Sunday, July 25, 2010

DIMES AND TIMES

Editor's note: A couple of days ago I spent close to an hour counting and packaging accumulated dimes and nickels that finally filled up our "piggy" banks. It's a chore I hate, but in the end we got enough to pay for one night's stay at a motel on our trip to Maine this fall (and maybe even a meal). It proves that little things count, of course, but they sure don't seem to go as far as they used to. I guess Dad would agree.

I remember well the time,
When I was in my teens,
I often didn't have a dime
In the pocket of my jeans

But I fit in the common run,
Accustomed to co-mingle
With many other farmers' sons
Who had no coins to jingle.

But also, I can recollect
How much a dime would buy,
Like a Danish roll and coffee,
Or a king-size slab of pie!

Five pennies bought a candy bar,
A milkshake went for ten;
A guy who had a dollar bill
Was sitting pretty then.

I realize we can't return
To the so-called good old days;
We have to take it like it is,
And bow to modern ways,.

But anyhow, I'm keeping up
With these inflated times;
For I am short of dollars now,
Instead of short of dimes!

--Acres of Verse (1994)

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