@suzyQ3 Interesting post. I'd DVR'd WETA TV, "Washington, DC in the 90's" and just started watching it. I live in Northern Va (right over the DC/Va line.
I'm 71 and have lived here all of my life. I love Va. I grew up with my Dad, my Grandma and my Aunt. My Aunt and I would walk a few blocks to the train station in Alexandria and sit and watch the trains coming and going.
Back then there was very little crime. It was a middle class neighborhood. Everyone knew each other. We could play hide and go seek until 9-10 at night. No one was worried.
We had a large pool that cost .25 to swim all day long! There was no such thing as "Old Town" in Alexandria. There were no 'yuppies' living there,
You could get on a huge boat for a few dollars and take the trip across the Potomac to Glen Echo Park (a wonderful place with roller coasters, lots of fun rides). There was also a similar place called Marshall Hall next to it.
Teenagers would hop in cars and take the short trip across the bridge to Washington, DC. There, you could go to any of the liquor stores right at the end of the bridge in Georgetown. It wasn't filled with rich people back then, just mostly places to go dance....places like the "Crazy Horse", you could dance and have a beer if you were 18. Everyone had fake ID's they were easy to get.
Kids as young as 7 and 8 years old (my nieces and nephews would) get on a city bus and ride everywhere for .25 or even less. Some had Dad's who were bus drivers. They all looked out for each other. The kids were safe.
Parties?!! You betcha! Parties all summer long. At friend's houses. Everyone's boyfriend was in a band...and they'd set up right in someone's house.
I was one of the few who didn't drink. Just didn't like the taste and my Dad was a functioning alcoholic. I just didn't see the use in it. I'd watch these kids get drunk, puke in the gutter and the next day when I'd see them.....remember what fools they'd been...it just wasn't for me. I wouldn't say I was a goody-two shoes, just would rather dance than do anything and everyone knew you couldn't dance good if you were drunk....
People had boyfriends for a few days (maybe a few weeks) then move on. It was fun and carefree. I never saw anyone take drugs of any kind.
You always hear about the 60's. The saying goes, "Tune in, Turn on. Drop out", but not with drugs.
I lived in the same house from the time I was born until my Dad sold it in the early 60's. It was near the train tracks and if I am very still and concentrate, I can still hear the conductor blow his whistle at us kids as we stook on the other side of the fence, trains wizzing by...
My grandmother was friends with some men who'd ride the rails (thinking back I guess they were called HoBo's). They were nice men who did chores for people for a meal and/or a few dollars. No one was robbed by these men, we knew them.
Summer nights were hot and humid. No one I knew had an air conditioner (certainly not an air conditioned house). You'd open up all of the screened windows and doors and sleep soundly all night. No break-ins or murders, sleep just as soundly as if the house was locked up......but it wasn't.
I remember we finally got a TV. It was a console with a cabinet. It was black and white. My Dad was so proud of himself when one day he came home with something that looked like a large sheet of 'clorafoms' (remember those) they were plastic that stuck to stuff. Well, you put that across your TV screen (it was large stripes) and that was a poor man's version of a colored TV. Ha!
We lived in a neighborhood right next to the neighborhood of all African Americans. There were no fights, everyone got along. My Dad had friends from all ethnic groups. I was taught to respect everyone and they'd respect me. It was good advice and I've carried it out through my life....
I went to the same school with my same friends from kindergarten until I graduated from high school. There were times when I had to take 2 city busses and then get on the school bus because we lived in another school district and I didn't want to change schools. You could do that back then if you promised you'd go to school. To this day we all still keep in touch and meet every now and then. We still call each other 'kids'. We talk about how we loved each other switching mates like clothes back then....teenage love...blink and it changes.
In the Winter we could walk down King Street (it still goes from the Masonic Temple straight to the Potomac River). You could buy your cut Christmas Tree in one of the lots set up along the street. The city would string lights from one end to the other. The lights were beautiful. I don't know if they still do it, but they did it every year back then.
If there was a fight it was with hands, no guns, no knives and would last a minute or two and then it was over with. The teacher would call you into the office. You'd 'talk it out' and shake hands and move on. Because there were no computers to let you hold a grudge, the arguments would be over so quickly, you couldn't remember WHY you were angry....
I have wonderful memories with my friends growing up. Many are still my friends. We keep in touch mainly from facebook. We sometimes meet at restaurants and catch up.
We realize how lucky we were to have spent our childhood in a time and place where (like the song says) "Everyone knew our name and we could live our life safely"
Life was uncomplicated and easy.
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