When I was growing up as a kid we
used to do some crazy things to amuse ourselves. Some of these “pranks” involved using the
telephone. You have to remember this was
during a time when telephones had a wire that connected them to the wall and this
was even before the wires now (at least for those who still use “landlines”)
that you simply “unplug” from the wall jack.
These wires had “hard” cords that came in from the outside telephone
poles and were connected directly to your phone. Some day “for fun” we would call people on
their phones and tell them that we were from the phone company and that they
were the lucky winners of an extra 25 feet of phone wire to make using their
phone around the room easier. All they
had to do was reach down, take hold of the cord where it was attached to their
wall and PULL HARD! Of course, when they did this, their phone went
dead because they had torn the connection out of the wall. We thought it was extremely funny, but I’m
sure the people we called didn’t think so since they no longer had phone service
until they contacted the phone company and had them repair it.
We also had another “prank” we liked
to pull on some store owners, but I’ll have to give you a little background
information so that some of my readers will better understand the “punch line”
of the joke. During the time I was
growing up it was available for people to purchase tobacco so they could “roll”
their own cigarettes. Yes, it’s
true! Not only could people ruin their
lungs by inhaling cigarette smoke, but they had to put in some extra work and MAKE
THEM THEMSELVES! That being said,
the tobacco was available packed in packages or tin containers. One of the companies that produced this
product made a brand called “Prince Albert.”
Wow! Now all that being
said, here’s the way the joke went.
We would call a store and when the
clerk answered the phone, we would ask, “Do you have Prince Albert in a
can?” When they answered, “Yes,” we
would tell them, “You better let him out; he’s not going to be able to
breathe.” Of course, we would
immediately hang up so we didn’t have to hear any “negative” comments from the
clerk.
Another thing that we used to do, we
called the “secretary prank.” It didn’t take much set-up, but if you wanted to
do the joke properly you had to make sure you allowed a sufficient amount of
time and spaced the “parts” of the prank at appropriate times. This required
some amazing patience at times. So
here’s the way the time-line of the joke would play out.
You would choose your “target” and
have a friend give them a call. When
they answered their phone your friend would ask, “Could I speak to Larry?” (Or whatever
name you wanted to use.) They would
usually reply, “There’s no one here named Larry,” and then the friend would
hang up. About a half hour later you
would have another friend call the target again and ask, “Could I please speak
to Larry?” Again the person would reply,
“There’s no one here named Larry,” and your friend would hang up. About another half hour passed and you would
have your first friend call back again and, trying to change their voice at
little, asks, “Could I speak to Larry?”
Once again you get the reply (and now there’s a little more sternness in
the voice), “There’s NO ONE here named Larry!” You have to wait about another half hour and
then you call the target
back. When they answer the phone this
time you say, “I’m sorry I haven’t made it in yet. This is Larry, have I had any calls yet
today?” Usually you get a brief pause on
the other end of the phone because they really don’t know what to say. Don’t wait too long, just hang up!
As you can tell from these few
examples, back in my youth, most “pranks” were basically harmless fun. Today, WHAT HAS HAPPENED? Young people use the internet and their
social media accounts to brutally attack other young ones. Sometimes, they would not even know the
person personally. And they can be
extremely persistent in their attacks, sometimes to the point of driving an
individual to the point of committing suicide! And yet they do these despicable deeds behind
the cloak of “secrecy” on their social media connections.
And in a different area, WHAT HAS HAPPENED? When I was in school you went so that you
could get an education, with the view of having a successful and prosperous
future. Today it seems that some only go
to school because they HAVE to! I
was actually expelled for three days during my senior year of high school
because of having my shirt tail out of my pants! I know that may be hard for some to believe
now, but dress codes were strictly enforced at that time. Now in many schools they’re mainly
thankful that the kids are showing up wearing clothes!
When we had a young girl become
pregnant, her family would “secretly ship her out of town” to a relative until
after she gave birth. It was only
whispered about and usually became the shame of the family and of the school
and sometime even the community (depending on the size of your town). WHAT HAS HAPPENED? In many schools today they not only make
allowances for any young girl who becomes pregnant, but if the girl’s school
year continues AFTER she has the baby, they have made arrangements for
“daycare” for the baby (if needed) while she attends classes!
And also prevalent today, which was
practically unheard of in my youth, so many young ones go to school with knives
and guns! Not only are they carrying
them to school, but they are using them to cause chaotic situations and
disrupting the lives of many individuals and bringing other lives to an
end. Time and again all of this takes
place for senseless reasons and families are torn apart and many destroyed
forever!
I
don’t have the answers! I wish I
had the “quick” fix or could wave my hand and change everything for the
better. But young people need to know
that they are loved, that their lives have meaning. These young ones need to know that they are
the future generation of mankind. The
love of humanity should shine from them and shine upon them. We can look around us and see WHAT HAS HAPPENED! And we need to realize it’s not too late to
help these young ones make changes and not be the target of bullies and those
who attack. And also not to be the
attacker but love all the differences within us and understand that it is these
very things that make us strong. We can
do this for our younger generation, while knowing it starts with ONE youngster at a time. Don’t hold back where you can help, do it! Where you can guide someone in having greater
respect for themselves and others, just do it! You can be the “spark” that is needed to
change a young ones life! They will love
you for it forever and you will love yourself for doing it!
QUOTE TO CONSIDER
THOUGHTFUL GEM
"If you know something is going to hurt --
WHY do you do it?"
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