Normal??

There's no such thing as normal. I just had this profound thought. What I'm searching for no longer exists. It was replaced a long time ago by ideals, expectations, desire for more instead of less and going along with the flow of things. I was listening to a radio station that described the video games we used to play when we were kids....you know, the handheld type that came charged only with a D battery. I also thought about how a transistor radio was the greatest gift I received, once more, the D battery fueled it.

Board games were "in". Having people come over just for dinner and drinks was a treat. It was called "having company" when I was little. Coloring books and paper dolls and puzzles and pick up stixs were fun on a rainy day. When the sun was shining, there was no need to be indoors unless there was a particular show that came on after school called, "The After School Special". Other than that, tv was reserved most of the time to watch as a family. We watched the Flip Wilson show, Truth or Consequences, Hee Haw (don't laugh, some Black people did watch stuff like that), Roller Derby, Partridge Family, Brady Bunch and of course, Saturday cartoons.

When it came to the size you were, I remember my mom dieting but there was never this constant drive to be skinny. In fact, skinny was often frowned upon. My sister and I were called many names because of how thin we were. Exercise was fun along with Jack LaLanne. (I remember being in kindergarten and exercising with my mom before school started.) Sewing your clothes was just as fashionable and acceptable as buying them. Shoes were bought for kids not necessarily because they "looked good" but because they lasted longer AND they were made well, like Stride-Rites and Buster Browns. Dress shoes were worn only on special occasions, like church or something special.

Food even tasted different back then. No matter how much I hated liver and onions and beets, what my mom prepared for us had to be eaten. It was normal to hear, "I'm not running a restaurant. Eat your food." There were no arguements either. We used manners all the time...opening doors for others, sitting with our hands in our laps, crossing our legs, asking to be excused from the table, chewing with our mouths closed, and not interrupting. Heck, we weren't even allowed to say shut up to one another and to say, "I hate you" was a grounds for a butt whoopin'.

Parents were strict and when they said no. No meant no. If you talked back, you were considered sassy and a smart mouth. Now, sassy means something totally different.

We drank Kool-aid, bathed in Mr. Bubble, soaked in Palmolive, dippity dooed our hair for bouncy curls, wore stockings when we were finally "grown up and not one minute before, looked forward to taking Flinstones vitamins, ate spinach only because we wanted to be big and strong....

What happened? When did normal become so different? I hate that people are so stuck on size, color and shapes. I hate that labels are the first things that are noticed before the outfit is considered acceptable. I hate that plastic surgery is now the "in thing" and acceptance of ones looks are no longer a given. I hate that families no longer eat at the table together but in front of the television where conversation is seldom shared. I hate that for some kids, (some) books are considered boring which means the library is a place they don't have no desire to be. I hate music videos that exploit women that are barely wearing anything at all. I hate that crime overshadows the good news on most networks, including the computer. I hate that a knock knock joke is considered corny to a kid but a dirty one usually captures their attention faster. I hate that cartoons now have suggestions that go way over kids heads but are put in just because. I hate that a birthday gift means something big - no longer a new jump rope and or some Big Dad's bubble gum.

Please tell me I'm not living in a bubble. I really miss normal. I wish so much that 2011 meant a chance to find normal again.