Golden's and the Video Game Era
aka "The Goldens' Years" LOL
In the earliest 80s when arcade video games were all the rage, there was a former gas station in the same shopping center as our old movie theater. Even though our stepmother had forbidden us to ever go in there (I think it was because teenagers were *gasp* smoking in there! But don't let anyone know that Frances smoked herself, all that time and lied to her own mother about it), we still went in when we went to the movies. That was where all the teens hung out. Good and bad.
Personally, I went in to watch others play and because I wanted to play Joust. I loved that game. Wouldn't it figure that I'd want to play a game mixing flying with armored knights? I never got very good at the game, nor any others, and eventually I wanted to save my quarters (yes, only one quarter to play any game you wanted) to buy Hershey bars.
I'd hide them in the freezer and save them for later. Of course, that was commented on as being weird - hoarding chocolate bars instead of spending my allowance until it was all gone. I remember being shown "who was the boss" one weekend when my stepmother gave my candy bars to her grandchildren. She knew they were mine, and she decided that since I wasn't staying penniless, she was going to, yes, take away something of mine yet again.
Back to hoarding the chocolate bars - Hey, $3 a week allowance didn't go far, not even back then. Other kids were getting $5 (for no chores) or $10, or $20, but $3 was what my sister and I got, and were repeatedly reminded that we were lucky to get it. Never mind the fact that I always felt absolutely chintzy when I had to ask Dad for my allowance, because he never did remember it. Sometimes a few weeks would go by, and if we didn't remind him, we just didn't get it. *sigh* Was he really that forgetful? Or did he just hope we wouldn't ask?
It wasn't like we got extra money if we say, wanted something at the book fair (we rarely got to get anything, which is probably why I go nuts every time we have one at the school), or wanted a toy (wait for your birthday or Christmas) or even wanted to go to the store to buy a coke.
I have to tell you that for my 50 pounds of extra weight now, I really was a skinny kid. To the point my stepmother was always making nasty comments about my bony knees. It must have been a real pleasure for her, simultaneously starving me by only serving food she knew I wouldn't eat (like nothing but a pot of her nasty white beans for dinner, or only a pot of turnip greens), and then making mean cracks about how bony I was in my knees, my elbows, and my butt.
Well, it was Golden's for a long time, then it closed and was turned into a Nissan car lot. Then that closed and they finally tore it down. Now there's a new building with three shops - Little Ceasar's is back, and Merle Norman's has moved in there.
Want to know the funny thing that got me thinking about all this? Friday morning I was listening to XM 80s, and they played a song I've always loved and rarely hear: "Come Dancing" by the Kinks. LOL A reminiscence about how the singer's sister used to go dancing on Saturday nights, and never gave her dates more than a hug and a kiss after they'd spent all their money on her. hehehe
In the earliest 80s when arcade video games were all the rage, there was a former gas station in the same shopping center as our old movie theater. Even though our stepmother had forbidden us to ever go in there (I think it was because teenagers were *gasp* smoking in there! But don't let anyone know that Frances smoked herself, all that time and lied to her own mother about it), we still went in when we went to the movies. That was where all the teens hung out. Good and bad.
Personally, I went in to watch others play and because I wanted to play Joust. I loved that game. Wouldn't it figure that I'd want to play a game mixing flying with armored knights? I never got very good at the game, nor any others, and eventually I wanted to save my quarters (yes, only one quarter to play any game you wanted) to buy Hershey bars.
I'd hide them in the freezer and save them for later. Of course, that was commented on as being weird - hoarding chocolate bars instead of spending my allowance until it was all gone. I remember being shown "who was the boss" one weekend when my stepmother gave my candy bars to her grandchildren. She knew they were mine, and she decided that since I wasn't staying penniless, she was going to, yes, take away something of mine yet again.
Back to hoarding the chocolate bars - Hey, $3 a week allowance didn't go far, not even back then. Other kids were getting $5 (for no chores) or $10, or $20, but $3 was what my sister and I got, and were repeatedly reminded that we were lucky to get it. Never mind the fact that I always felt absolutely chintzy when I had to ask Dad for my allowance, because he never did remember it. Sometimes a few weeks would go by, and if we didn't remind him, we just didn't get it. *sigh* Was he really that forgetful? Or did he just hope we wouldn't ask?
It wasn't like we got extra money if we say, wanted something at the book fair (we rarely got to get anything, which is probably why I go nuts every time we have one at the school), or wanted a toy (wait for your birthday or Christmas) or even wanted to go to the store to buy a coke.
I have to tell you that for my 50 pounds of extra weight now, I really was a skinny kid. To the point my stepmother was always making nasty comments about my bony knees. It must have been a real pleasure for her, simultaneously starving me by only serving food she knew I wouldn't eat (like nothing but a pot of her nasty white beans for dinner, or only a pot of turnip greens), and then making mean cracks about how bony I was in my knees, my elbows, and my butt.
Well, it was Golden's for a long time, then it closed and was turned into a Nissan car lot. Then that closed and they finally tore it down. Now there's a new building with three shops - Little Ceasar's is back, and Merle Norman's has moved in there.
Want to know the funny thing that got me thinking about all this? Friday morning I was listening to XM 80s, and they played a song I've always loved and rarely hear: "Come Dancing" by the Kinks. LOL A reminiscence about how the singer's sister used to go dancing on Saturday nights, and never gave her dates more than a hug and a kiss after they'd spent all their money on her. hehehe
posted by Me at 12:33 AM
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