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DO
YOU REMEMBER WHEN ...??
(Sit Back and Enjoy!!!!!! - new...Sri Lankan version)
When the worst thing you could do at school was smoke in the bathrooms,
flunk a test, chew gum or get caught to the "cops" taking off at
2:10 interval to hit the 3:30 Majestic matinee.
And the banquets were in
the tuckshop, and we danced to a juke box later, and all the girls wore
fluffy pastel gowns and the boys wore 'longs' for the first time and we
were allowed to stay out and watch a 9.30 show at the Liberty and the
Majestic and the Savoy....!
and
the biggest thrill of them all was simply holding hands...!
When a Sunbeam Alpine or an MG was everyone's dream car. . . to cruise,
peel out, lay rubber and watch the road races and people went steady and
it was the greatest weekend to go to the 'Coconut Grove' with the
JETLINERS or to Ceylinco with the SPITFIRES or to LITTLE HUT and the
AMAZING GRACE......!
And no one ever asked where the car keys were 'cause they were always in
the car, in the ignition, and the doors were never locked.
And you got in big
trouble if you accidentally locked the doors at home, since no one ever
had a key.
Remember lying on your back on the grass with your friends and saying
things like "That cloud looks like a..."
And playing cricket with
no adults to help kids with the rules of the game. Back then, cricket was
not a psychological group learning experience ~ it was a game !
Remember when stuff from the store came without safety caps and hermetic
seals 'cause no one had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger?
And...with all our progress...don't you just wish...just once...you
could slip back in time and savor the slower pace...
and share it with the
new generation kids of the 80's and 90's... ?
So, share this with someone who can still remember
Bill Haley and the
Comets (at the Savoy gallery),
The Hardy Boys, Laurel
& Hardy, Roy Rogers and 'Trigger', The Galle Face Green, The Lone
Ranger, Kinross ....
The Piccadilly at Wellawatte, 'house-dances',
Sunday Choice, The Hit
Parade, 'Take it or Leave it' on the Commercial Service of Radio Ceylon
that even the Indians in Bombay. etc still talk about, Shirley, Jimmy
Barucha and Chris Greet, & Donavan Andree,
'The Blue Leopard'...
Bill Forbes and the Jay Cee Shows at Mount Lavinia Hotel and evenings
filled with bike rides, playing in cowboy land, and visits to the
pool...and the 'Bambalapitiya Flats'.....'Jumpin Jesus'....... eating hot
dogs with that special sauce at 'The Fountain Cafe' and then there was
Buriyani at Pilawoos, not forgetting Thosai and Masala Vadai at Saraswathi...!
And how about those footboard rides on the overladen red double decker
buses that gave us that gorgeous view of the neatly ironed uniform clad
lassies from St. Lawrence's, SPC, HFC, Ladies, Bishops, SBC, and Musaeus
standing at the bus stops... ?
When, being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the
fate that awaited a misbehaving student at home. Even forging an excuse
letter for cutting school the previous day was a piece of cake knowing
full well that the class teacher was dead sure it was not Daddy who had
signed it.
Basically, we were in fear for our lives, but it wasn't because of
terrorism'....drive by shootings, drugs, gangs, alcohol and road
rage...etc.
Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat ! But we
survived.... because their love was greater than their threat
Didn't that feel good, just to go back and say, 'Yeah, I remember that!'
...... And was it really that long ago?
What do you say, Machan?
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