Handheld Games

I remember how fascinated I was when all these handheld games surfaced. I also remember how many were bought from flea markets and garage sales. I played so many of these and I still think back to all the pain my hands and fingers felt. I remember how, some of them sounded and how you could mute the sounds. Some of those sounds were horrible and the mute button was much appreciated.

Vans

I must confess, I hated elementary towards the end of the fifth grade. The kids I was friends with started changing and dressing different. The clothing style was surfer/skater attire and not one kid surfed/skated from the fifth or sixth grade. I knew those kids and at the time, none of them were surfers or skaters. I did not dress in the cool clothes because at the time there were deeper rooted problems at home and my father not wanting to shell out money for over priced articles of clothing.

My mother still worked at this clothing store and she started buying me these off brand outfits from there, believe me, I hated them. But at the time, she was buying them on her own and even though I was not wearing the cool clothes, I was still the same kid. Bless my mother’s heart for trying to keep me up to date in the clothing department. I was picked on about them but I cared not, they were just some kids following some trend and they really had no idea about how stupid they were about this trend.

In the middle of the sixth grade, my mother bought me a pair of those trendy shoes that everyone was wearing. They were called Vans; the colors were pink and purple checkerboard. I loved them before I even opened them, the box was a dead giveaway and then I saw the colors, they seemed girly and I did not want to wear them. I kept them in the box until the last day of school. I figured this; I got picked on for wearing “Pierre Bonnet” also known as “PB” why would I wear pink and purple shoes the rest of the year.

So, the last day of school, I geared up in jeans and a white t-shirt wearing my Vans, I did not get much notice at all until our teacher gave us the last couple of hours to really do nothing but enjoy the last hours of the sixth grade, that’s when my shoes were noticed. I was shocked that those shoes made that big of an impact of the whole class, the colors were not the same color patterns that were out and no one ever saw them. Two of the kids that I used to be close to could not stop looking at them and admiring them. Inside I was laughing but I was also very mad that I did not wear them sooner.  But this taught me a few life lessons.

(not my actual shoe, but close)

A Shark Biologist

Believe it or not, growing up as a kid, you wanted to be different things in your life. A police officer or a fireman but it not until the sixth grade, I discover my love for sharks. Yes, sharks! I remember stating back to seeing Jaws and being scared of the ocean but something inside me changed. I was no longer scared and I was determined to become a shark expert.

I went to the library and checked out countless books and I even ordered every book from the main library over in Orlando. I was now heavily into reading and writing down stuff about them to even drawing them. I would even reread books that I already read. I was on top of my shark knowledge but along the way, my parents divorce started affecting me and there was a decline in me wanting to learn and pretty soon, I found myself not caring about anything any more.

I remember how excited I was to learn every thing about sharks and or related to sharks.  But by the time the divorce was final and we had move to Orlando, I was not the same kid with the same ambitions. I was a bit of a mess for the first year after the divorce. I wish I would have got that clarity back along the way in my journey through life.  So my advice to you, stick with your goals and dreams, no matter what!

Pinball

I remember as a kid, playing the great game of pinball. The most popular spot for these were the drive-in movie theaters but they were sometimes at convenience stores as well. The most popular one when I was kid was the “Lucky Ace” but later down the road, there were others. I remember the stunning one from the band “KISS” and the popular “Playboy” one.

Pinball is a type of arcade game, usually coin-operated, where a player attempts to score points by manipulating one or more metal balls on a playfield inside a glass-covered case called a pinball machine. The primary objective of the game is to score as many points as possible. Secondary objectives are to maximize the time spent playing (by earning extra balls and keeping the ball in play as long as possible) and to earn free games (known as replays).

I remember the countless hours and quarters I used playing this game,  my parents always had an endless supply of quarters when we went to the drive-in, this was a sure fire way of keeping me and my friends out of their hair while the engaged in those movies that we as kids should not be viewing.

Walt Disney World

One of the most magical places that I had ever visited when I was a kid was Walt Disney World. I do not remember the exact year I went there but I do remember how fun and exciting it used to be. This place is where their cartoons and books I read growing up came to life. This place was nothing but pure fun. It has changed so much since it first opened in 1971; it has added other parks to its impressive roster.

The Walt Disney World Resort, sometimes shortened to Walt Disney World or Disney World, is the world's largest and most visited recreational resort. Located approximately 6 miles southwest of Orlando, Florida, the resort covers an area of 30,080-acre (47.00 square miles) and includes four theme parks, two water parks, 23 on-site themed resort hotels (excluding 8 that are on-site, but not owned by the Walt Disney Company), including a campground, two health spas and physical fitness centers, and other recreational venues and entertainment. It opened on October 1, 1971 with only the Magic Kingdom theme park and has since added Epcot (October 1, 1982), Disney's Hollywood Studios (May 1, 1989) and Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park (April 22, 1998).

There is more to Disney than just a bunch of parks; it now has many other attractions to the area as well along with two themed water parks.  But when looking back on being a kid, running rampant in the streets of the Magic Kingdom, there was not a happier time to be a kid. This place was packed with many different rides, adventures along with many types of different foods. This place was a dream come true, I visited this park many times as a kid and a teenager, but those times in the seventies were just amazing.

Smash Up Derby

I loved the “Smash Up Derby” set, you got two ramps, two ripcord cars and decals. I remember that when these two cars would smash into one another all the pieces would smash and fall apart. This was the neatest thing and we had countless hours trying to crash these two into another and watch them fall apart. There is a catch to all these toys, timing. Which being a kid, timing, was not always on my side or our side. We would sometimes rush to crash them and we would miss one another. But all in all, the idea of it was great and very entertaining.

Kmart And Zayre

When I was kid growing up, there was no Walmarts or Targets. There was Zayres and Kmarts.  Kmart and Zayres, both had almost every thing you wanted or needed at a discounted price. These were the only two good stores in our area that was close to us.

Kmart was famous for their “Blue Light Specials” and their popular, phrase "attention Kmart shoppers".  I remember hearing both of the phrases when I was a kid. I also remember sitting there with my mother while the spokesman for the “Blue Light Special” told us the ins and outs of what he was pushing on special. This varied from time to time and so did the time frame. I was a kid and having me sit there and listen to this guy rant and rave about some special, drove me into pure boredom. If it was not a exciting new toy at a special price, I wasn’t having any thing to do with it, which probably upset my mother to some degree.

I really cannot give any details about Zayres, it was open only for a short time in our area and reopened a little further away from the Apopka area.  I just remember they had an amazing toy section and that was about it.