Daevid Allen

How old am i?

One evening Ynys & Jazzy were talking to me about current events. Ynys asked me what I thought about the shootings at schools, the computer age, and just things in general.

I thought a bit & replied.

• television
• penicillin
• polio shots
• frozen foods
• Xerox
• contact lenses
• Frisbees and
• the pill

• radar
• credit cards
• laser beams or
• ball-point pens

• pantyhose
• air conditioners
• dishwashers
• clothes dryers

and the clothes were hung out to dry in the fresh air

and man hadn't yet walked on the moon

Every family had a father and a mother.

We were before gay-rights, computer-dating, dual careers, daycare centers, and group therapy.

Our lives were governed by the Ten Commandments and common sense.

We were taught to know the difference between right and wrong and to stand up and take responsibility for our actions. (...ha ha! something surely happened on the way to the theatre!!)

Serving your country was a privilege; living in this country (australia) was a bigger privilege.

Having a meaningful relationship meant getting along with your cousins.

Draft dodgers were people who closed their front doors when the evening breeze started

We never heard of FM radios, tape decks, CDs, electric typewriters, yogurt, or guys wearing earrings.

We listened to the Big Bands, ITMA, dixieland and Winston Churchill's speeches on our radios

And I don't ever remember any kid blowing his brains out listening to Tommy Dorsey or Woody Herman..... (Maybe Billie Holiday though...)

If you saw anything with 'Made in Japan ' on it, it was junk.

Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and instant coffee were unheard of.

We had 5 & 10-cent stores where you could actually buy things for 5 and 10 cents.

Ice-cream cones, phone calls, rides on a tram or bus, and a soft drink were all a penny.
And if you didn't want to splurge, you could spend your penny on enough stamps to mail 1 letter and 2 postcards.

You could buy a new Chevy Coupe for $600 ...but who could afford one?

Too bad, because gas was 11 cents a gallon.

In my day:

"grass" was mowed,
"coke" was a cold drink,
"pot" was something your mother cooked in and
"rockin out" was your grandmother's lullaby.

"Aids" were helpers in the Principal's office,

"chip" meant a piece of wood,

"hardware" was found in a hardware store and ' ? ? ? "software" wasn't even a word.

water under the bridge me darlins & plenty of it!!
so stay alive
it can be quite a panorama!!!!