I don’t suppose there’s any memory in this world that can’t — in certain circumstances — be considered both positive and negative. For us guys it might be a crush we had on that cute little blonde girl in the seventh grade and what might have happened if we hadn’t been too bashful to tell her about how we felt. You ladies are free to switch the genders and spend a moment or two remembering.
Then, there are the usual feelings of those of us whose candles on the birthday cake could result in an emergency run by the fire department, such as, “Were things really better way back when?” Maybe our toys weren’t as mechanized as they are today, but since they usually consisted of fewer parts they often demanded more dexterity and imagination.
Do any of you other old timers remember what it was like on a Christmas morning or your birthday when you unwrapped an Erector Set that came in its own metal box, loaded with metal girders, wheels and a bag of nuts and bolts? If your family was wealthier than ours, the box would be larger and include a small electric motor, opening even more unbelievable ideas of what could be constructed. Do they still make Erector Sets today? I can’t remember having seen one advertised in a Christmas catalog for a good many years.
The same thing goes for Tinkertoys. Remember them? They consisted of a number of thick wooden wheels with holes drilled in both the center and around the edges, accompanied by a large number of wooden rods of various lengths which fit nicely into those holes. As my alter-ego superhero Crotchetyman might put it, the structures we could build were limited only by our imagination.
But Erector Sets and Tinkertoys have been replaced by Legos, and the structures that can be imagined and built with them seem endless. Maybe the limitations in our youth weren’t entirely a negative situation because it took more imagination to put things together with fewer pieces to choose from.
Here’s another thought: When was the last time you played with “Pickup Sticks?” Do I have to describe them? OK, they came in a long cardboard tube and consisted of nothing more than a large number of pieces that looked like big tooth picks. The way the game was played was simple. A person would hold them all together in one hand above a flat area — usually a table — open his or her grip and let them fall. From there the object of the game was to remove as many sticks as you could — one at a time — without moving any remaining pieces in the pile. It taught dexterity and a calm steady hand in far better ways than using one’s thumbs to play one of those hand-held devices.
But these recollections of a less stressful time came to an abrupt ending last week.
Changing back into my alter ego, Crotchetyman, I spent most of last week without a computer and telephone! If you sent me an email and received no answer blame it on my internet service provider who shall, reluctantly, remain unnamed. The crowning touch was, after four days of speaking with people whose accent I couldn’t understand most of the time, they sent a representative to correct things. He arrived and then told me that he couldn’t enter my home! What he could do was stand in the doorway and yell instructions to me down the hallway!
I’m not making this up! I phoned BNS Enterprises, a local business, and Bob Killillay got me up and running again for what I considered a reasonable fee for solving problems I wasn’t even able to recognize. And, in these days of forced shutdowns, it feels good to support our local businesses.
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Bill Moeller is a former entertainer, mayor, bookstore owner, city council member, paratrooper and pilot living in Centralia. He can be reached at bookmaven321@comcast.net.
