My trip to Chuck E. Cheese also jogged a memory that we just didn’t go out all that often while I was growing up. These days, It might be a weekly occurrence for many families.
You could probably count the number of times we went out to dinner in a year on one hand. That was partly because money was tight, but also because it just wasn’t something people did as often back in the 1950s, when I grew up.
I remember we’d go to a place like Shoney’s once in a blue moon, where whatever they called their big burger never failed to amaze me. There wasn’t a McDonald’s on every corner then, and the notion of a hamburger that was bigger than my hand was a big deal.
Visits like that also provided the chance to get a real soft drink—typically a Coke—something that was also a rationed commodity in my youth. The rarity of getting to have soda made it special, and I enjoyed it slowly, savoring every fizzy swallow.
Sure, before long, hamburger chains became as prevalent as hot summer days, and the joy in getting whatever they called their big burger faded like excitement from the last day of school.
I don’t offer this perspective to malign today’s experience or say things used to be better. I just want to show how much things have changed.
It’s even hard for me now to remember why I thought it was so cool to find placemats on the table in a restaurant, featuring maps of Virginia or drawings of famous houses nearby. Though I imagine the same will be said by today’s youngsters decades hence when they think back to why they found games at Chuck E. Cheese so captivating in their youth.
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