Featured Column
Week of 1.1.2007
I miss some things...
Remember when you went to the movies and the price of admission was more than
you paid for popcorn and a drink. I miss those days.
I miss when I could
change the spark plugs in my car myself. I miss the sounds of a Volkswagen Bug in low gear. I miss Johnny Carson, Cheers, Murphy Brown
and All in the Family.
Remember when you could root for your favorite big league
baseball team and the next year it had the same players. Remember when the players in the N.B.A. knew what teamwork was instead of
just taking off and slamming the ball down in the basket. I miss the class of Joe Montana, Michael Jordan and Chris Evert. I liked
watching tennis players outwit and outsmart each other, rather than just wind up and power in a 150 mile an hour serve and win the
point. I miss a great baseball player hitting 50 or 60 home runs without using steroids.
I miss being able to see Michael Jackson dance in those days when he had a face and a real nose.
Remember the excitement of boarding an airplane, knowing how nicely you were going to be treated by the airline personnel.
I miss being able to fill in my own income tax forms each year. I miss being able to phone a business and talk to a real person immediately
without having to answer a series of questions posed by a recording.
Remember
when waiters and waitresses weren’t all teenagers and being a waiter or a waitress was a real occupation, not just something one does
between semesters.
I miss being able to dream about flying on the Concord.
Remember when Batman, Superman and Spiderman were our perfect heroes and not
just guys in tights with unresolved issues and hang-ups.
I miss watching the
news with Walter Cronkite. Just Walter telling me the truth about what’s going on in the world – without a screen full of exploding
graphics, pretty talking heads and retired Generals.
Remember when you had a decision
to make when you turned on your television set – which of a half dozen channels to watch instead of having to choose from 85 channels,
knowing you’re going to miss 25 programs you might like to watch.
I miss Ronald
Reagan’s easy going smile and style. I miss the hippies and their demands for peace and brotherhood.
I miss hearing James Taylor on the radio all the time. I miss some disco tunes. I miss watching a young John Travolta dance to disco
music.
Remember when Iraq was just a country with a lot of oil underground,
colorful Casbahs and men running around in baggy pants and funny hats.
Remember
when kids used to form gangs and get in fist fights instead of marking up their neighborhoods with graffiti and driving around with
Uzi and Kalishnikof machine guns, killing rival gang members and innocents.
I miss the old 5 and 10 cent stores like Woolworth’s. I miss the Sears and Roebuck catalogue.
But with all of this remembering and
“I misses” I still believe that the world is a better place in which to live than it was back then. But, I must admit, back then wasn’t
too shabby either.
Memories of things that were good
Ron was born in the Bronx, New York. He was raised in Southern California and lived in Honolulu, Hawaii for three decades. He attended Inglewood High School and U.C.L.A.. His youthful goal was to become a major league baseball player. In Hawaii Ron played on a series of championship softball teams. He is an active tennis player.
Ron’s career began at the Inglewood Daily News where as a youngster was enrolled in a publisher training program. He served as an advertising salesman, circulation manager, writer and layout and design staffer. He has been a newspaper publisher at the Oregon City Oregon Enterprise Courier, the Beloit Wisconsin Daily News, the Elizabeth, New Jersey Daily Journal and This Week Magazines (Hawaii).
Ron lives with his wife, Marilyn, in San Diego, California. His two children, Douglas and Diane also live in the San Diego area. Ron’s interests range far and wide and are reflected in his columns diverse topics.
Ron Cruger