The Alberton Papers, Vol. II, #1
By Dick Darne 5-18-06
The high/low cost of amusement
I have noticed for sometime now that most people can’t amuse themselves without spending more money than necessary. Toys for young and old have to be the newest and latest models with all the gadgets. Kids toys are bright plastic, mostly crappy, not made to last, imported from china, guaranteed to break, causing said kids to whine for another. Grownups toys are designed to be obsolescent , and/or break causing grownups to whine for another. When my own kids were young, they seemed to be happy with a dirt pile and a 89 cent bag of 1000 or more little teeny army men. This also provided amusement when I stepped barefoot on one of the little buggers (the army men, not the kids). Education too, new words to add to their vocabulary gushed forth with each barefoot episode. When I was a kid, we had one golf ball and one club. We lived next door to a farm, so we played "Farm Golf". After deciding which of us would go first, we alternated whacking the ball across the back yard, thru the woods and into the cow pasture. You had to play the ball where it lay, and whack it with gusto, which made for some interesting drives. Whacking away, across the pasture, across the creek, toward the barn, victory in sight, the manure pile looming ahead. All drives "con mucho gusto" toward the manure pile. The winner was he who drove the ball deep into the pile. Of course the loser had to retrieve the ball. Sometimes a sore loser would start a manure fight, sometimes the winner would. We learned to make do without spending money, which was easy because we didn’t have any. We also learned to take care of our toys. Nobody in their right mind would attempt to retrieve any cheap plastic crap from a manure pile, much less 1000 little army men. Dick Darne
722-4575 aldermandarne@hotmail.com Http://albpap.blogspot.com
By Dick Darne 5-18-06
The high/low cost of amusement
I have noticed for sometime now that most people can’t amuse themselves without spending more money than necessary. Toys for young and old have to be the newest and latest models with all the gadgets. Kids toys are bright plastic, mostly crappy, not made to last, imported from china, guaranteed to break, causing said kids to whine for another. Grownups toys are designed to be obsolescent , and/or break causing grownups to whine for another. When my own kids were young, they seemed to be happy with a dirt pile and a 89 cent bag of 1000 or more little teeny army men. This also provided amusement when I stepped barefoot on one of the little buggers (the army men, not the kids). Education too, new words to add to their vocabulary gushed forth with each barefoot episode. When I was a kid, we had one golf ball and one club. We lived next door to a farm, so we played "Farm Golf". After deciding which of us would go first, we alternated whacking the ball across the back yard, thru the woods and into the cow pasture. You had to play the ball where it lay, and whack it with gusto, which made for some interesting drives. Whacking away, across the pasture, across the creek, toward the barn, victory in sight, the manure pile looming ahead. All drives "con mucho gusto" toward the manure pile. The winner was he who drove the ball deep into the pile. Of course the loser had to retrieve the ball. Sometimes a sore loser would start a manure fight, sometimes the winner would. We learned to make do without spending money, which was easy because we didn’t have any. We also learned to take care of our toys. Nobody in their right mind would attempt to retrieve any cheap plastic crap from a manure pile, much less 1000 little army men. Dick Darne
722-4575 aldermandarne@hotmail.com Http://albpap.blogspot.com
posted by aldermandarne | 11:05 PM
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