We had a Suburban when I was growing up in Mesa,AZ around the mid 80's that us kids, older sister, brother and younger brother called the Green Machine. On camping trips to flagstaff my dad would take out the back seat and lay the sleeping bags down for us kids. The four of us would get treated to a Big Gulp soda and share it. When we would need to pee we'd have to share the cup again.
We would also take the Green Machine to the drive-in movie theater back when my family still did things together. I remember the afternoon leading up to the movies, the stillness of the 120 degree heat, the bickering over who got to go to the concession stand for popcorn, the anticipation of a night under the stars. When we headed out to see Back To The Future II we had to stop at Smith Plumbing so my father could pick up his pay check. At the time I thought nothing of it, but I always remember that part of the trip. It's only now that I realize how little my father's paychecks must have been then and how a night at the movies with all six of us, snacks included, surely was extravagant in his wallet's terms. The next day, much like in part one at the dinner table Loraine's father told her that if she ever had a kid like Marty he'd disown her, my own father told us boys that if he ever say one of us riding our skateboards as recklessly as Marty did on his hover board he'd kill us. He always threatened death when we attempted deadly feats or promised to extend our attempts into a blood bath. For instance, "If you even think of making a rope swing from the roof I'll kill you." Or when we were mopey, "Stick that lip out any further and I'll rip it off for you."
No comments:
Post a Comment