Other Columns by Thomas D. Segel
Thomas D. Segel Bio

Printer-Friendly Version

Another Visit to the Good Old Days
By Thomas D. Segel
July 5, 2004

Just two years ago I wrote this commentary which compares the misadventures of my youth to the world children face today. It matters not if we make our homes in small towns or large cities, we still face each day with deep routed fears for the future of our children.

As a boy, I could join my friends in the neighborhood and roam endlessly.

None of our parents knew exactly where we were, though some had restrictions

such as "not leaving the block" or "stay on this side of the street". My

personal instruction was "When the street lights come on, you come home." In

our fast paced modern world, playgrounds, sidewalks in front of our homes,

and even front yards are places parents watch with apprehension that some

danger may befall their children.

Today we are bombarded with unimaginable things. The War on

Terror, corporate corruption, Internet pornography, escalating child abuse.

This is far from the world of our childhood.

Whenever I start gritting my teeth over the degradation of mankind, I try to

think back to those distant hot summer days and long departed ice trucks.

If your visit to planet Earth started after World War II you most likely

have no such memories. However, in the 30s and 40s the arrival of an ice

truck was a most anticipated event.

With no air conditioning in homes, summers were spent with windows wide

open, thus allowing the house to catch any hint of a breeze. Much of the

family activity took place in front of the house, with grownups fanning

themselves while rocking in the porch swing and the kids tussling in the

grass of going through the motions of playing croquet. Those things were

taking place up and down the block, until the ice truck came into view.

If it were not already in the window, people would get their ice signs and

place them in easy view. The sign told our iceman we were in need of his

services. It also indicated just how large a block of ice we wanted for the

cooler. Coolers or "ice boxes" came in different sizes. You might want a

ten-pound, twenty-five pound, or even a fifty-pound block of ice for your

house. It was the only method you had to keep milk fresh and food from

spoiling.

While the iceman was making his deliveries, kids lurked in the shadows.

The minute his back was turned, we would race to the truck. A couple of us

would climb inside and start searching for broken chunks of ice while the

look-out kept a sharp eye for the ice man's return.

Many were the times when the driver would leave his ice pick in the back of

the truck. It was then we would hack away at the big blocks, trying to free

larger chunks for our special enjoyment. Once our chilly larceny was

completed, we would grab up our treasures and race away to some secret

hiding place where we could bask in the coolness of our bounty. Ice on the

tongue, ice on the face, ice in the jars of water or lemonade we had prepared

in anticipation of our planned raid. What a calming and cool memory.

Today we have Sesame Street attempting to teach 4 and 5 year olds about

being HIV positive. The Supreme Court tells us child pornography on the

Internet is acceptable as long as it is computer generated and real children

are not shown. It has even found a law passed by Congress to control

Internet pornography to be unconstitutional. Child gangs roam our streets,

not to play, but to do harm to others. Children 5, 6, 7 years of age have

been found using drugs. These same children have been apprehended selling

drugs on our streets and in our schools.

Even more shocking than these continuing reports are the images on national

television, which repeatedly document the activities of pedophiles that

secretly dwell among us.

Reports indicate that more than 60,000 children are abducted each year.

Authorities claim more than half of these abductions are by family members

and "may" not involve harm to the children. Even if this is true what of

the remaining abductions?

Television and radio tell us a beautiful little girl is ripped from her

front yard while playing with a friend. She is later found defiled and dead.

Gangs of young boys, with knives and guns, attack other young boys similarly

armed and dangerous. Another report has a young girl taken at gunpoint from

her own bedroom. Two teenagers kill and wound their classmates at school.

A little girl is missing for more than a year, while a caseworker files

false reports of regular visitations. For young people today, it must

appear the entire world has gone mad.

We have let "things" become more important than the people who are in our

lives. We spend our time accumulating instead of living. Relatives or day

care workers are raising our children. Our young are being denied their

days of innocence.

The easy answer to all of this is for parents to once again become actively

involved in the lives of their children. The reality is family involvement

is happening less and less with each passing year.

It is impossible to return to those "good old days" when swiping ice from

the back of a truck was the most serious happening in the neighborhood. It

has become a time instead, of the Neighborhood Watch. No longer do we rock

back and forth in the porch swing watching our children at play. Instead, we

have some care provider do the observing.

For children today, there is no sneaking into the back end of an ice truck.

Any child climbing into a strange vehicle is placing his or her life at

risk.

Today our homes have become the fortresses, which protect us from a very

dark world. When we gave up the front porch swing for the deadbolt on the

front door our lives were changed forever. We will never see the likes of

the ice truck again.

--------------------

Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA.