June Then and Now

June is the first month of summer, and used to be the best month of all, but is now just another month. Because I made the mistake of growing up.

June used to be the month when school let out. School, the hated ordeal I despised, ended. Temporarily. My educational slavery ended.

For a brief moment, I could be a kid, and do everything within reach and whatever I could get away with. There were seemingly no limits. Television in those days only broadcast seventeen hours a day and had three channels and ran re-runs. But it didn’t matter. You were outside, swimming, playing baseball.

I remember vividly. The final day of school (usually around June 6). It was like you were reborn. Suddenly, everything you ever wanted to do seemed possible. Total freedom.

First of all, you had the yearly family vacation in front of you to look forward to next month (July). But even long before that, you had a solid three months off from school. Three months. Given the slowness of life in 1961, and the fact you were only eleven years old…three months was an eternity. Forever. It went by so slowly. You had an endless summer to play and to sing and to jump and to drink sodas on hot days. Heaven!

You would go across the street to the neighbor boy’s house and ask him, what do you want to do today?

I don’t know, the boy would say, what do you want to do?

Play catch?

Watch The Three Stooges?

I don’t know.

This went on for hours. It didn’t matter. We’d play ping pong by the hour. Or catch baseball. Your parents fed you. You had nothing but time. Even being idle and bored was fun. Your time was your own.

Then I messed up.

I grew up. Now, June is just another month, to work, to get tired and mad, drive in heavy traffic, and pay bills. Sure it’s a little warmer. What do I have to look forward to? Father’s Day. A day invented for no other reason than women had Mother’s Day. Some moron thought, gee, if they have Mother’s Day, let’s do Father Day (June 17).

Father’s Day is truly meaningless. I have no reason to want special recognition for making my wife in a family way (pregnant), when I did so for my own selfish lust. You think I deserve a card for that?

I would have done it to her for no card at all.

Not to be outdone by recognizing an injection of sperm as an official day, we also have Flag Day (June 14). Flag Day? Okay. We have a flag. Flag Day is to commemorate the adoption of the US flag.

I’m sorry, but this is not big on my official list of holidays. Betsy Ross spent months sewing the dam thing and is given no holiday or recognition.

But a bunch of fat, belching Pilgrims (Ben Franklin) get the credit for voting it in just before they adjourned to a tavern to get stoned.

No Indians or blacks were invited. By the people for the people?

Give me a big break! You can get pious about this if you want.

June is the month that starts out cool and ends up hot. June is half the year gone by. June is named for June Lockhart, the actress who played Timmy’s mom in the old TV show Lassie. She played a single mom who all she ever did was cook pies for Timmy and Lassie and never fooled around with men.

Those were innocent times, like my childhood June.

Copyright 2007 by SammonSays.com