The Braley Blog

“Pete’s Daily Connection”

Back To School Memories

I noticed something while I was out grocery shopping this week. Yes, stand by, it’s another episode of “Shopping Adventures With Pete.”

No it wasn’t that sudden disappointment when you realize there was plenty of parking closer to the door but you parked way back because you couldn’t tell.

No it wasn’t the guy who had basketball shorts riding so low that you could see his boxers. I so wanted to go up to him and say, “Hey you’re pants are falling down,” but I wanted to return home with the same amount of teeth as when I left. He was shopping with his wife or girlfriend so I guess she finds that appealing. Either that or she gave up trying.

The funny thing was, for a moment, he was walking side-by-side with an older gentleman who had on Bermuda shorts, a tucked in polo, a braided belt and boat shoes. It was both sides of the spectrum. Stylish and…..not so stylish. I so wanted to take a picture but:

A.) Couldn’t get to my phone quick enough.
B.) How do explain that if one or both turns around? “I was taking a picture of that display behind you. Yeah, that’s what I was doing. It’s so interesting I wanted to share.”

Actually what I noticed was the special displays for “Back To School!” Not fair man! These things have been on display for a few weeks now. Whatever happened to waiting until August?

I haven’t been in school for 40 years and I still get a little hint of sadness when I see those displays. Remember when you were a kid and the Sunday flyers announced the Back to School sales? You may have to explain to some what the Sunday flyers were.

I remember looking at the ads for Back to School clothing. It was all sweaters and long pants and the beginning of school tempertures were still in the 80s.

One thing I’ve always wondered: Do they actually sell ALL of those pencils and ALL of that paper? That’s a lot. Maybe it gets re-packaged for Christmas.

I was walking next to a family the other day when the mommy said, “There’s all the back to school stuff are you excited?” This was answered by a quick, decisive, “No!”

There’s a whole month of summer left! (One month and 20 days if you want to be exact.)

I remember taking two weeks off together in August when I was on the radio. One reaon was the kids were usually done with baseball and softball and most of the destinations, Santa’s Village or Story Land, weren’t that crowded because everyone went in July.

My wife’s birthday is in August. It’s the 24th if you want to pick something up. Priscilla said it was always mixed emotions because she was happy for her birthday but sad that summer was ending. I guess it won’t be long before we have the first sighting of Christmas displays.

It just struck me the other day how some things are so ingrained in our memory. As I said, I have been out of school for 40 years and the last Braley child left high school two or three years ago. (The memory gets fuzzy.) Seeing those notebooks, pens, highlighters and more still triggers that feeling that summer is coming to an end.

I leave you on a lighter note this week. I saw a meme on social media that said, “Remember when our teachers wouldn’t let us use calculators in class? They said, ‘You won’t always have a calculator with you.’ Well we showed them! “

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *