The Good Old Days and Tomorrows Past
Gary Kelly recounts a charming tale of his youth and opines about next generations good old days
What are the good old days? Are the good old days no more than good old memories?
Are my good old days different to yours? Of course they are, and isn’t it funny that when we remember the good old days it’s only the good bits we remember. I suppose the clue is in the name.
See I’ve got two different kinds of good memories; the first ones are of loved ones that have passed or legendary nights out with the lads, the other kinds are of moments of embarrassment that happen when you are as far away from comfortable as possible. I suppose you can have a laugh at those now.
Let me give you an example; many years ago when I was no more than a boy, I was staying with my aunt and uncle and as a bonus one day, I got to go to work with my uncle Bill. Bill worked for the Dublin Corporation on the roads; remember the little huts on the side of the road with lots of men hanging around them? Well Bill was one of those guys.
On our arrival I recall one of the men shouting out “It’s your turn to get breakfast Bill”. I thought to myself, this is great, imagining some greasy spoon café. Suddenly, before my very eyes, Bill starts knocking together the coolest little fire (in the hut) and placed the head of a shovel over the flames. I wasn’t sure what was happening until a few minutes later, when Bill had a half dozen eggs and a pack of rashers frying on the shovel. All of a sudden I wasn’t that hungry anymore!
To accompany this feast was tea, so at least I could have something to look forward to after all (or so I thought). The cups were some of the strangest things I’ve ever seen. I’m not messing, it was the weirdest collection of jam jars and milk bottles and even weirder was that everyone had their own. Even though it freaked me out at the time, it’s become not only something I’m glad I experienced, but also a good old memory.
So I guess the good old days are no more than individual moments that are shared once with people that we see once in a while.
But it’s weird to think that the events of today will be someone else’s memories and therefore their good old days.
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