I ran across this piece for the first time and years and it made me feel good. Although a few of these things were before my time, this reminded me of my old neighborhood and the fun that I used to have as a child before the world became damn heavy…Read this and then reflect on your own “back in the day” memories:

Take a stroll with me…close your mind’s eye…and go back

…before the Internet
…before semiautomatics and crack
…before SEGA or Super Nintendo
…or drive through fast food
…way back…
I’m talkin’ bout hide and seek at dusk
Sittin’ on the porch,
Simon Says,
Kick the Can,
Red light…Green light.
Lunch boxes with a thermos
…chocolate milk, going home for lunch
penny candy from the store.
Hopscotch,
butterscotch,
skates with keys,
Jacks,
Mother May I ?
Hula Hoops and sunflower seeds,
whistling,
and Old Maid and Crazy Eights,
wax lips and mustaches, Mary Janes,
saddleshoes
and Coke bottles with the names of cities on the bottom,
running through the sprinkler,
circle pins,
bobby pins,
Mickey Mouse Club,
Rocky & Bullwinkle,
Kukla, Fran & Ollie,
Spin & Marty
all in black & white.
When around the corner seemed far away,
and going downtown seemed like going somewhere.
Bedtime,
climbing trees,
making forts
backyard shows,
lemonade stands,
Cops and Robbers,
Cowboys and Indians,
sittin’ on the curb,
staring at clouds,
jumping down the steps,
jumping on the bed,
Pillow fights,
getting “company,”
ribbon candy,
angel hair on the Christmas tree,
Jackie Gleason,
Red Skelton,
The Hit Parade,
white gloves,
walking to church,
walking to the movie theater,
being tickled to death,
running till you were out of breath,
laughing so hard that your sides or stomach hurt,
being tired from playin’
Remember that?
Not steppin’ on a crack or you’ll break your
mother’s back
paper chains at Christmas,
silhouettes of Lincoln and Washington
the smell of paste in school
and Evening in Paris.
What about the girl that had the big bubbly handwriting, who dotted her “i’s” with hearts??
The Stroll,
popcorn balls,
and sock hops…
Remember when…when there were two types of sneakers for girls and boys (Keds & PF Flyer)
and the only time you wore them at school
was for “gym.” And the girls had those ugly uniforms.
When it took five minutes for the TV to warm up.
When nearly everyone’s Mom was at home when the kids got home from school.
When nobody owned a purebred dog.
When a quarter was a decent allowance,
another quarter, a huge bonus.
When you’d reach into a muddy gutter for a penny.
When,girls neither dated nor kissed until late high school,………. if even then.
When your Mom wore nylons that came in two pieces. .
When all of your male teachers wore neckties and female teachers had their hair done, everyday and wore high heels.
When you got your windshield cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped, without asking, all for free, every time. And, you didn’t pay for air. And, you got trading stamps to boot!
When laundry detergent had free glasses,
dishes or towels hidden inside the box.
When any parent could discipline any kid, or feed him or use him to carry groceries,
and nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it.
When it was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your parents.
When they threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed…and did!
When the worst thing you could do at school was smoke in the bathrooms, flunk a test or chew gum…
the sound of a real mower on Saturday morning, and summers filled with bike rides, playing in cowboy land, baseball games, bowling and visits to the pool…and eating Kool-aid powder with sugar.
When being sent to the principal’s office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited a misbehaving student at home. Basically, we were in fear for our lives
But it wasn’t because of drive by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc.
Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat!
But we all survived because their love was greater than the threat.
Didn’t that feel good, just to go back and say,
Yeah, I remember that!

(Author unknown)

Last week, Isaac Hayes decided that he was leaving his role as the voice of Chef on South Park. Apparently, he was offended by the show’s insensitivity towards Scientology in a recent episode.

Hayes is quoted as saying:

“There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins. Religious beliefs are sacred to people, and at all times should be respected and honored. As a civil rights activist of the past 40 years, I cannot support a show that disrespects those beliefs and practices.”

I call bullshit!

South Park is arguably the most irreverent television show ever created. They have made fun of Black (even called them niggers), Jews, Gays, Lesbians, Christians, disabled people, and nearly anyone else you could imagine. How are his moral and ethical sensibilities only challenged when scientology is the topic? Clearly, his beef isn’t with intolerance and disrespect. Rather, it’s with intolerance and disrespect of Scientology.
I’m not going to go so far as to call scientology a cult. However, the representions offered by people like Hayes and Tom Cruise, certainly suggest very narrow, condescending, and uncritical perspectives. Can similar claims be made about other religions? Certainly. But my experiences going into Scientology stores and talking to members have left me with the same feeling I had when talking to Linden LaRouche’s followers: uneasy.

MUSLIM FATHER AND SON REMOVED FROM AIRPLANE BECAUSE FLIGHT ATTENDANT FELT ‘UNCOMFORTABLE’
Civil rights group demands full investigation, civil rights training

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights today asked the U.S. Department of Transportation to investigate a recent incident of racial profiling on board UA flight 6501, operated by United Express/SkyWest Airlines, and to take action against the airlines. Two Muslim men of South Asian descent were removed from the flight simply because their presence made a flight attendant uncomfortable, and despite the fact that they posed no security risk. SEE: http://www.lawyerscomm.org/

On January 31, 2006, Mohammed Khan and his father, Fazal Khan, had boarded their flight from Los Angeles to Oakland and were waiting for the plane to take off. Both men wore traditional South Asian tunics and white skullcaps, and both had long beards. After the flight was delayed an hour on the runway, a customer service representative boarded the plane and told the Khans that they would have to leave the aircraft to discuss something inside the terminal. There, the representative informed the men that they could not remain on the flight because their presence made the flight attendant uncomfortable. She found them seats on a different flight that departed two hours later.

The circumstances make it abundantly clear that no security rationale existed for the Khans’ removal. The airline even left the men’s checked luggage on board the original flight, which took off shortly after the Khans were removed. In addition, when the Khans protested to the customer service representative that they had done nothing wrong, the representative did not deny their claim or state that their behavior was suspicious, but only repeated that the flight attendant was not comfortable with them on board. Moreover, the Khans were not questioned or searched before they boarded the second flight, and to their knowledge, no airport security official was even informed of their removal.

“We were humiliated in front of people for no reason at all,” said Mohammed Khan. “Everyone who saw us taken off the flight will now think it’s OK to look down on anyone who looks like us.”

“Since this incident, when we leave the house to go shopping or to the hospital or even when we are driving, we worry how people will treat us because of how we look. The humiliation we felt will remain with us for a very long time,” Khan added.

“Racial stereotypes must never be the basis for a decision to remove someone from an airplane,” said attorney Shirin Sinnar of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights. “In the months after 9/11, South Asian or Middle Eastern passengers were removed from flights numerous times based purely on prejudice. Many Americans will be surprised to realize that this kind of discrimination is still occurring.” Sinnar also noted that United Air Lines was already required by the Department of Transportation to provide annual civil rights training to employees because the airline had discriminated against Arab, Middle Eastern, South Asian, or Muslim passengers after 9/11.

In addition to a full investigation of the incident, the Lawyers’ Committee is asking United and SkyWest Airlines to change their policies to prevent such discrimination from occurring again, to implement renewed civil rights training for their employees, and to compensate the two men for the pain they experienced.

I’m wondering if, following Japan’s victory over Cuba in the World Baseball Championships, Americans will reconsider calling our national championship game the “World Series”? I mean, how arrogant is it that we continue to call our game the World Series and we can’t beat anybody?

The same thing goes for the NBA. How can we call the NBA champion a world champion after our last two THOROUGH ass whuppings at the hand of multiple teams? Sure the Pistons and Spurs could likely have beaten Argentina, but who’s to say? After all, who would’ve thought that a team featuring 10 current or future allstars couldn’t get the job done? All we know is that the US has lost its claim to undisputed dominance in all sports except American football (surprise!).

Although I am a diehard Philadelphia Eagles fan, I don’t have a problem with Terrell Owens signing with my natural enemy, the Dallas Cowboys. After sharing the same city with him for two years, speaking with countless players, and listening to numerous beat writers, I’m convinced that T.O. is the most selfish and divisive player in the league. Consequently, I’m excited that he will be Jerry Jones’ problem for the next year or two.

I got beef with T.O. for another reason.

Terrell Owens provided us with yet another “embarrasing nigga moment” when he released his new rap song on his website www.terrellowens.com. Clearly T.O. has no sense of history. Doesn’t he remember the ‘85 Bears’ awful “SuperBowl Shuffle”? Or the Philadelphia Eagles’ heartfelt but equally tragic “Bring it Home for Jerome?” Beyond football, Roy Jones, Kobe Bryant, Deion Sanders, Chris Webber, Allen Iverson, to name a few, have all flopped behind the mic. In fact, Shaq (aka Shaq-Fu) is arguably the best to ever do it and he’s far from capable. What would motivate otherwise brilliant people to make fools of themselves? Ego? Attention? Boredom? My guess is all of the above.

What’s particularly troublesome about T.O. for me is that I think he was right about deserving more money from the Eagles. In fact, I wrote and spoke publicly in support of his struggle. Still, he undermines his credibility by acting like an ass every chance he gets.

And for those who think that T.O. is merely pursuing his musical passions, I leave you with a brief excerpt from his song:

And to the hater who said I wouldn’t get my money

I’m laughin’ in ya face haha that’s funny

The prosecution rests.