A Saturday Morning in the Hood 1960's style

Growing up in the projects was not all Urine and Junkies on the Hallway Stairs. We had our fun! Saturdays were like most typical Americans. Mom and Dad would be sleeping late from the drinking they did the night before. I being the oldest would quietly round up my two brothers and sister. I would fix cereal for them to eat. Quisp, Quake, Sugar Pops, Cheerios, Cocoa Crispy, Apple Jacks, my Favorite hot cereal Farina. Now of course we did not have these cereals all at once but these are the types we would have.



My brothers would fight over the toys inside of the boxes. I had already secretly taken the toys out of the boxes, then I would decide who'd get the prize determining by who won the quarrel and fight.

I would have them pour their cereal into their favorite colored plastic bowl, but I'd pour the milk into the bowls so they wouldn't waste on the table and onto the floor. That would be disaster! This was all done in an undertone so as not to disturb the parents. Then I would rinse every bowl with dish washing liquid and put them in the strainer after they finished eating.



Next it would be cartoon time! I would quietly turn on our HiFi with the TV console all in one. We would turn to our cartoon Mighty Mouse. My brothers would jump from couch to chair and swimming on the blue linoleum floor pretending to be mighty mouse saving the day. Next we were Rocky and Bullwinkle. My brother and I loved being Natasha and Boris. We could wrap our younger sister in ropes tied on the floor and jump over them until my sister started screaming loud enough to wake up my Dad and Mom.She got on my nerves.

My mother would wake up and start going off about us jumping on her couch and all of the toys in the living room and who told you to turn on our television, Then she'd check the dishes somehow I would always leave food some stuck in the bowls. We always forgot to sweep!



Next it was take baths and get dressed. I hated getting dressed because that meant getting my hair combed and I had long back thick hair it went beyond my shoulders and since my mom was a hairdresser she had to get it right. I had to look like a black Charmin Chatty Doll before I stepped out of the building.



So we would be dressed by 12:30 to leave and go food shopping. There was a movie theater down on Belmont Avenue named the National Theater. All of the kids went there on Saturdays. The manager or owner was named Tony and he knew all of the children. My parents would drop me and my two brothers off. I remember fondly those sticky floors and the dimmed amber diamond shaped lights that lit up the side aisles.



We would look for our friends form the building if they were not there we would look for school mates and we'd sit together. We watched Godzilla and loved those twins that wooed Marthara the giant Caterpillar. We sang the song with them oooh-oooooh.



We bought those huge peppermint sticks wide as our mouths we would suck them and then get cold water from the fountain. Once in a while Mr. Tony had to ban someone for a week because they walked across the top of the front row of chairs to get their heads projected on the screen.

My parents would pick us up at 4:00 p.m. after they finished shopping. Mr. Tony and the National theater were the best babysitters ever!