1290 : THE PAPER BOY : Part XI
• Earning your Freedom
In the late 1970’s when Star Wars was hitting the Porter Theater we were in the middle of the skateboard craze. We would ride across town to Wards and play the space wars video game they had in the cafeteria.
Plaza Hobby was next door and we could get skateboard parts there and race slot cars on their track. We would roll around town playing games enjoying our freedom every chance we got. There were several pinball machines around town and we loved playing Mata Hari at Porterville Lanes.
• Pinball was one of a few games you could play and win free games.
That meant that the small amount of money could be stretched if you were skilled at pinball. This idea shaped our understanding of basic economics. If you work hard at something and get good at it you can get ahead and there was an immediate satisfaction and reward. This drove a positive behavior. To win you had to know the rules and play by the rules and keep the ball in play long enough to reach the progressive goals in the game. If you had enough skill you could earn extra balls and extra credit. Bragging rights for the highest score drove the wider conversation and motivated everyone through competition.
This Drove A Positive Behavior
• • • To Win You Had To Know The Rules and Play By The Rules • • •
Lots of kids in Porterville were skating around town and searching for old abandoned pools to ride in. You were not supposed to ride on the sidewalks but everyone did anyway. Ironically back then the city would never have taken on the safety risk of a skate park. I will never forget the front page story in the recorder of our friend
Eric picketing city hall trying to get a skate park. Now 40 years later we have a skate park and the safety question is something to noodle. Now we have a skate park even in the nanny state….go figure.
Where there is a will there is a way.
Hans Borm was one of my favorite teachers in Jr High. We studied wars with Mr. Sewell but Hans used to share real war stories for perspective on what it was really like in war. A great chess mentor, coach and father figure. He used to tell us stories about Vietnam. He was in the Tet offensive and those stories were very serious. We were the first chess club at Bartlett. Chess taught strategy and is enjoyed internationally as a reflection of a war game.
I ran into Hans some 25 years later at the Porter Street BBQ before they were forced out of business. My Dad and Hans had a nice little chat about that team. Glory days in the chess world. After years of regional success Hans told my dad that our original team was the best team he ever had. I was honored and humbled by his great telling of the history of the club.
That was a nice accolade and memory because he was telling that story to my dad who taught me chess when I was 5 years old. My dad had a joyful smile on his face as we ate lunch that day talking about chess. You may remember that great place to get a huge Tri-tip sandwich right off the grill in the outer parking lot of what was the old Alpha Beta across from Hergesheimer's Donut Factory. Too bad the safety police (hall monitors) came by and flagged them for ADA and put them out of business. The Nanny State just gets worse by the year and there are now Karen’s everywhere.
Most of the time we rode our bikes to school, we all wanted to drive but we were still too young. We grew up watching The Dukes of Hazzard. My friend Miguel learned to drive at an early age to support his family. We used to help him mow his lawn so he had some time to play on weekends. His mom made the best home cooked meals I can remember back in the day. By contrast if my dad ever caught us watching TV on Saturday morning we would end up working all day at our home. So we usually let out early to we could avoid the weekend projects as often as we could.
Cutting Wood and Working In The Yard Was Normal Fare
• • But we got a taste of working in the fields from Miguel • •
• • • And we learned real fast what really hard work was • • •
Cutting wood and working in the yard was normal fare but we got a taste of working in the fields from
Miguel and we learned real fast what really hard work was. Kids and machinery were hand in hand we focused on competence which leads to safety. Competence leads to safety because safety was part of success no in spite of it. Many of the houses in the old neighborhood still had fireplaces and that saved money on heating in the winter.
Miguel had more responsibility than we did and that required driving at an early age. Imagine getting a ride to school by your friend in Jr High School. We basked in that glorious freedom with him as youngsters as often as we could.
Things got easier for Miguel once his dad started driving truck but there was always seasonal work to do. I used to ride out and pick up citrus loads with them from time to time to be with my friend and share in the experience. The Ortega’s always treated me like family and those home cooked meals are a memory I’ll never forget. Learning Spanish was always amusing and a lot of laughs at an early age. After working in the yard we would have a great feast prepared for us when we were done. Just remember not to touch the red sauce it was so hot you remembered it for a couple days.
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We were latch key kids, we were expected to be self-reliant.
I remember throwing the paper after school for Chad, even Miguel came with us a time or two for a few bucks and something to do. We mostly rode bikes to school and when we had flat tires we rode skate boards or walked. We were latch key kids, we were expected to be self-reliant. To be safe meant we had to stand up to bullies in our youth. Most of the time you let things go. Other times things would escalate and then you find the courage to overcome once you are pushed to the limit. That meant negotiating for peace or trade-off’s to avoid the conflict. Inevitably somebody would get the Popeye syndrome and conflicts arose that was normal and part of life.
The by gone era of the self-reliance and freedoms that came from an after school job has been waning for some time. We have chosen some strange paths in the 21st Century. The ethics of today are not what they used to be either.
Volunteers in the days of the paper boys were very common
Coaches & club leaders were always part of the American Social Contract
• • • But fewer and fewer sacrifices are being made these days. • • •
Volunteers in the days of the paper boys were very common. Coaches and club leaders were always part of the American Social Contract but fewer and fewer sacrifices are being made these days. Paying it forward was not just supporting your kids and your local church. Paying it forward was not a donation to a local group it was time invested and sacrificed for the community.
To be politically correct was to be political and that was not looked at as a social good. We were much more neighborly back then. People were above politics, now they seem to be captured by them. Paying it forward was sometimes just helping your friend clean his room and get the lawn mowed before he could come out and play. We all seemed to have some skin in the game back them. We focused on the issues not politics. We called stupid things stupid and political correctness was for sell outs.
• We called stupid things stupid and political correctness was for sell outs.
