I’m So Old..

clay hurtubise on Apr 5, 2011

Tags: age, B&W, B&W TV, cable box, cuban missile, Hershey bar, old, Penny, reminisce

After a trip to the local Mall, I realize I’m So Old…

I’m so Old…

Clay Hurtubise

I remember when a penny was worth something. A person would bend over, and back then most people could, and actually stop for a penny. Now they sit out on the 7-11 counter top for free, begging to be picked up. If people say a dollar isn’t worth much anymore, why do we still have the penny?

Seriously. Isn’t it time for us to do away with the little piece of mixed metals? In 2002 there was an attempt to do away with the penny. Even though the thought behind keeping it as legal currency (and yes, it is legal currency) wasn’t worth a cent, we still have the penny. Would it be so bad to round up/down on purchases? In the end, it all comes out the same.

So, I’m so old I remember saving pennies, and not just the wheat ones.

My Mom was Belgian and her love of chocolate stayed with her to the very end. She often stated that the chocolate candy bars available in the United States were of low quality chocolate. It wouldn’t be until I visited her hometown and stopped in at the quaint pastry shop snuggled in amongst a row of brick storefronts that I would learn what she meant. Our chocolate sucks!

The thick dark chocolate made by the local pastry shop was drizzled over the flakey éclair. Delectable! The rich, intoxicating chocolate was stronger than my will power. A quick stop soon became lunch. More calories in one sitting than I would normally consume in a week. What is stopping the Belgians from dipping their Frits in chocolate? Heaven!

I remember sitting out on our covered porch on hot summer evenings and my Mom giving me the ‘chocolate look’. Without pause I would run into the house and grab her worn cloth purse. While I patiently stood beside her, she would dig around and find several pennies. Depending who was home at the time, she might have to throw in a nickel or two, or, gasp, a quarter! “Bring back the change”

My mission was the five-cent Hersey bar. The same bar that today cost fifty pennies or more was a mere nickel. While Mom didn’t consider the Hersey bar to be high quality, she had grown accustomed to its flavor. She taught me how to properly eat chocolate. One must not simply bite into a bar, chew it a few times and then swallow. Heresy! (Weird how close that word is to Hersey!).

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Comments (27)

Jerry Bradford aka Jerry Atrixx on Apr 5, 2011
This was/is delightful! So many vivid memories that although we didn’t grow up together, it was as if I was there with you and your Belgian mom.

I come from a long line of chocolate lovers. You are right about the quality of most American chocolate.

I particularly enjoyed: Now they sit out on the 7-11 counter top for free, begging to be picked up.

What a way to put inflation into perspective.
Atanacio on Apr 5, 2011
I have learned to leave the past right there in the past- I don’t penny pinch.. I dollar pinch– LOL this was a delightful walk down memory lane– call it old–but I call it experience.. I mean you can’t put it in your resume, but you can still call it experience…:)
SharifaMcFarlane on Apr 5, 2011
Lol. “The chocolate look”. Belgian chocolate is one of the best.
Bo.Jack Russo on Apr 5, 2011
You old bastard! I remember soooo much of this. Riding bikes to test the tubes, saving pennies for the ‘corner store’ we called it. Buying 45’s every week. I remember the gas shortage and crazy prices of 69 cent a gallon or something. My grandparents had a color TV. Memories… Good story Clay.
Brenda Nelson on Apr 5, 2011
I still bend down for pennies.. I’m poor!
Speaking of old.. I dont even know how to Text!
PR Mace on Apr 5, 2011
If you’re old then I am right there with you. I remember all these things to. I loved the penny candy counter. For ten pennies you had ten wonderful pieces of candy.
ecrivan wordwizard on Apr 5, 2011
Rarely bend for pennies, unless it is store change or I can add it to a charity box nearby….
OhSugar on Apr 5, 2011
You make good points here about the pennies, however, I still save my change which includes pennies. I eventually rolled then and take them to the bank and replace them with paper money, it works for me. Money is money.lol Not going to talk about my favorite food, chocolate. Great post.
Christine Ramsay on Apr 6, 2011
What atrip down memory lane, Guy. I am so old I remember going to school on a steam train, being able to buy one penny gobstoppers, and being the first family in the street to own a television and having to host many people in that street when the coronation was on in 1953. I really enjoyed this post.
Minaem on Apr 10, 2011
This was really sweet…you must have a really strong memory to remember all this in details. I really enjoyed reading all five pages of this article.
niki on Apr 11, 2011
nice.
Peace Poet on Apr 19, 2011
Very attractive creative writing. Belgian chocolates are famous across the globe
Laura Mcauley on Apr 20, 2011
lovely……remember you are only as old as you feel ; ) or feel like admitting ha!!
samgoldencoffee on May 6, 2011
you’re never too old…
Ruby Hawk on May 9, 2011
Me too, Clay. I remember when I could buy a coke and a Baby Ruth for a dime. Of course at the time my dad probably earned about 10 or 15 dollars a week. Oh My that really dates us.
Francois Hagnere on May 10, 2011
Same on this side of the pond, my friend! brings back memories.
Thanks Clay.
CHAN LEE PENG on May 16, 2011
It made one feeling old thinking of it. Memories are always sweet things, aren’t they?
BluSphere on Jul 6, 2011
I can understand what you mean. I guess everyone is going through those feelings at a time in their life. Very interesting reading about your experiences and life

Regards,
Blu
Karen Gross on Jul 15, 2011
I don’t know how I could have missed this gem in April. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I don’t remember ice boxes or home deliveries of milk and bread. I don’t think I ever saw a transistor radio that still worked. I do remember coming home after school to see the TV repairman testing our TV tubes, knowing that we were missing Batman & Robin while he worked. I remember at age 4 being sent to the corner store with a dollar to buy a pack of cigarettes for mom and being reminded to bring back the change. I remember buying records (my dad insisted that prerecorded cassette tapes were junk), and as soon as we got them home we would record them onto blank cassette tapes. Then we would put the records away to keep them in pristine shape, so we could redo the process when the cassettes wore out. Funny- I still have most of those cassettes tapes that I made, while the pristine records were in my parents’ basement the year it got flooded. When CD’s were introduced, they were apparently the best quality of recording devices ever, and they were supposedly indestructible – guaranteed to never skip because they were read by a laser and not a needle.

Fond memories! Thank you!
C Jordan on Jul 28, 2011
A great stroll down memory lane, and an excellent piece of story telling, Clay.
beingwell on Aug 11, 2011
Nice share, thanks!
rgreenfield on Sep 23, 2011
Hmmm. memories… just remember, age is just a number… stay young at heart! Thanks for sharing.
Inna Tysoe on Sep 24, 2011
Reading your post brought back memories… I remember coming home to a brand new electric, can you believe it, electric!–typewriter. I could go back a whole three lines if I needed to delete something and it had an auto-correct tape which meant (well, less–the tape wasn’t all that great to be honest) reliance on the White Out….
clay hurtubise on Sep 24, 2011
Inna: lol, we were just talking about how excited that our old company bought a ‘Selectric’(?) typewriter for us! Amazing how we haven’t reduced the paper work1
FX777222999 on Mar 16, 2012
Those were the days…when no one else can stop you eating your Hersheys chocolate..
Johanny Lisbeth on Mar 22, 2012
Lol I would’ve loved to live in those times
Johanny Lisbeth on Mar 22, 2012
Lol I would have loved to live in those times

I’m So Old..

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