Things I Miss, Part Two (which has nothing to do with the pity party I had yesterday)

I miss the Dewey Decimal System.

Really.

I remember learning how to operate it, and how proud I was that I knew what was going on in my library, if I had only been allowed to go in and, like, check out a book.

Unfortunately, the librarian thought all people under the age of fifty were nasty, loud, snot nosed varmints that had no business near books.

I also miss the little cards up front where you signed your  name and they stamped the due date, so you could tell at a glance how much longer you had to keep the book in your possession. (I know, this makes the former statement a lie, as I obviously used the library, but this is art, okay?)

I really hate the slick tiny piece of paper you get  now, that comes out of their computer that they stick in your book. Every time you open the book, the paper flutters to the floor and you spend five minutes trying to find it because you have no idea what just fluttered to the floor. And I am personally afraid to remove it from the book because I know that little piece of paper will vanish like money in my pocket, and I'll have no idea when the book is due.

I also miss wall phones. They never got misplaced. You always knew right where they were, those dependable souls of yore. (I'd miss them more if I didn't still have one in my kitchen.)

I miss going to town where everybody knows my  name.

I miss the small stores, where somebody's mama or granddaddy owned it, and the wood floors smelled like dusting compound.

Speaking of, I miss that smell in the schools, along with the wood lockers that had nothing but a coat hook  and a shelf. Why in the world would you lock up your coat and books?

Well, someone did steal my purse in second grade. There was something far more valuable in it than mere lunch money, too. I had pulled a tooth and the teacher helped me carefully wrap it up and put it in my purse so the tooth fairy could visit that night.

My purse was found in the trash can out in front of the school. All my stuff was in there except my tooth.

I hope the thief developed gum disease.

Now, where was I?

I miss my house being the only one on the road, and it a tiny  little one lane dirt road, at that.

I miss Daughter being a little girl.

I miss Nephew being a little boy.

I miss me being young and unwrinkled.

I miss riding a bike.

I miss my grandparents something awful, even to this day.

I miss having time to be with friends while the band played on.

I miss my daddy.

I miss wringer washing machines. (Rolls on floor laughing)

I miss my old insurance company and benefits from last year.

I miss check ups at the dentist costing $3.00  THIS IS NOT A TYPO.

Sometimes, I even miss my job. (but never the bureaucracy)

And I really, really miss the good ways our country used to be.

I'm afraid that, like all the above, will never be again.