Nostalgia. 09/05/25

There is no better way to sound like an old fart than starting a sentence with “In my day…”) We always think things were better back then. My parents told me to, “turn that crap down,” when I was listening to one of those newfangled bands like the Beatles or the Stones. “They might be popular, but in my day, Frank Sinatra…”. Sure, it might be harder these days to turn the station on your car radio. One push button for each station was as easy as pie. That was in my day. But you only had so many stations. Now we’ve got AM, FM, Sirius and streaming. So, as we dive into nostalgia this week, nostalgia for things like farm stands, drive-in movies, and even nostalgia for this past summer came to the forefront of our minds. John told me about a farm stand with a lock box near him. Near me, where we spent our summer, was an egg farm with a lockbox. I kid you not. You drive up, park in the dirt, walk over to a refrigerated container of egg cartons, a dozen each, just like in the supermarket. Except. Except for the fact that there is no cash register and in fact no people to accept your money. You just take a carton of eggs and place your money in a wooden lock box with a slot on top. I thought, “You’ve got to be kidding me! You know what would happen if you tried this in New York City (where I grew up)?” It’s like those people at Halloween who don’t want to get bothered by the doorbell every five minutes. They just put out a giant bowl of candy with a sign saying “Take one for each person.” We know what happens. The first group that comes to the door picks up the whole bowl and dumps it into their trick or treat bags. Hate to be cynical, but…I don’t really hate to be cynical, I kinda like it.

Which brings us around to our other comic, another piece of nostalgia that’s fading from our landscape. The drive-in movie. The location for all those 1950’s and 60’s make out scenes in other movies. There are still a few left, sprinkled in rural communities, because paying the mortgage on a 20 acre piece of land by selling $15.00 movie tickets isn’t the world’s best business proposition. Though I bet they had a fantastic resurgence during Covid. But what happens when you have a partner and a home where you can sleep together without sneaking? Suddenly a drive-in movie seems less romantic. And besides, I have bucket seats in the front.

So that’s it for this first unofficial week of fall (I know, don’t rush it). And have a wonderful weekend,

Andy and John