These days kids don’t roam the neighborhoods.
Ya’ll may believe this or not…
Back in the day, growing up in what was then called “The Sock Capital of the World”…
The summer I was 12yrs old, two weeks before school started… I went to the man who was operating my Granddaddy’s ‘bacca farm and asked if I could “go to field?”. I’d been hanging ’round the barn as the ‘hook-up’ boy for a couple summers, getting a cold drink and nabs or peanuts twice a day.
He smiled and said “Billy… I think you might be big enough to do it…”.
Two weeks — tough as f’ing nails — wet in the mornings, hot in the afternoons, third pullings, not all the way bent over, not standing up straight — stayed a good 100ft behind the slide the whole time, but I didn’t quit. That tender back ached in bed at night, while I dreamed of pulling ‘bacca… $5 a day = $60 in 1967 dollars.
When I got back to The Sock Capital of the World… my mom took me to buy a new ‘Spider Bike’for $20 to replace my old Western Flyer, which was no longer cool…. the rest I opened a savings account with….
Anyway… we’re supposed to be talking ’bout roaming the neighborhood…
Everybody had spider bikes and we rode them places our parents didn’t know about…
On the East side of The Sock Capital of the World, everything was new thanks to the Carolina Missile Factory where they built guidance systems for the Missiles to kill Russians…
The main storm sewers were all concrete and 6′ tall by 8′ wide and we could UNDERGROUND for miles, including to the big shopping center, we we’d park our bikes and hang out…
I bought my first bike lock when I moved into Alexander as a freshman…
By then, I had mastered the art of pulling ‘bacca and had made $65 a week all summer on Granddaddy’s farm… Put most all of that in the same saving account. I did buy a new bike, since I wasn’t taking a car to college.
My new 10 speed was stolen from the bike rake near the tunnel to Harrelson and DH Hill before Thanksgiving…
I shoulda took the Spider Bike to State…
I’m pretty sure I still got that bike somewhere in the Museum….
Thanks for memory – Chop!
