An Eight Year Old Boy Tells All

Thought For The Day

In 1949 - 1950 my family lived in a house near the corner of Genesee and North Fayette in Saginaw,Michigan. I was in the third grade and attended Stone School, my teacher was Mrs. House. Among other things we learned to square dance in her class. A couple a significant things happened during that time frame and their value lies primarily in how graphically they illustrate the difference in lifestyle we grew up in compared to the way our children and grandchildren grow up today. 

The corner we lived near bordered on a commercial area. Brenske Plumbing was across the street, next to us was a Sunoco Gas Station. On the opposite side of Genesee there was a Kroger Store and there was a movie theater, The Roxie, just down the block. We were about a mile or so from the main downtown area which lay across the bridge of the Saginaw River. The downtown area housed the Bancroft Hotel, Morley Brothers, Heavenrich's and other holy grail establishments of commerce.

At the ripe old age of eight I walked to school every day. That was not at all unusual. It was only a five blocks and many of the other children from the neighborhood walked to school as well. There were no buses, it was a neighborhood school. And, besides, we had patrol boys. They guarded the street crossings and told us when it was safe to cross. Every boy in the school wanted to be a patrol boy. That was a very big deal. If you were selected for that grand duty you were given a white band that was constructed of a heavy cotton material that was connected by adjustable fasteners. One part went around your waste and the other crossed diagonally across your chest. That symbolized your authority to hold or advance other students across the street, one of the early badges of peer authority. It was a much sought after prize.

I mentioned there were a couple of items that stood out for me during that time. The first that I will mention had to do with the difficulty I had sleeping. It was not because of any particular problem, noise or condition. I really don't remember why I couldn't sleep, just that I woke up at night and was unable to go back to sleep. If you are eight and can't sleep remaining in bed is an unnatural act. So I got up and wandered the house. My father worked very hard. He had a shoe repair shop and he worked for General Motors. When he finished at midnight at "The Gun Plant", a name given to Steering Gear Plant Number two because guns had been made there during World War Two, the war the entire nation participated in proudly, he was very tired and needed to sleep. He had no trouble sleeping. But waking him was not anything any of us wanted to do. If we woke him, that meant mother would awaken and having two unhappy parents in the middle of the night was simply not a desirable situation.
So, I quietly wandered the house until that was simply too uninteresting and eventually I would find my way to the door and ease out quietly into the night. I had a dog named Rusty. He knew the routine including the need for quiet movement. Together we would go into the world of the night people, those who made our daytime activity possible. The first stop would be across the street to the Kroger Store. The trucks would be unloading the groceries that lined the shelves and the meat and produce that made our dinners. They enjoyed the diversion we provided and would cut off small bits of meat for Rusty for which he was most appreciative.

To be continued........

©Herb Ratliff, February 15, 2011, All Rights Reserved

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