When my daughter was younger, Paul McCartney came on TV. I said to my daughter, “That\’s Paul McCartney.” She said, “Who is Paul McCartney?” and I said he was in the Beatles. She said, “What are the Beatles?”
The Summer of 69
How is it possible that she didn\’t know the Beatles? I never wanted to be cynical like our parents, who always claimed they had a simpler life, enjoyed better times — even though they had less, and they thought that music ended with Elvis and Sinatra. As a teen, I saw the Beatles, the Bee Gees, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison & the Doors, Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Rolling Stones and just about every band that came through Boston on tour. It just couldn\’t get any better than the “Summer of 69.”
Then I thought about the first verse of the Bryan Adams song with the same name and it went like this.
I got my first real six-string
bought it at the
five and dime
played it til my fingers bled
it was the Summer of 69
We Can Learn from the Past
Then it hit me… The five-and-dime. Just about every town had one, and some towns had two five-and-dime stores. What about Woolworths, drive-in movies — and to make it more personal to Boston: Bradlees, Zayres, Gilchrist\’s, Kennedy\’s, Raymond\’s, and Grants. Every state in the country has a list of defunct department stores. Maybe our parents weren\’t so wrong after all. Instead of strolling through town and spending time window shopping, we no longer have time to spare. Instead we troll the internet to do our shopping. The new generation sees this lifestyle as normal, but it would be nice for them to go back in time and experience what it used to be like. Cynical? Yeah, I\’m afraid so.
Two more verses from Bryan Adams\’ Summer of 69 sum it up.
And now the times are changin\’
Look at everything that\’s come and gone
Sometimes when I play that old six-string
I think about you and what went wrongOh when I look back now
That summer seemed to last forever
And if I had the choice
Yeah, I\’d always wanna be there
Those were the best days of my life
The Personal Touch and Static Clean
Footnote: We can\’t stop progress and the immediacy of information technology, but maybe we can slow it down a bit by dealing with a local store or a small company that offers excellent service and a personal touch. At Static Clean, we always try to use local vendors, who very often become our friends. For more information about Static Clean and the services we provide, please contact us.
