Childhood Envy

While I was doing the dishes tonight, I happened to notice the kitchen sink sprayer. We never had one of those in my childhood home, but my friend Deb did. I remember her telling me that only her family members could drink out of their kitchen sink sprayer. Then, just to prove it, she drank from it. I was left to watch, salivating. There were some other things I envied. People were always talking about eating TV dinners. We never had them, therefore, they must have been divine. I used to picture myself sitting in front on my beloved TV, eating a TV dinner on a TV tray (something else our house lacked). It was a whole TV theme, and I wanted it. At some point, I got to try a TV dinner. Man, what a disappointment. Maybe I thought a tiny TV would come with each entre. Who knows? Another item I coveted was Chinese takeout. You always see people on TV shows chatting while eating with chop sticks from takeout boxes. Like it was nothing. I assumed there must be something really special about eating food out of a box with sticks. Little did I know the sticks would be a challenge to use. One cool thing my family did get to experience was eating at a place called the Hot Shops. It was one of those drive-in establishments with car hops on roller skates. You ordered your food on a speaker, like at a drive-in movie. Pretty soon a girl would skate out to your car with a tray of food. My dad had a convertible at the time, so his sweet ride enhanced the ambiance even more. Maybe I was born with a desire for the simple things in life. Give me a meal on a summer night in the back seat of the family car any day. I thought it was truly elegant and wouldn’t have traded it for dinner at a five star restraurat. I wonder if there were any items my family had that other kids envied. If so, I probably would have been surprised. The grass is always greener... and all that.