Getting Around

Getting around the neighborhood, visiting friends in other neighborhoods, getting to and from school (in 7th and 8th grade) all involved walking and/or riding bikes. The ride to school, which we were not allowed to do until 7th grade (and then only sparingly because the school bus was the only way in the rain and snow which made up the majority of the school year), was about 5 minutes on a bike and a 15 minute walk. The appeal of course was the utter freedom one felt. Each such trip home included a stop at the Bungalow market to get something for a nickel or a dime (Butterfinger bar, ice cream sandwich, gum, etc). The ride for us went down Chestnut Ridge Road (past the pop stand) to Chili Avenue (Bright Oaks was just being built) to Chestnut Drive where, at the fire house we would glide down a little hill to the parking lot and then on home. A few times, in the 8th grade, I actually road home for lunch - a totally impractical thing to do but then again, something to do.

Somewhere around 7-8th grade I was allowed to take the city bus downtown to the library, by myself. This was a really big deal - made me feel I was in the world independently. A little strange now to think I used to go alone.

At some point, riding bikes was no longer cool, so we walked, everywhere. After school we'd hang out at the house where the girl's mother worked (an unusual situation in those days), in a house that was under construction, or just on the street corners, anywhere away from parental control..... our first interactions with girls. When time was a factor we'd try to hitchhike but almost never got a ride when we were so young. In our high school days, hitchhiking became a daily routine. We'd hitchhike home from school if the busses had already gone. On weekends we'd hitchhike to the Olympic pool hall, to friends houses, to the Grange and other band/dance venues...anywhere we wanted to go...before we could drive. (In retrospect, riding bikes would have been a lot easier - if only it were cool). I wonder now how we managed to get around hitchhiking...today it would be unthinkable, but it was like a free taxi service to us in those days. Later, in college days, we'd hitchhike from city to city and some around the country. It all suddenly stopped sometime in the 70's.

Hitchhiking was deemed dangerous and lost its appeal to kids after we had grown past it, but only a couple of times in the hundreds of hitched rides I got did I encounter a driver who was up to anything but a favor. The couple of times were memorable and scary - but that was just part of life... nothing reportable.