There Were No

Massapequa NY

06 February, 2022

9:04 AM

Description

Reluctantly I admit there are some in my circle of love (especially the youngest) who truly believe my sister, Ellen, and I cavorted with dinosaurs. While emphatically denying that, I will admit the truth. Our family never owned a remote, iPhone or computer, and Alexa never entered our living quarters in Hells Kitchen. Rather (and this may be where the misconception arises) my parents, two sisters and I shared one radio. It rested on the top of the refrigerator and I only recall hearing three stations, ABC, NBC and CBS. I also remember that although the small radio was constantly playing, it merely had four buttons. Obviously, two were to turn the power on and off; the other two regulated volume. More importantly, it was always in use, morning, noon and night. When our radio was playing softly, the identical echo could be heard from other adjoining apartments in our tenement building. That occurred because most of our neighbors were listening to either the same soap opera (One Man's Family, Pepper Young) or Lowell Thomas' evening newscast. During those wartime years there was little political discord in Hells Kitchen. Nor did anyone fear being overheard listening to outspoken commentators. Our tightly knit NYC neighborhood was a totally Democratic community owned and to some extent operated by Tammany Hall. I can't recall making the acquaintance of a Republican until after my marriage when I moved far from the city streets. While our lifestyle could never be endorsed from today's viewpoint, this morning (after the installation of a new Fire-stick) I remembered its utter simplicity with a pang. Although I live alone, I own and use three remotes to watch the cable news and stream current movies and documentaries. When I learned the recent prequel to the "Sopranos" could not be viewed on my TV, I decided to install another remote, the Fire-stick. Foolishly, I believed I was up to the technical challenge. This unfounded confidence remained intact until this morning. That was the precise moment when I learned the installation of HBO had also resulted in the loss of all TV programming.. I quickly remembered with nostalgia the simplicity of owning a small radio with four dials that never needed or used a remote. So perhaps while Ellen and I didn't have dinosaurs for playmates , I now must acknowledge that it was indeed a very, very long time ago when entire families listened together to just one small radio.