Urban Boy

I’m a urban boy. I grew up in a metropolis area connected to railroads, airplanes, paved streets and traffic lights. Public transportation stopped in front of my house and within minutes deliver me downtown. Large department stores and early shopping malls were easily accessible and a large array of motion picture theatres. There was a symphony orchestra, a ballet dance troupe and an outdoor amphitheatre. The electric trolley cars had just been replaced smoking gas buses and there was no subway but there was a baseball team. Schools were within walking distance and there was a university on the edge of town.

My house looked that every other house on the block. Crabgrass lawn and a fireplace never used. A black and white TV showed the three channels by rabbit ears and there was AM radio mostly WRVA or WLEE. An entertainment center was a mono record player the size of a suitcase.

Dining out required getting dressed up and knowing which fork to use with linen napkins. Etiquette was important, until the first fast food drive thru showed up.

The city shut down on Sunday morning as everyone went to his or her place of worship. Everyone would sing the songs, listen to the sermons then go home and watch football. Also they could not buy beer.

Conformity was the rule of the day and everyone just went along with it. The two daily newspapers reported the local social occasions, ball scores and reinforced the Jim Crow opinions in black and white.

Never thought about it until cousins came in from rural areas amazed at the wonders of the ‘big city’.