If Daddy Could See Us Now!
January 20, 2012 in Bill Shiver Articles
I sometimes wonder what would happen if my Daddy came back to see all the changes we’ve made since he passed away in 19633. We were just beginning to move from the 50’s mentality but things were still pretty simple.
I was walking in a big parking lot not long ago and I accidentally bumped into a parked car. Suddenly, this harsh voice came from somewhere under the hood saying, “Move away from the car!” I know this would have freaked my Daddy out. A car talking to him. He drove an old pickup truck and you turned the key, but it wouldn’t crank until you stepped on the start pedal on the floor board. He would have a difficult time getting used to “talking cars.”
I think he would be amazed at all the channels we have on our TV’s now. In his day, television was still somewhat of a novelty and we only had about 3 channels.
People walking around talking on cell phones would also bewilder him. He would wonder want in the world was so important that you couldn’t wait until you got home and talk on your black rotary dial phone.
I can see his eyes when you took him into a grocery store. All the choices we have today. He would wonder were the flour was that came in those cloth flour sacks. Many a kid wore clothes in his era that started life as a flour sack.
I know he was gasp at us paying over $3.00 for a gallon gas and having to pump it ourselves. Time was when we just pulled into Hugh Shiver’s station and filled up with $5.00 worth and Hugh would pump it, check your tire pressure, radiator and wash the windshield.
Bottled water? Daddy would come unglued when I told him we paid money for water.
I’d never be able to take Daddy to the movies nowadays. He was used to films like “Sergeant York” and “Mrs. Minniver.” Let one cuss word fly and he would be out the door. This same thing pretty much rules out television as well.
He would never, ever understand computers in our homes. Nobody needed computers in the 50’s except maybe the government and a really big corporation. As a photographer though, I bet he would be impressed that you could take a picture, somehow load it into a box on a table and send the picture to somebody in Nebraska or someplace.
I know the next time I see Daddy will be in Heaven. I plan to spend a lot of time telling him about all the good stuff that I got to see and be a part of. We won’t talk about the bad. Will he believe me when I tell him that some of us actually got on a spaceship and went to the moon? I imagine he will take some convincing. My Mother saw the pictures on TV and she still believed they staged it in Hollywood.
Sometimes I wish Daddy could come back for just a day and walk around with me. But then again, it might be best that I just wait and tell him about it.
