By Angel Nuñez
YOU KNOW YOU ARE AN OLD TIMER SANPEDRANO
Some of us like the traditions and the mentality of the past while others prefer the fast and easy way of modern times. I must confess I am of both schools of thought depending on the issue. For example I love cooking on my charcoal grill with firewood and charcoal. Lately I have been considering purchasing a gas grill but friends have told me that it is not the same. It does not give the nice taste of cooking twenty five years ago, and I totally agree. However, I will confess that I do not like one or two of the topics discussed in this issue as it happened in the past. Check the first one, for example.
YOU KNOW YOU ARE AN OLD TIMER SANPEDRAN0 IF
You used to pee in a white bucket. And what is this white bucket all about? Well, it was a porcelain tall white bucket used to urinate in the night only. You have to remember that in the old days there were no indoors bathrooms. The toilet or latrine was located outside at the very end of the backyard. So for the convenience of all, every home had a white bucket which was used in the middle of the night instead of going outside to the toilet. Today some people have very fancy bathrooms with toilets that even clean your buttocks with water called a “bidet”. I certainly prefer the newer bathrooms with toilets over twenty five years ago.
YOU KNOW YOU ARE AN OLD TIMER SANPEDRANO IF
For Christmas season you were busy rolling out new linoleum on the floor and putting up new curtains. The humble wood houses of the past certainly did very well with a touch of fresh paint on the furniture and new linoleum to brighten up the place. And talk about new curtains, there was excitement among the housewives in selecting their favorite curtains to welcome the Christmas season every year. I think it was like a competition to try to beat your neighbor by having brighter curtains or bigger flowers on them. Today with the modern concrete homes with tiled floors and luxurious stained glass windows, there is very little or no attention given to linoleum and curtains.
YOU KNOW YOU ARE AN OLD TIMER SANPEDRANO IF
To smell good you used Limacol/Agua de Naranja, or Bay rum. This is no joke. If you wanted your baby to smell nice, you used this orange based body fragrance called Agua de Naranja. The older men who might have not smelled too pleasant applied some Bay rum to the armpit or all over the body. Bay rum is a rubbing liquid sort of like alcohol. Certainly today there is a myriad of colognes and body fragrances to choose from and don’t talk about the price tag. Bay rum did the job very inexpensively twenty five years ago.
YOU KNOW YOU ARE AN OLD TIMER SANPEDRANO IF
You bathed with a dipper and brushed your teeth on the back porch. The dipper could have been a simple plastic dipper or preferably the hard shell of some fruit like the pumpkin shell. There were also some bush non edible fruits that had hard shells and which made excellent dippers for laundry or bathing. Now as for brushing of teeth on the back porch, again I need to remind you that there were no indoor bathrooms so brushing of teeth and even washing of face was done on the back porch. Did some people brush on the front porch? Unbelievable but indeed there were some persons who did so. You be the judge of their reasons to do so.
So folks, there are some signs that if you did so, you are to be considered an old timer Sanpedrano.
25 Years Ago Books Can Be Purchased At:
-Ambergris Today -Lala’s Store -Chico’s Meat Shop -Pampered Paws -Ambergris Jade -San Pedro BTB Office -Aquarius Salon (Kim) -S.P. Town Library -Di Bush –Richie’s Stationery -San Pedrano’s Stationery -Rum, Coffee & Cigar House
Contact the Author at: nunez_nest@yahoo.com
