for the day…..would it be chocolate stars or maple nut clusters?
Standing in front of a vending machine just doesn’t have the same magic.
            Summer Saturdays’ in town brought a variety of experiences.  Local preachers were on every corner, vacant lot, and sometimes stood on top of cars to deliver their message from God.  Each one had a little crowd surrounding them, and the crowds would move from one preacher to the next seeking the words that comforted or condemned.  There were no demonstrations or calls from the ACLU to offer equal time to an opposing  voice.   Blind men sold pencils and money was dropped in a cup.  One man who could not walk sat in a red wagon, asking for donations so he could buy food.  All these people made Saturday more exciting to a small child because they were never seen in your neighborhood during the week.    
            Shopping would be going from one store to another from the outside and down the sidewalk instead of walking down one boring hallway after another.  Christmas shopping was wonderful!  McCrory’s and the Woolworth store would have affordable gifts inside and sales people who politely answered questions.  I can remember the smell of the wooden floors that had been oiled and the sound footsteps would make as shoppers came through.  Little Gerry Archer from the Salvation Army would be outside McCrory’s, ringing the bell and thanking everyone with a “God bless you” as coins hit the kettle.
            Grocery shopping was a social encounter because you would meet most of your neighbors on Thursday or Friday as you did the shopping for the weekend.  Stores were not open on Sunday and usually closed early on Saturday.  The corner market would be glad to box and bring your groceries to your home if you couldn’t get there in person.  If you weren’t home, the back door was never locked and the items would be placed on the kitchen table and the perishables would be put in the refrigerator.   Large grocery chains put an end to all this.  Now one has to dodge unruly, noisy children running through aisles with unwieldy carts.   You stand in long lines with strangers waiting to pay just to escape, while torrid headlines shout at you in large letters about aliens from outer space and Elvis being seen at a Kansas City Burger King and love affairs of the rich and famous.

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            Spring meant time for garden planting.  Beans, corn, cucumbers, beets…all were planted in anticipation of vegetables in the late summer and fall.  Each member of the family had a job to do.  Mother and Dad planted and the children came along behind covering each row with dirt.  Most of the time this meant kicking the dirt over the seeds, the cool soil caressing bare feet.  Carrots and tomatoes were especially delicious when eaten in the garden, taken straight from the dirt or vine, wiped off on your shirt, and enjoyed with each bite.
            Summer was a season to be cherished.  Beans were ready to be picked and canned in July and bean breaking was a community event.  Chairs were brought from the kitchen and placed outdoors under the trees.  Women and children came to spend the day.  Gossip and news flowed freely as beans were snapped, and children had all day to play outside.  No one had a television or computer and the few who had bicycles were always willing to share.
Children now just assume vegetables can only be found in cans or appear by some miraculous method in boxes and cartons in the produce section at Kroger’s.  Many have never seen a garden or farm.
            Fall brought apple butter stirs.  Apples were cored, quartered and cooked in large brass kettles outside which someone had to stir constantly with a long wooden ladle. Getting to taste the finished product on a hot biscuit was the ultimate reward.   A few in the outlying neighborhoods may have had cane that could be made into molasses.  This was another all day adventure.
            Haircuts were given outdoors under the shade trees, or if in winter, usually at the kitchen table.  We would walk to Mrs. Bellamy’s house and she could give haircuts or a home permanent.  The permanents (and they did seem to last a long time) mostly resulted in a tight, frizzy curl that couldn’t be combed.   The idea of any male going to a ‘stylist’ was preposterous.  Hair color was bought at the drugstore, quickly placed in a paper bag, and the buyer hurried home before anyone could ask questions.  The results the next day could have startling effects…brassy red-blonde or coal black were the most popular.

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            Church services were long and loud.  Windows were opened in the summer since there was no air conditioning.  If revivals were in progress, people would come and stand outside and listen through the open windows, because if you didn’t get there early, there were no seats left inside.  Church services were respected for what they were, a worship service.  Businesses were never open on Sunday, which was reserved for church, visiting, and resting.  Baptizing services were held in the summer down on the river bank and sometimes, if the new convert insisted, ice would be broken in the river during winter and the baptizing service was held in the chilling cold.  Memorial Day was always the ‘decoration day’ when graves were cleaned off and new fresh flowers were placed there in Mason jars.   This was a joyous occasion which lasted all day and dinner was served at noon.  There were no ‘fellowship halls’ and the ‘family worship center’ was your home. Everyone brought a covered dish and a blanket to sit on, someone would start singing, and a church service would break out. Hymns were usually led by a song leader and sung with a spiritual fervor, sometimes with no music, and certainly no band or orchestra. There were no ‘praise and worship’ services as our young people now have.
            So many things have “progressed” and so many children are missing so much in this process.  Doors are now locked at all times to keep out predators and are seldom opened to welcome visitors.  Youngsters cannot be allowed outside without constant supervision because you don’t know who lives next door.  Many families have only a single parent.   Children are sometimes left alone or with friends or other family members because both parents have to work.  Parents feel they must give their child everything they themselves did not have while growing up while sometimes it might be better if they tried to give the children what they did have….a sense of respect for themselves and others, responsibility, and a love for God, country, and their fellowman.
 
            ….old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Cor 5:17)