An article on CNN.com [that is no longer available] brought back a flood of great memories. When I was a kid, mom [and sometimes dad] used to load my brother and sisters up in the car and off to the drive-in we’d go.It wasn’t unusual for us to make a stop at a little stand that sold the best popcorn and candy. The place was hardly bigger than a phone booth. [What’s that? You’ve never seen a drive-in or a phone booth?] That little shop was where I first experienced flavored salts for popcorn. Celery salt was my favorite. Sounds pretty mundane now, but back in the 60’s that was a big deal.
We’d get to the movies early so we could go down to the
playground [all drive-ins had a playground consisting of some swings, teeter-toters and that octagon shaped thing that you’d push around as fast as possible with the hope of getting someone dizzy]. Parents would just send their kids down to the playground without supervision. It was a different time then. We’d head back to the car before the movie started. Usually my sisters and brother would be pretty tired and fall asleep before the second movie. Me, I was there until the end.
When I was old enough to drive, drive-ins were still popular. I loved the fact that you could always count on at least a double feature and sometimes you’d get real lucky and there’d be a marathon of sorts. Usually it was monster movies [who doesn’t like those?] or comedies, or even a mismash of genres. I hit the drive-ins [we had two in our town] almost weekly and since we lived in Florida at this point, we could go year round.
It’s said that video killed the radio star. I don’t know about that, but I do know that video killed the drive-in theater. According to some reports, drive-ins have been making a comeback the last few years. I hope that’s true because, man, I miss those days.
I was really interested in the results of this poll. I’ve been a registered Independent since I was old enough to vote. Over the years, I’ve pulled the switch for Republicans and Democrats depending on the person running. I’ve voted for liberal and conservative causes depending on the issue. My opinions on some issues have changed over the years, due to research and perhaps maturity. So I wondered how the poll would turn out… had I become more liberal or conservative? Seems that although some things have changed, I’m still pretty independent. I like that.
