As a kid growing up in Scotch Plains, downtown didn’t have much to offer.
No real place for kids to hang out, and Wallis Stationery sold anything form
pipe tobacco to toys, but was never friendly to us kids. But if my dad was
along....Smitty sold appliances, and Jean’s Beans on the corner sold take out
food. But rather nondescript, the old Shop Rite still there, but the new one
on Route 22 got all the business. It was Alphonso’s for pizza, Snuffy Jr.’s for
a burger, but in between, no shops or real reasons to go downtown. So we rarely
did...it was off to Westfield, which its downtown was actually closer. With
auto stores like R&S, where I bought the fuzzy tiger stripe seat for my
Schwinn Stingray, and later would look at all the Pep Boys type displays,
promising me that’s my engine would quit burning oil, the slipcovers would help
my worn out seats regain their factory appearance, and other ways to separate my
money from my wallet. A must on any Saturday. The Leader Store sold clothes
and sporting goods, we all wanted to shop there when we got older, it was Ivy
League all the way, but we weren’t when we came of age. A trip through
Woolworths with the old wood floors, women clerks everywhere, and the coolest
pet department ever, if you were into parakeets and fish. You could hear the
birds singing all through the store, although I never saw one purchased. Out
the back door, across the lot, and it was our final destination, Play Fair. The
ultimate toy store before Toys R Us, the front of the store was for kids, but
the back was all about car models, where big kids, teenagers waited on you,
showing off the complete models they had built, and a glass case full of
Matchbox cars. How many hours the average kid spent just looking isn’t known, I
consumed at lest a few weeks worth, and my completed models still never turned
out like theirs. How did they get the gluey fingerprints off the windshield?
How come their wheels would roll? How did their parts seem to fit together?
And no way you could get a brush job to look like that! But at 39 cents a can
for spray paint, who had the money? I guess it was reserved for the big
guys...in our dreams we would could see us behind the counter, showing off our
new models, only to be brought back to reality by “hey kid you looking or
buying?” I looked a lot, shopped at Two Guys where the same model was 40 cents
cheaper. Were those big guys in ties really making 40 cents an hour? WOW!
Lunch meant Dukes for a sub, #6 roast beef, a whole for $1.30, made while
you watched. Lots of paper route money was spent there, then home. But things
were changing and so were we....
The traffic cops we used to think were fun to watch as they directed
traffic at the intersections, now gave us menacing looks as we rode by on our
Hondas. Play Fair was gone, couldn’t even look back to see what was there.
Woolworths would fold, and be torn down. R&S out of business, and no reason
to shop at the Leader Store, psychodelic was in at Dead Ice Cream, and Dukes
moved, then closed. Stopping at a Jersey Mike’s the other day, who is owned by
a guy named Pete, they try to pass off a sub like Dukes, but fall short. For
only $8.25. But if you never had a Dukes sub, you’d never know. And the kid
serving you wouldn’t care. Oh to be a kid again, if for only one sunny
Saturday, I wonder if R&S would have seat covers for our Mustang? And would
I have enough cash on me for a whole #6 with extra onions.....
Times change and so do we. So many of our past memories are not there when
we travel back again. Just trying to get directions from a new resident can
make you feel old, or crazy. A few years back I inquired about a Flying A
station with café in Fanwood, I used to eat there Saturday mornings with my Dad
when finishing their new house. It’s gone, and no one could remember it ever
being there. No history on the books, “was I sure?” I knew better than to
pursue it any further. It seems we all can be guilty of normalcy bias, a psycho
babble word for if I didn’t see it, then it didn’t exist. Used by those who
deny Jesus or at least his deity too often. The New Testament was written and
widely read within 50 years of Jesus’ crucifixion. Yet it takes the historian
Josephus to back it up, not the other way around. Seems many who were there
would have protested, maybe even quietly if it weren’t true, but we forget that
God inspired the Bible, and is known for his accuracy. When telling stories of
when I was a kid, I get “boy you must be old,” when really it is “you must be
young.” Neither a crime as far as I can tell. But God has always been and so
has Jesus. They remember and also forget. They remember from before the day of
creation, but forget our sin when we ask forgiveness, as if it never happened.
We do the opposite, I can remember many who wronged me years ago, but forget how
Jesus loves them too. Seems we all are guilty of the same sins, yet we see them
through different eyes than our own. The wording making the difference. The
lie and steal, we stretch the truth. Others betray, we are protecting our
rights. Some show prejudice, we have convictions. Some murder and kill, we
exploit and ruin. While we yell “stone them, arrest them!” but fail to realize
we are guilty of the same sins. Imagine if we heard the sound of stones hitting
the ground rather than pummeling others, but sin will always be sin, fortunately
Jesus will always be Jesus.
Just the opposite is faith, trusting in someone we cannot see, cannot here,
or cannot fully describe, yet we place our whole lives in his hands. Some to
the point of ridicule or death. Walking the streets of Jerusalem today many
sites are claimed to be where Jesus walked. But the people he walked with are
long gone. We cannot be sure where exactly he walked, but we can be sure he is
still alive today. And we can walk with him. And for those who do, we have an
eternal future of grace. We may not know what tomorrow may bring, but we know
what eternity brings. What a difference forgiveness makes.
Sometimes we need to go back to see how far we have come. To see how we
are testimonies to how Jesus Christ changes lives. In my mind I can still see
the models at Play Fair, or taste and smell Dukes. No photos to back up either,
but no photos of Jesus either. Who wasn’t camera shy, but out among the
people. Just like we were as kids. Maybe a trip back downtown is needed to see
how far he has brought us. Park the car, break out the old Schwinn, walk the
sidewalks, and see how far we have come. Keeping our eyes focused on Jesus,
seeing into a future unknown but with great anticipation. Giving us a reason to
live. For he is life. Downtowns, home towns and even the street names may
change, Jesus never does. How do you get better than perfect? I would just
love to see the model cars he built as a kid.....hands so delicate they could
build the details, yet so tough they took the nails for us on the cross. Life
begins when Jesus enters your life, we may only have a finite amount of years to
look back, but have forever to look ahead. Kings and kingdoms will all pass
away, but there will always be something about his name.
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com