Things we do in Cars

The older we become, the more we appreciate the joys we took for granted in our youth. Cruising the streets in cars filled with 23 cent gasoline and pulling into a drive-in restaurant for soft drinks and fries. We spent many hours just occupying the space and visiting with friends indulging in the same summer pastime. It occurred to me just yesterday, that the owners of Stanley's Drive In might have preferred to have a customer willing to buy more profitable foods and leave when the meal had been consumed. We usually spent at least an hour sipping and nibbling after spending less than a dollar. I don't think we tipped the car hops either. Oh yes Stanley's Drive In was the place to learn the latest in relationships, activities, upcoming events and newest drama. Some even stole the salt shakers. I can remember going into a friend's bedroom and seeing a collection of a dozen or more of the little cheap shakers brought out on the tray with fries. She was not a bit chagrined by my horror, in fact, she couldn't understand why I hadn't entered the race to collect more than anyone else. It wasn't long after that Stanley's stopped automatically including the shakers on the trays. Today salt comes in tiny little paper packets and no one notices if you take them with you.

All these little snippets of memories sneaked into my consciousness yesterday as Ol' Abner and I walked around a car show featuring restored and updated cars from years past. He found a 59 Chevy in the same color he once drove proudly. His first car was a '55 Chevy and he saw several of the same body style but not the same paint scheme. He remembers the cars themselves. I didn't know him then...but I remember many fun times in cars like those.