BACK IN YORK: FEBRUARY 1969 to FEBRUARY 1970 ___::FEBRUARY/MARCH/APRIL 1969

___ _______ ___FEBRUARY 1969____ _____ ___::::: 2-1-00: Mid Feb? Late Feb? :So I dropped out of IU and was back in York,Pa. At some point my third floor room had been redone with a new huge bed up there. I do recall lugging it up and I also recall being in some store on West Market street but I dont know if it was in 1968 or 1969. My room was really middle class at last- right when my parents had given up their middle-class jobs to be here. It was a huge twin double bed with posts and multi-colored lights on polelamps and my own huge TV. Later I would get cable the moment it came in. I recall my father insisting I keep the bed in the middle of the room as it looked good there rather than push the bed off to one side like I normally did. The house was in perfect condition then, unlike now when its a shambles.,,, I had my ulcer and I was still on that no-spices diet. Day old bread, poached eggs, warm milk, Gelusil, no soda or coffee or tea or ketchup or mustard, everything had to be bland,,,____ I did not realize at the time that a new nightmare was about to occur that would last for decades. For the first time ever my rather reptilian father was now living in the same town as my reptilian aunt and her reptilian daughter. As if my father wasnt unfeeling enough to his wife and kid I now had to deal with two others with the same personality who would now proceed to hide behind him to be rude to my mother and rotten to me. If Vi and Lor were two females I had just met somewhere and they started to act in their obnoxious way towards me I would simply walk away and never associate with them again after the first time they tried. But as my fathers sister and niece I now had to put up with whatever crap the two obnoxious bullying cowards chose to dish out. I guess such reptiles never look towards the future when my father, their protector, would die or get too old to use against me and hide behind. Or didnt they even think of why they got away with acting in such a way towards me for so many years when I could have physically knocked them across the room with one hand if they were unrelated. To this day the word 'relatives' represents bad people I would never associate with were they not related. Mon 2-6-00, Wed 2-23-00: Walked downtown usually via West Cottage to South George as the streets were so nice then. To Woolworths, McCrorys, Grants, Kresges, Peoples, Murphys, Bon Ton, Weists, Bears. Weists had the wargames,,,, All the way out to the YORK COUNTY SHOPPING CENTER, had big meatl hockey game, When I first returned I went into Peoples and noticed that the softcover books suddenly had much glossier covers. And risque titles like "I B--ch, Have Had It". _____Still REALLY worried about the draft now that I lost my college deferment,,, I recall right after returning for 1969 going upstairs late at night and getting into the bed at the top of the stairs. So I guess I didnt yet have my own fancy bed on the third floor. And I recall that Johnny Carsons monologue was on downstairs and he said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, our new President, Vice President Nixon,,,,, First time I walked around downtown I recall it was really cold and no one else was out and the stores were closed so I guess it was a Sunday (WHEN??) and the windows of the McCrorys were full of brandy snifters and candles in brandy snifters that had plastic webbings as they had been 'in' for a while,,,, I must have made the following walk an incredible 250 or more times in 1969: all the way east on Cottage Place to its end at the park, left to Hannah Penn School, thru its lot, out to the large avenue there, along it a couple of blocks, then north thru the low-house projects and to Sherman Street. From there to the Allen Field area and perhaps out to the York County Shopping Center. And back the exact same way. Many times each month in 1969 and in the following years I was in York,,, Now I had to put up with my obnoxious father, his obnoxious sister who could sic him on me and my obnoxious girl cousin. All three were reptiles who thought they could treat people any way they wanted. No way I would have ever associated with such cowardly bullies were they not related to me. But I had to put up with their crap while struggling to find a way through college with parents who couldnt help me in those pre-loan days except give me a place to crash while putting up with a lot of obnoxious relatives,,, ________ _____ _________ MARCH 1969____ _____ __ :::::: Downtown York,Pa was still safe and prosperous. Whole city safe at night and well-kept by the Krauts and their high factory wages. Could still go into stores thru back doors and leave same way as no huge shoplifting problem,,, I think it was in mid or late March 1969 that I finally decided to read SHERLOCK HOLMES, the character I read a little about in that Classics? Comic I read when they sent us to another classroom way back in Elementary School. I had a big hardcover somehow (Xmas?) and I would lay on my fancy bed and read it while letting my ulcer heal. I became a big fan. ,,,,,, I followed the Spring Training of the METS and it would be the very first year that my father and I were not in NYC where since they were created we could go to the games for free (So naturally they became World Champions in 1969; the first year we werent there! ),,, Still had my ulcer, and insomnia/nightmares, and worry about the draft. I think my mother bought me a bottle of Blackberry Brandy like one I had in Bloomington which I later had on the third floor,,, I would guess that we got that big bed in March 1969,,, I did buy some DOORS albums during 1969 after hearing them in Vals room, If I were a normal male who had no interest in being something far beyond my familys economic level to help I would have had my own job and own place to live by 1969 and not have to put up with my father or his obnoxious sister and niece and my fathers familys lack of morality,,, Still took that Hannah Penn walk constantly. Usually went downtown in the daytime and then out that way later,,, I probably received my notice to appear for the DRAFT PHYSICAL for the Vietnam War in March 1969,,, Went to Martin Libary a lot,,, The family fortune went up until late Nov 1964 and then it kept going down afterwards. And giving up the good-paying jobs and moving to York was really the beginning of the end,,, 2-25-00,,, Couldnt go on York College campus in those days. Back then you were supposed to be accepted at the college to go on its campus, you couldnt just hang there or just take a class,,, Still never wrote to anyone but Jimmy wrote to others. I recall my mother told me he was coming to visit (When in 69?) and I cleaned up my room and I unthinkingly threw his letter in the empty trash can by the door to my room at the head of the stairs and it was the first thing he noticed. He visited every few months for years from 1965 to 1970, always in my fathers car. He was always buying the latest Beatles album to impress Loralee,,, My mother took courses at York Bank out on East Market street just before the I-83 overpass so she could be a teller downtown,,,, Jimmy and I played a lot of Photo-Electric Football and sometimes with the large metal hockey game,,,,, _______ _____ ______ APRIL 1969____ _____ __ :::::: York was still a nice place including downtown. Safe to go anywhere at night. Stores all still open late on Wednesdays and Fridays. No malls,,, Still had my ulcer, had to put up with father, aunt, and cousin who were nothing like my mother and me. Insomnia, nightmares. Walk downtown, walk thru Hannah Penn and to east side almost daily,,, In Martin Libary a great deal,,, Had my STRAT O MATIC BASEBALL GAME: liked to play with figuring out the probability and stats of it in order to make my own cards. Had the 1964, 65, 66, 67 and now the 1968 seasons as well as the Hall of Fame set. Liked to put my favorite pitcher of the old days, Walter Johnson against everyone else to see if he could duplicate his card record: 36-7 1.09. I first introduced Dennis to it and he always wanted to be the Orioles, which was boring for me. Then I introduced Skip to it and he also always wanted to be the Orioles. I was sitting on my bed re-playing the 1965 season (When? The Summer?) when I heard a fantastic crash like I had never heard in my life. A truck went through the stop sign and crushed my fathers car. I went out the front door with him and all he said quietly was, "My car". There went my drivers license that I was all set to take the test for. But their insurance guys got there immediately and gave my parents enough money for two cars) _____ DRAFT PHYSICAL::: I got my draft physical notice as I was expecting and waited for the day. That was a huge story in itself. I got up and left in the cold as my parents were still asleep. I walked down Cottage to George on a very bright, cold morning. Walked thru a dead town (It was still a vibrant town in April 1969) and to the ARMORY. I went in and stood on the left. We were lined up on both sides. A couple of guys didnt show up and we knew they were in trouble. Put us in buses to the north to some military base. Had to take written tests. First time I saw good cop, bad cop. Major ranted at us and said that even one point and we were in. Captain said not to worry about it. Test was easy except it had some pictures of farm implements on it that hillbilly guy near me knew and I didnt. He had a metal plate in his head from falling out of a barn and they kept calling him up. I had pile of papers from doctors in NY and Pa. Then we have to strip to underwear and follow dots. I found it very embarrassing. Two guys wore boxers and got laughed at. At one point we had to pass an open door with female secretaries inside and I creeped up to one side of doorjamb and then jumped across, hard to urinate for test at row of urinals, did extremely well on hearing test as I didnt blow out my ears with loud rock music like others. One guy was in sort of Mod clothes with a lavender ascot around his neck. I recall him talking in a side room between the written test and the physical, (It was sort of a balcony outside) At some point I was directed in a different direction than the others and didnt know it as I was still following dots. My rectangular box on the back of the folder we had to carry that listed our physical problems was filled and overflowed. We also had to carry our valuables in a little material bag. I then followed the dots and wound up in a huge room with hundreds of chairs. I sat way in the back left and there was one other guy way up in the front right. We were offered a box of chicken and stuff and I wasnt supposed to eat it due to my ulcer but I was very hungry, at one point a guy next to me was found to have a heart murmur, We also had to see a psychiatrist and the guy asked me why I was so messed up and what did I worry about. Well, there was no time or place to describe my life history so I just said, "everything" and he let me go, (What was I supposed to say? A constantly sickly childhood and almost dying a couple of times. Being all alone and having so much expected of me all my life? My familys financial problems?. My college money problems?. The insane teacher in 1959 and the organized mass terrorizing of me from 1959 to 1964? The constant pressure to always know everything and be the smartest in everything?. My fathers constant deamnds to also know all the working class things he knew about plumbing, and carpentry, and electrical work, and automotive and on and on while also being a big science brain? The fear of leaving my room as a kid as I was also constantly picked on outside? Being the smallest, sickliest kid in my classes for many years? The way my rotten girl cousin treated me from 1964 on as well as her obnoxious mother being able to turn my own father against me? The fanatical Catholic morality my mother expected of me? Now worrying about how the move to York would make my parents finances worse as they both lost good jobs they finally got and now had minimum wage jobs- and I had to return to college sometime paying out-of-state tuition which was much higher? ,, They told us it would be six weeks before we found out what our draft status would be. Then the bus took us all home. I waited in the lunchroom for hours and then in the bus for an hour. They dropped us out at the Armory and I walked home in the dark from there. York was safe at night then. Two days later I got a 1-Y which meant a one-year 4F but I could be sent for another draft physical in April 1970. I recall the INSTANT I came back from downtown one day in April and there was my letter, between the doors, from the draft board telling me weather Id live or die in Vietnam,,, Earlier in the year I had looked down the street and saw who I thought to be 'Skip', a guy in one of my classes in York High. He was the one who knew McLain would be great. But I wasnt sure. He just walked quickly into a rowhouse down the block and across the street. Now I ran into him somewhere else and he said he used to live there but now lived a couple of blocks down George St. We started hanging around together and I got him into SOM baseball and we'd play it all the time. Neither one of us could take the obnoxiousness and degeneracy of most stupid teenage males. Once we even played the game all night. I also got him into playing the huge metal hockey game I loved so much that I got other metal teams for. He worked at a drugstore as a soda jerk for 90c and hour. It was on West Market and, I believe, Penn Street which didnt have the onus then it would have later,,, I never seemed to run into Skip and Dennis at the same time. There seemed to be periods when just one or the other was around and never both at the same time,,,, 2-4-00,, age 19,,,2-23-00: They had COLORED EASTER CHICKS downtown in the basement of one of the 5&10s. McCrorys!,,,, I was also down there once sometime in 1969 to get a big black coat that everyone later thought was leather but was just plastic,,,, Took walks downtown daily,,, Sometimes went up to Northgate and JM Fields Dept Store,,, Out to YORK COUNTY SHOPPING CENTER,,, The DOGHOUSE became the YORK HOUSE,,, To Martin Library,,, Father was loading trucks at McCrorys distribution center just past The York County Shopping Center. In between it and the YCSC would be the new YORK MALL. I had never seen where my father worked. Never went out there that far,,, I dont know when my mother started working at the bank downtown at West Market and North Beaver but I do know that at some point she got a parking spot for her car where the city main bus depot now is near the Codorus Creek but I think that was later. I think we parked in it to see a HALLOWEEN PARADE once. I used to drop by and talk to her at the York Bank,,, _____________ ____________ MARCH 1969: _____ SATURDAY MARCH 1, 1969:NEW ORLEANS BUSINESSMAN CLAY SHAW ACQUITTED OF CONSPIRING TO KILL JFK,,, _____ SUNDAY MARCH 2: Nixon meets Pope Paul,,, 'THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE' released,,, USSR AND RED CHINA CLASH IN BATTLE,,, ______ MONDAY MARCH 3: GOLDA MEIR INTERIM PM OF ISRAEL,,, THREE US ASTRONAUTS BLAST OFF IN APOLLO WHICH WILL LAND MEN ON MOON LATER,,, ______ MONDAY MARCH 10: UNEMPLOYMENT AT LOWEST LEVEL SINCE OCT 1953,,, JAMES EARL RAY PLEADS GUILTY TO KILLING ML KING,,, US SUPR CT DECLINES TO PUT OFF INDUCTION OF GRAD STUDENTS UNTIL END OF SCHOOL YEAR, many flee to 'communes',,, _____ THURSDAY MARCH 13: THREE ASTRONAUTS RETURN SAFELY,,, _____ FRIDAY MARCH 14: NIXON TO PROCEED WITH ABM,,, WEST GERMAN CT SENTENCES ASSASSIN OF LEFTIST STUDENT LEADER RUDI DUTSCHKE,,,, _____ SATURDAY MARCH 15: RED CHINA AND USSR TROOPS FIGHT AGAIN,,,, _____ MONDAY MARCH 17: GOLDA MEIR SWORN IN AS PM,,,, ______ MONDAY MARCH 24: US SAYS IT WONT ATTEMPT SCHEDULED MAY 1969 LUNAR LANDING,,, KASAVUBU DIES,,, ______ TUESDAY MARCH 25: IAN PAISLEY GOES TO JAIL (N IRELAND PROT EXTREMIST),,, SPR CT RULES COPS MUST READ RIGHTS IMMEDIATELY,,, ______ WEDNESDAY MARCH 26: N KOREAN AND S KOREAN TROOPS CLASH,,, ______ FRIDAY MARCH 28: RUMANIA REFUSES TO SIGN STATEMENT CONDEMNING THE WEST,,,, PRESIDENT EISENHOWER DIES,,,, ______ MONDAY MARCH 31: "SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE" PUBLISHED,,, 44% APPROVE OF NIXONS HANDLING OF THE WAR, 26% DISAPPROVE,,, fri 2-4-2000,,, ____________ APRIL 1969____::: APRIL 2, 1969: Ike buried in Kansas,,, APRIL 3: Vietnam deaths now pass Korea's,,, 'Goodbye Columbus' released,,, APRIL 4: First artificial heart in patient,,, Memphis looting,,, APRIL 4: Admiral Gorshkov denies USSR ships to Pacific vs China,,, APRIL 5: Anti-Viet march in NYC,,, ______ SUNDAY APRIL 6, 1969: EASTER SUNDAY: I dont recall Easter Sunday 1969,,, 2-16-2000,,, ______ MONDAY APRIL 7, 1969: THIS IS THE DAY MENTIONED ON MY DRAFT PHYSICAL REJECTION I GOT IN THE MAIL. Did I go to take my physical the Friday before Easter? Or earlier? Or did I take it on this date and was I rejected immediately? ,,, APRIL 9: Harvard admin bldg seized,,, APRIL 11: AFL-CIO denounces Walter Reuther of UAW,,, APRIL 13: Heart transplant patient dies,,, APRIL 17: Sirhan Sirhan found guilty,,, APRIL 18: Nixon: No immediate plans to reduce forces in Vietnam,,, APRIL 22: First total eye transplant,,, First solo sea voyage around the world,,,


MAY/JUNE/JULY 1969

________MAY 1969_____ :::: I dont recall anything about May 1969 as all I did was relax, walk the streets, and go to the hospital every time my ulcer flared up,,, I may have met Skip again for first time since York High in either Late April or May 1969,,, Took my long walks down Cottage to Hannah Penn to Sherman St and up probably 20 times a month- and then back he same way,,, still on ulcer diet,,, still played SOM game as most guys my age were either drafted into the military or away at college,,, played hockey game,,, walked around downtown and at shopping centers,,, guess I got my haircuts at that little place next to Ordell Braases TREMONT restaurant on Cottage Place. And maybe some around the corner from Cottage on George where that right-wing barber had stuff in his windows supporting the war in Vietnam,,, I followed the Mets and Skip followed the Orioles. He kept a scrapbook of Oriole clippings and the Orioles were having a fantastic year. They were one of the all time superteams and would win 109. I was just happy my Mets were not in the cellar as always,,, Went to Martin Library,,, Watched softball games at Allen Field,,, When noone around, noone put fanatical achievement pressure on me,,, (Linus: "There is no heavier burden than a 'great potential'" . Note especially when your parents are broke and you have to maintain the ethics of a priest as well),, Between those who wanted to Harm me, those who wanted to Use me, those who wanted to Corrupt me and those who Expected so much of me than from normal people. Being so much was terrible but not as bad as dealing with enemies and demanders constantly,,, Something really bizarre happened in, perhaps, June 1969. I was in the living room of my aunts house (I could get along with my two male cousins and my father would have me run errands to his sisters house) and Loralee goes up the stairs and brings me back her 1969 high school graduation photo. It says on it (Get this!): "To my favorite cousin. Stay as great as you are". Considering that she treated me like absolute crap since 1964 except for those times that she wanted to sneak something out of me, it was unbelievable. If I was her 'favorite' cousin she must have shot the others. Of course, I was also the ONLY cousin around. Once I recall Cousin Freddie showing up from Missouri and everyone who had a uniform wore it that day in her house during that year sometime,,, I was 19,,, 2-23-00: Some times in 1969 Jimmy T. visited. Once we took him to Gettysburg and we went into, I think, Lees Headquarters and there was a great book about the battle for sale and he jumped ahead of me to get it and I got the second best one but I figured I would be back many more times than he was,,, On a couple of the trips Jimmy T. bought a bunch of the great non-bite CREAM SODA they then sold in York to bring back home with him. We got it way over on East Market street before the LINCOLN HIGHWAY GARAGE,,,, Once Jimmy T. and I were sitting on my front porch swing talking and a cop came by to tell us to be quiet. I was in my 40s before I realized that my neighbors probably called him. Across the street then was a grocery and it had put soda machines outside and it was nice to walk across the street to get them on a hot night cheaper than in NYC and it was much quieter and nicer,,, We played Photo-Electric Football and my big metal hockey game,,, I walked downtown and to the Northgate and Fields and to the York County Shopping Center and sometimes went to Queensgate with my mother or alone to go to the Hobby Shop with the Model Motoring racetracks upstairs,,, Mother worked at York Bank where I visited her, father worked at McCrorys Warehouse,,, took Major for walks,,, Someone took me to a record store on the second block of North George St near the GOD IS LOVE MISSION across from THE SHAMROCK and in it were zillions of old records for sale in an old bldg. Perhaps it was where the corner lot is now,,,, ___________ JUNE 1969______:::: Here I also just walked around, went to some York Pirate games (They would be Eastern League champs that year), and go to the York Hospital for my ulcer. Downtown York was still very nice, very middle or upper middle class, the nights very safe.,,,, The semester I dropped out of would be ending in June 1969 and I was supposed to be back in Sept 1969,,,, NY TIMES, June 27,1969: "York,Pa curfew imposed after 2 nights of false fire alarms and firebombings" I absolutely do not recall the preceding taking place in June. I thought it all took place in July. Maybe we went back to NYC then? We still went back and forth once in a while to visit relatives in NYC,,, I was 19,,, Took my daily long walk to downtown and maybe to North York or Queensgate. Took my near daily walk down Cottage to the park, thru Hannah penn area to Sherman street and up. Came back at night,,, This may have been when I played a type of Frisbee ball on the corner of West Cottage and South Cleveland in the parking lot across from Ordell Braase's TREMONT. I knew how to throw it low and make it rise over the heads of Skip and his youngest brother and they couldnt figure out how to do it,,, Still had ulcer and insomnia/nightmares but not as bad as when at school,,, Still played Strat O Matic game and broke down its math codes,,, At Martin Library,,, At Allen Field softball games,,, Still hung out with either Dennis or Skip,,, Played hockey game with Skip,,, Put up with obnoxious aunt and nasty, degenerate girl cousin,,, Went to YORK PIRATES GAMES. Often just a few others there but businesses would buy up tickets to make gate look much better. They were pennant contendors, too,,, I was 19,,, Skip and I were walking one afternoon- wa sit by the Market St bridge on west side? and some guy called us over. I refused to go as people always called me for bad reasons. Skip went. He came back with free beer the guy gave him (I THINK it was June),,,, Across from Skips house on S.George by the alley they turned the candy store where I got the Guinness Book of World records in 1966-67 into a Porno Store. And a very pretty girl ran it. We would call it Patricias Pornographic Palace. We never even tried to go in and avoided those who did,,, I think that on every Saturday Id watch a TV show called 'The Ghost and Mrs Muir', a romance. Or was that 1970?,,, Mets and Orioles doing well daily,,, 2-23-00: Skip and I were still hanging around a lot together. He still worked at the pharmacy on West Market Street at Penn St across from the place with all the great baseball magazines,,, Strat-O-Matic baseball,,, I had a MECHANICAL DIGITAL WATCH which was rare then. It was the forerunner of the later electronic digitals. It had a disk that turned to show numbers rather than hands. Bill N. said, "This is an expensive watch". I had no idea how much was paid for it. I dont recall how I got it. In those days the REALLY expensive watches were the ACCUTRONS which ran on tuning forks,,, Mother worked at York Bank. At some point father left McCRORYS to work at HESS GAS on West Market Street by fairgrounds,,, I visited both parents where they worked,,, ________ JULY 1969______ Is this when I got another permit and started driving my fathers car? I had so many permits through the years and my father never had time to teach me and was a nasty perfection-demander when he did. :::: I dont recall July 4, 1969 but I kept following the NY METS and went to York Pirates games, walked around a great deal, went downtown, went to hospital about my ulcer. I know that my parents and I went to the GETTYSBURG BATTLEFIELD together via car one day. I was really depressed and my ulcer was bad and I lay in the back seat. On the way I noticed us go by some sort of big statue on a store between York and Gettysburg and I didnt get up in time to see what it was. At Gettysburg we first stopped at the diner along the rr tracks in the middle of town. Then I recall walking up the metal observation tower they had even though I hated heights and how our car was right below. I also recall being at the Eternal Light and waking around. And there was a bust of a Union officer at the place behind the rocks where the Union line was (Little round top?) and it had a shiny nose from everyone touching it and I told my mother she should use her powder on it and my father said we shouldnt do that as it was disrespectful. We also went to Lees HQ which was all by itself and sold books. I think there now are huge ugly bldgs on each side now,,, 2-1-00 THE YORK RIOTS: NY TIMES, July 19, 1969 (Day it happened, paper was 7/20): " City council bans sale of gasoline, guns, and alcohol after policeman is wounded, _____JULY 21: " Negro woman killed by sniper while driving car through disorder area, curfew imposed, state of emergency declared by Mayor Snyder (The same little smiling quiet mayor I stood next to in 1965), _____JULY 22: " Governor Shafer calls out National Guard to quell mounting racial violence, injuries now total 37, 19 persons convicted thus far for curfew violations, most of those convicted are whites, City council bars all but law enforcement authorities from carrying firearms or explosives, police officials link disorders to Negro youth falsely accusing whites to setting fire to his clothing, _____JULY 23: Natl Guard, state and city police patrol streets to maintain calm, state of emergency continues, _____JULY 24: calm continues as Guard continues to patrol streets, _____JULY 26: Shafer orders phased withdrawal of Guard as disorders ease, police, guarded by Guardsmen, search 8 houses in Negro section and seize 21 weapons and 893 rounds of ammunition, Negro community leader IA Kittrell says without Guard protection police probably would have been greeted with gunfire from 'black militants' , claims Negro community has to arm itself against white gangs which terrorize area because police provide no protection, _____JULY 28: state police and Guard units leave, _____JULY 31: PTL H. SCHAAD dies of wounds recd during recent incidents of sniper fire."______ Note that the sudden death of my little nice town of York,Pa that my parents gave up everything to move to took place just about 8 months after they moved there. AND when I dropped out of college to relax in a peaceful town. AND during the MOON LANDING which I waited for since I was a little kid. What I recall was sitting on Skips front steps with him on South George street watching a HALFTRACK go by and knowing that it was getting close to CURFEW. Curfew started at something like 7pm when the Sun was still way up in the Summer. Id then go home from his place down to Cottage and Right to home. Later that year I would work with the girl whose father was the cop who died). This July destroyed York. Whites left in droves after this. They would not go out at night anymore. Downtown began to die. I still meet people who say that they have NEVER returned to downtown York since the riots of 1969. 2-1-2000,,, Took my walk thru Hannah Penn to Sherman St,,, Had ulcers and Gelusil diet,,, Put up with nasty aunt and heartless girl cousin,,, played baseball board game and hockey game,,, went to YORK PIRATES GAMES,,, Followed Mets and Orioles,,, Wanted to build myself up so my father drove me to YORK BARBELL, first time I was ever inside, but they sold nothing for beginners. So we went to SEARS ROEBUCKS at York County Shopping Center and I got a Ted Williams weight set,,,, at Martin Library,,, at Allen Field softball games,,, ,,,2-4-00,, 2-16-2000,,, 2-23-00: Walked to stores downtown,,, To York County Shopping Center,,, bus to Queensgate,,, Mother worked at YORK BANK, father worked at HESS GAS, visited them both. My father once climbed up the hood of a big rig to do the windshield and the driver stopped him as he said he'd crack the fibreglass hood (I think this actually happed in 1970. I know it happened right when they gave the details of the NFL/AFL merger when teams would switch leagues),,, played hockey game with Jimmy and Skip and Dennis?,,, maybe this is when Jimmy beat me to that book at Gettysburg,,, There were characters in York that year: 'Popeye', who is still around in 2000 and has a son: he looked like Popeye and carried a pipe thrust up and mumbled and walked like Popeye. Waterhead who had the huge head from water on the brain. Flycatcher: A girl whose mouth was permanently jammed open, and numerous people with one crippled arm, and a giuy called SANTA CLAUS who would later die on line at the York Bank,,, age 19,,, ______________ _________________ GENERAL SUMMER OF 1969 ______ ______ :: Skip and I and his younger brother would toss the Frisbee in the alley along his house but we never went near the PENN PARK end as the MAI TAI bar was there where Black guys were always hurting each other,,,, We got CABLE TV and I recall the guy coming all the way up to my third floor room to bore a hole and put the wire thru the wall,,, There had been pickets outside the STRAND CAPITOL dowtown protesting cable TV with signs that said, SAVE FREE TV. They feared ALL TV would have to be cable in the future. Why they marched there I dont know,,, Id sit on the porch at night alone in the quiet. Very few cars. YORK JUNIOR COLLEGE was then a two-year Junior College with only day classes,,, We got an AIR CONDITIONER. My father put it in the rear living room window facing the backyard. But he put books under it including my set of square World War Two books I had just bought. They mildewed and he later threw them out. They were once a month books but then they sent the whole last half all at once and said the bills would be monthly as always,,,, We had cookouts in the yard. Perhaps Uncle Johnny T. and Aunt Irene came,,, Cyclamates were banned which meant no more FIZZIES but I didnt know that at the time,,, Granny Glasses appeared in York and I couldnt see how anyone would wear anything BUT hornrims,,, One time I was downtown and the girl who people in high school tried to get me to kiss in a class play came up to me dressed like the most extreme type of hippie and asked for something called 'spare change'. took me a second to realize she wanted money so I gave her something,,, 2-23-00,,, age 19,,, ______________ _______________ _______________ GENERAL 1969: _____:: I was still getting those 'ice cube' chocolates that they never had in NYC,,, That second hand comic place was, I believe, still in that basement across from the Catholic Church on S.George St,,, Dennis wanted my 1969 Orioles Yearbook and traded me a hardcover of Mickey Mantles "Quality of Courage" for it. I believe that was the only book or magazine I ever traded (or sold),,, No nachos in those days and I couldnt find a Nestles chocolate bar anywhere in York: I figured it had something to do with Hershey being so close,,, I read a lot when I went to Deenas: She had Almanacs,,, I never even paid attention to the Elementary school across the street and right behind the houses. Never knew its name or went into it until the 1990s,,, Skips youngest brother would climb out of his second floor window on S.George St. and climb down the tree to the sidewalk in front of his house. Tree gone now as is the house next to theirs,,, I heard that Freddy was in Aerospace before he left college and went into the service,,, I took a lot of slides with that camera I got: EH 126-20 film,,, 2-24-00,,, Finances just kept going down during 1969. They had been diminishing since late Nov 1964 but they really stated back down when my parents moved permanently to York in Nov 1968,,, 2-25-00,, The Grosses next door got a dog at some point but I have no idea of the year. Its name, I believe, was Baron Von Snoopy and was a dachshund. It hated me for some reason. One day when it ran up the back steps after barking at me it yelped and I think it hurt its private parts. After that it wasnt so mean to me. I wonder if it thought I had something to do with it but I was no where near,,, Every time my father would go to the supermarket hed ask me if I wanted anything. And he NEVER once got me what I wanted. All I ever heard was insults when he returned, "What?! Were you crazy? Do you know what that cost?" And it was always just something like some Oreos or something. He always insisted on getting the cheapest, crappiest substitutes for everything even in 1964 when he had lots of money. I finally just gave up on the bastard as he never once got anything and he was always nasty and attacking when he returned. What a bunch of obnoxious scumbags my fathers side of the family was,,, In either 1969 or 1970 Skips sister got thrown out of her parents house when they caught her in bed with a cop,,, The TOM PAINE SOCIETY was right near city hall and the police dept. It was a very left-wing anti-war group,,, I was in Skips house once and there was a NFL game on Tv and they were in CHICAGO and it looked like they were playing in a huge snowstorm,,, My mother would make potato pancakes, pork chops with onions in the pressure cooker, stew in the same cooker and big cakes in a large rectangular pan,,, Id also go to the BOOKLAND on Edgar Street every Sunday. The shelves were angled differently then as there was little shoplifting,,, 2-25-00,,, age 19/20,,, There was a big square plot of hard dirt in front of the house on which nothing grew. My father kept transplanting grass from the backyard until he got it growing,,, Father also planted things in backyard. Especially tomatoes,,, We now had no roaches but a few waterbugs. My father wanted to keep them as he thought they kept away the roaches,,, I wrote my first letter to the editor. I think in Summer to the Gazette and Daily about Lincoln,,, I was sitting on the circle in front of GC MURPHYS in the warm weather and all of a sudden a woman falls down for no apparent reason. The older man next to me told me to run in and get some ice in a napkin for her at the counter and I did and they took it from there. Broken nose??,,, At night Id see the LINCOLN WOODS way back there in the dark at the dge of civilization at night and think about how LONG it would take to be 21. Yet I was already 19. Shows how long a year is when young,,, Soon after I returned from college in Feb 1969 Id sit in my room with only a candle lit, sip blackberry brandy and listen to DOORS albums. THEY I did not have to teach myself to like,,, We always had a FIRE EXTINGUISHER at the top of the basement stairs,,, My parents drove us out to a park way, way out east and then south in York County. I was laying in the back as my ulcer/worrying/depression was really hig that day,,, I was in Dennis's house once and his father was lying on the couch to the left of the front door diagonally across from the Jackson School on Jackson St. with his face towards the back and Dennis told me he was dying of cancer. He was only in his 40s. Later that year Dennis was at my door asking to use my phone as his father died. He said that as they took him away in the ambulance he was yelling repeatedly, "I dont want to die.",,, Skip said that Nixon would be a one-term president. I knew he was a Democrat but if i had known what an extremist obnoxious nut he would turn into I would never have bothered with him. In the end almost everyone turned bad on me,,, Soon after we got the new huge bed on the third floor I hung epees above it with the little metal chains they sold in the vending machines,,, Johnny Carson started making fun of how 'tariffs' used to be things people fought over. It sure sounded archaic then. Now the loss of tariffs destroyed the working class as well as scientists and engineers,,, Friday 2-25-00 351 pm,,,


AUGUST/SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1969

______ AUGUST 1969____ _____ _____:::::: I believe I had my permit at this time and was practicing in my fathers car,,, age 19,,, I kept following the METS, went to the hospital about my ulcer, walked, walked, walked around,,, Aunt Vi was still rude to my mother and to me as she could hide behind my father, Cousin Loralee was a bitch as always who was only nice to people to get something from them and neither one of them gave a damn about how they mistreated others. They remained two bitches who only cared about greed and mistreating others,,,,, I dont know if it was July or August that I was walking up towards the area between North York and Roosevelt Avenue where his girlfriend Roxanne was,,, Right about the time I was walking north with Dennis I went up there by myself a couple of times as it was a new area to me and I kept going until I hit the new US 30 they were building. The sun was going down and I was walking right along the middle of it until I reached North George Street and the Northgate Shopping Center. Really lonely, quiet walk with no human life around. ,,,,, They were also building the bigger YORK MALL at this time way out east of town beyond the York County Shopping Center,,,,, York still had a lot of people downtown during the Summer BUT now they rushed home before sundown. I recall an old man asking me to escort him home from the center of town down to where he lived on South George as he feared it. It was getting close to sundown on a Friday night.,,,, Young blacks would wander about in the daytime looking for Whites to pick on,,,,, I got a one-day job at the new BON-TON that was opening up at the new NORTH MALL they were building along the new US 30 that was simultaneously being built beside it. It was to do inventory. I started out like everybody else setting up the store and counting the items in the air conditioned store. Then they needed two people out of all the dozens to go outside in the sweltering heat and work on the yard supply stuff. Naturally I was one of the two chosen. Later on some girl who was a full time decorator chose me to help her put up decorations by holding her ladder. She later congratulated me for not trying to look up her skirt- like the typical male low IQ degenerate of my generation. I got invited to her house downtown around from the Library on N Duke Street. She turned out to be one of the Loose types who slept on a mattress on the floor and I knew what that meant so after I left I never returned.,,, This was the first month of the DIVORCED WOMEN as well. The girls who married scumbag, sexcrazed low-IQ, dope ridden, unfeeling, dishonest guys in 1967 while treating the decent guys like crap were now all starting to get divorced. And now they came after us nice guys they mistreated years earlier. like we should have no memories and we should want the defiled leftovers of the scummy guys to be the mothers of our children. This was also when I learned the term, "A user and a gold-digger" although most of these types wanted a scummy, worthless guy for their first marriage and a guy whose daddy had money for their second marriage. They seemed to make an exception in my case as I was still matriculated in a college and that meant a lot of money in those days whether or not one had a monied daddy. But I wanted nothing to do with those kinds of women,,, I also spent a lot of time in the Martin library downtown on East Market St,,, Took the walk down Cottage Place to Hannah Penn and to Allen Field to watch softball games with a soda in one hand and potato chips in the other,,, Went to York Pirates game,,, had SOM baseball game and hockey game,,, hung with Dennis and Skip,,,age 19,,, WSBA came out with big Hippie flower stickers and I put one on my third floor mirror which is still there,,, more and more divorcees appearing with the guys all away at college or in the army. I didnt want them,,, I think this is when we took MAJOR in to get his nails clipped. Sometime later we smelled something rotten. The clipper had cut his toe and it was all infected. Had to have one toe operated on but he was never 100% again. My mother didnt like it when I called him 'pegleg' although it didnt affect his walking,,, Worrying and depressed and insomniatic and ulcerated,,, I think this is when my Uncle Johnny came and gave me that all metal chess set. He was there to bring a package from where he worked to a plant in York. Bowen-McGlothlin? I had no idea where it wa sbut we found it way west of York all by itself with army tanks in the middle of nowhere,,, followed the Mets whil Skip and Dennis followed the Orioles,,, I got along fine with Cousins Bill and Steve except for the few times they expected me to be the big brain or when they picked up some little male crudity from stupid males,,, 2-4-00,,, Skips father once came out his front door with a small green bag that laughed. Had a small metal box inside,,, I was once with Dennis when he, who was broke, was going to buy an expensive piece of jewelry for his girlfriend Roxanne and he was all bent out of shape about the expense and I asked, "How come guys are supposed to buy all this crap for girls anyway? Why doesnt they buy it for us instead? Who ever said that we're supposed to buy them like whores, anyway?" All he could say was, "Thats the way it is". yes, And thats why men treat women like objects, because they have to be purchased like everything else we buy and then they wonder why theyre treated like 'objects'. Well, Duh!,,,, Went to some Oriole games with Skip and his father. Once I mentioned that the big thing for a Mets fan was to hope to rise out of last place (This must have been earlier in the season, probably May or June),,, At some point I realized I had to come up with a lot of money to return to college. The original plan was to just use the money that IU gave me back when I dropped out as I got it all back. But moving to York caused my parents to have much lower incomes and some of the money was used to survive. PLUS I got a big shock when I learned at some time that the TUITION WENT UP 50% WHILE I WAS GONE!!! An attack by the Indiana legislature on the students they thought were all Hippies,,,, 2-23-00: I was at a YORK PIRATES GAME and it ended and I went back behind near homeplate where the Home locker room bldg was and all these people were nearby. Some guy walked stark naked to the entrance which face away from the field who had an athletes physique and these two teenage girls were there just staring and blushing and being embarrared as hell,,, Went downtown and to Queensgate and to YCSS and to Northgate.,,, visited parents at work. Would often stand across the street from the York Bank in the BonTon foyer waiting for her at lunch and we'd eat together,,, Father working at Hess,,, I was walking past Skips house one day around noon and a car pulled up and this blabk prostitute gets out of the car and comes up to me and says singingly, "Whatcha doing?" I said 'Walking' and got away quickly,,,, Skip and I found an ad on South George Street where PEP BOYS was then and McDONALDS is now for a sex divice called a 'duo-stimulator' and thought it was hilarious,,, Skip had a tear gas gun lent to him by his older sister as York was getting bad fast after the riots,,, Jimmy visited once in a while but I dont recall how often,,, I recall Dales parents came to visit and led us to a restaurant with a big Amish figure my parents never stopped at and we ate there. Then they took us to see their relatives and then we went home. But they stayed in a motel,,, 2-23-00,, age 19,,, _____ _____ _____ SEPTEMBER 1969____ _____ ___ :::::: Took the walk thru Hannah penn to Allen Field softball games many, many times,,, More of those damned divorced-after -two-years-to -a-scuzbag girls were showing up to be nice to nice guys now that they were all worthless,,, Had ulcer and Gelusil pills,,, Followed York Pirates to their winning the pennant!! But Angel Mangual lost Triple Crown on last day of season and the playoffs were cancelled so they were declared champs,,,, SOM game and hockey game,,, Skip and Dennis,,, Divorced girls appearing after marrying scummy guys and treating nice guys like crap- and now being nice too late,,, Obnoxious Aunt I had to take crap from who spent her time drinking beer and going to racetracks instead of taking her kids to church to learn some morality,,,, Obnoxious girl cousin was really getting haughty and nasty towards me at this time. What a self-centered reptile. And never had the slightest guilt about the way she treated people. Why should she? Her mother and her uncle (my father) got away with it. But it was all held up on their hiding behind my father. Were he dead I would have spat in their faces,,, Followed the METS to the Eastern Division NL pennant over the Cubs. Watched them win the playoffs in three straight over Atlanta with Hank Aaron. And they were to meet the ORIOLES for the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP,,, age 19,,, Followed the Jets, hoping they could win the Superbowl again!,,, 2-4-00,,Did US 30 first open in Sept 1969?,,, At sometime around this time I was in front of Loralees place and made the mistake of saying a sentence to her. I knew better. Everything out of her mouth was always either stupid or evil as her whole mental system was upside down. But there was some guy in a wide convertible she was talking to and I asked, "What do you see in that guy?" She answered, "He's not much but look at the car he drives" My GOD! was that ever shallow and whoring. And that moment it struck me: I knew EXACTLY what she was and what her future would be. She was what guys called, "A User and a Golddigger". You never see it when its staring you in the face IF its in your own family. NOW it all fell into place. She would now be just like all these divorced whores who wanted nothing to do with me in the 60s and were all over me now that they were divorced. She would marry a scimbag guy, get divorced two years later (Actually, it became three), then be friendly to me, then try to marry a guy whose daddy had money. She was now going through the "Chase scummy guys and spoiled rich kids phase and be mean to decent non-rich guys phase" Because she was two years younger than the girls in my classes she was now hitting what they were in 1967. But I had NEVER heard of the 'rotten to nice guys' phase including male RELATIVES. That meant she was even more ROTTEN than most of my rotten generation of women. Well, at least I was no longer in the dark. Now Id just have to suffer thru the crap and hope I wasnt in York after her divorce from her still-coming first marriage. Id just have to put up with the immoral heartless bitch and her obnoxious mother if I wanted a place to stay while getting through college.,,, Was it in September that my fathers car was destroyed so I couldnt get my drivers license? My parents had been out shopping (Was it Saturday?) and had just parked it across the street and come in with the groceries. A semi driver was driving into the sun and couldnt see the stop sign. He hit a car on Manor Street. The car wound up hitting our tree and on our front yard. I was on my bed playing my Strat O Matic game. I heard a fantastic crash of metal. The truck was on top of my fathers car. My father went to the door and said, "My car" quietly. Some little kid was saved by the car. The truckers insurance co. quickly got a check to my father. My parents got TWO cars with the money. But there went my license.,,, 2-23-00: I guess we went to PINCHOT PARK LAKE on LABOR DAY as it was the first time my father was in York on that day that I know of and his family all got together there on that day. I had never thought ahead to what it would be like living in the same town as my fathers relatives. If I had known I would never have come to York. Suddenly I had bullies hiding behind my own father to annoy me and my mother,,, Went to DOWNTOWN STORES almost daily,,Took Hannah Penn to Allen Field walk almost nightly about 300 times that year. ,,, On the ULCER DIET all year,,, Visited mother and father at work. My father now sometimes worked at the SOUTH QUEEN STREET HESS GAS. It was still safe there then. The problems crept in from the West side of the CODORUS CREEK,,, I was still not menatlly stable enough to return to college in September 1969 and told my parenst I wanted to take another semester off and my college allowed me as well. I didnt have enough money now anyway since we had to spend some of what I got back AND they raised the tuition 50%!!. An extra $250 was 6 or 7 times that in todays 2000ad money. I missed my friends BUT wasnt as close to them as Id be later. Also I left a WINTER/SPRING SEMESTER and would have a hard time getting the right courses unless I also returned for a WINTER/SPRING SEMESTER,,, 2-23-00,, age 19,,, ___ _____ _____ _____ OCTOBER 1969 _____ _____ :::::: More divorced girls of my generation were showing up. The same monsters that were so rotten to decent men now were chasing us. To hell with them, I thought. Why should decent guys have to put up with that crap and then pretend they cared about such creatures?''' ,,, Now 20 years old,,, Still had my Strat O Matic game,,, Still saw Skip and Dennis, mostly Skip now,,, Walked to downtown,,, Took Hannah Penn walk but now worked nights,, To York County Shop Center- especially BOOKLAND. I didnt even know of the Edgar St Bookland until way after the YCSC one,,, Visited parents at their jobs,,, Strat-O-matic Game,,, Hockey Game,,, On ulcer diet,,, Followed NYC teams,,, _____ _____JM FIELDS_____ _____ :I went up north to JM Fields Dept store on the brand new US 30 and applied for and got a job. This was the place where I pushed the cart around in December 1966 buying my parents Xmas gifts. Did I get the job in Sept or Oct? They gave me $2.00 an hour as I had some college. The others got $1.60 and they were there for a while, Multiply those two figures by 6 to get 2000ad wages,,, I was barely there and there was some kind of contest and some fat stupid section-manager wanted me to take a photo with a camera I had never seen before. I never said I knew anything about cameras, they just put me there. So the photo didnt come out right and he jumped all over me. Luckily it was a Polaroid that could be done over. I hadnt touched a camera since the school camera in 1967 and it was nothing like this one. There was a woman at the other register who had been there, she said, since it opened. There was also a youner guy who was a Jehovah Witness who thought only 6000 people would 'go to heaven' and who tried to convert me. I said that with only 6000 winners it isnt worth his heaven. But I knew that all non-Catholics were corrupt despite what they said. Sure enough, he liked to go back and look through every girls newly developed film for risque photos. Something I had NEVER thought of doing as it violated privacy. I even knew that one girl who worked there told me that she was haing nude photos of herself made for her boyfriend in Vietnam and she was worried that he'd see them but I got to them first and gave them to her without his knowing what he missed,, Once I was putting something on a shelf in the little room right behind my register and WOW did I ever get a splinter up under my fingernail. Worst one of my life. I was more careful after that.,They had a really cheap place to eat across in the back of the store and I ate there enough but I had to eat at an odd time and it was TOO quiet and lonely to eat there ALL the time so I would leave, walk across the big parking lot, across the brand new US 30, across the little lot across the street, across the next small street to the NORTHGATE SHOPPING CENTER and then walk down to the little drugstore in the Center. In the back they had a serpentine counter and sold BLTs. I had some there with my mother so I knew of it, Next to that place was the little 5&10 with a tiny triangular counter to eat at, Another older worker than took me to two other places. One was NESS' across the Susquehanna Trail which had a counter inside and gas pumps outside and the pizza place on North George Street which was across from the brand new Dunkin Donuts (Was it there then?) and is now a cake place. Just before I left the job in November I was walking over that little corner lot between US 30 and The Shop Center and there was a little sign there that said, FUTURE HOME OF McDONALDS. Before that, noone in York knew what I was talking about when I mentioned McDoanlds., When the NORTH MALL finally opened I also ate at a NY Deli that opened right at the top of the stairs from Fields. It had very baroque long wooden booths and the ordering counter was in the back. I was almost always there alone. It had very good food. But was the most expensive of all the places.,, Heres a strong memory Im tring to put in place chronologically: I worked until 10pm and wanted to go to the York Fair. So when I got out I went as fast as I could to get all the way out to the Fairgounds from North York. I recall entering the Carlisle Avenue entrance. It was close to closing. Just as I go inside after working all day some guy grabs me by the arm as hes been grabbing guys to help take down the Fair as its the last day and its closing. The ONLY time I went there right after work was the only time I was offered the way to make money!!! I recall the shocked look on his face when I smiled and politely shrugged him off. So all I got to see was the closing minutes of the 1969 Fair and almost had to work as well,,, I was outranked by three bosses at JM Fields: The over all Store Manager who was a 60 year old white haired man who looked the part. Very well-dressed and dignified. The Asst Manager who was a 35-40? year old fat guy who wasnt dignified and always an annoyance. And the Camera Dept manager who was a 28-30? year old skinny guy who seemed like a slippery nasty street tough type of guy. The last two jerks were very immature and would fight constantly and put me, a 19 year old, in the middle as they constantly gave me contradictory orders and really put me on the spot about whom to obey. Then Id later see the two bastards at the Fields snack bar kidding around together and leaving me hanging, worried all that time. What human garbage to do that to someone like me,,,, My Camera Dept boss gave me Thursdays off which was the worst day to have off as that was PAYDAY! So I'd still have to walk all the way up there to pick up my paycheck every Thursday on my day off. I made $80, $62.50 after taxes. Multiply that by 6 or 7 for modern wages.,, The one good thing about having those damn Thursdays off was that I would have off on Thanksgiving. It was when I heard that the bastard was then going to make me WORK on Thanksgiving just so he could have off that I gave my notice a week or so before so HE'D get stuck with it, the bastard,, Naturally, the only World Series between 1949 and 1974 that I worked was the one of the MIRACLE METS. I had a pocket radio on the splintery wooden shelf in the back room behind the register and I stood back in that doorway as far as I could get away with to listen to the Series. I recall TOM SEAVER immediately giving up a Homerun to start the series. BUT the Series ended on a THURSDAY so I was home taking photos off the screen with my YASHICA EZ-MATIC.,, A good thing my miserable boss did for me was sell me that EZ-MATIC really cheap. It was a fantastic camera. By far the best I ever had. I walked around a lot that Autumn taking photos with it. He also later sold me a little cheap SUPER-8 camera for $5 that I never could get to work,, The store had a UNION! I cant figure why. Most people just got minimum wage and no benefits,, One of my first customers was a TEXAN who pulled out a big roll of bills to pay for something. I considered him an immature jerk,, The day the METS won the WS I walked into town right afterwards and at the firehouse on S.George Street they had a firedog placard with a Pro-METS message on it. That shocked me as York then had no NYers,,, I recall ordering a cake for my parents 21st anniversary on FRIDAY OCTOBER 24, 1969. It was at that little bakery at NORTHGATE SHOPPING CENTER and I got a card at the card shop next door. I remember taking the bus back for a change,,, I recall being in the back of my parents car on WEDNESDAY OCT 29, 1969 when they picked me up at JM FIELDS. The next day was my 20th birthday and as it was a Thursday it meant I had off. But I then had to walk up on my birthday to get my check. And what happened the next night which was FRIDAY OCT 31, 1969, Halloween. I thought sure I went to that parade with my parents and stood on West Market Street by the RR tracks in front of the Donut Shop and the Sporting Goods shop. ,,,There were two small back rooms in the camera dept. The one directly behind my register had all sorts of little things that would go out front on the shelves. The other one down and around the far end had all the developed film, The viewmasters were outside on that end,, The really expensive cameras were under the glass cases,,, We pushed a lot of GAF film,,, There was a huge model of a WANKEL ENGINE on an exhibet outside against the curb in front of the Supermarket between FIELDS and the NORTH MALL,, There was a cute redhaired girl who worked in JM Fields who was always friendly to me,, Most of the time I was bored out of my mind as I had few customers, But we were rarely let outside the counter like the others were due to the small expensive cameras,,, Viola showed up one boring afternoon when I was looking thru the shelves in front of the camera dept,, They once gave me a dept managers paycheck by mistake as I was wearing a sportscoat with my tie,,, They had a board next to where people picked up their pay which showed everyones miscounts,, We sold viewmasters,,_____ _____THE NORTH MALL_____ _____ 2-8-00 _______ In either October or November 1969 the NORTH MALL OPENED.________


NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1969/JANUARY 1970

_____ ______ NOVEMBER 1969_____ ______ :::::: Still working at JM FIELDS CAMERA DEPT having to deal with obnoxious bosses and the Jehovah Witness pervert,,, Walks to Downtown,,, Thru Hannah Penn walk,,, visited apernts at jobs,,, To York County Shopping Center,,, ulcer diet: and Gelusil tablets and liquid,,, Pushy Aunt and Cousin,,, STRAT-O-Matic Baseball Game,,, Took photos with my EZ MATIC YASHICA,,, More divorced girls of my generation showing up to bother nice guys they had treated rottenly,,, One night right at closing some idiot runs up the camera counter with DOZENS of films to be developed!! The Jehovah Witness guy and I had to stay late as the lights were going off to fill out a separtae bag for EACH one of them. The woman worked from when the store opened until late afternoon. 10am-6pm? The young guy then came on until closing at 10pm. I was there 1pm until 10pm. I forget when the dept manager was there,,, Followed the NY JETS again. Having a season just as good in 1969 as 1968,,,I think the time I saw the FUTURE HOME OF McDONALDS SIGN was some time during the week before THANKSGIVING,,, NOV 2: Wm Freedman, Man who broke Jap code in WWII dies,,, US troops puhed out of three bases in Central highlands,,, ______ MONDAY NOVEMBER 3: Nixon on TV asks for American support for his phased withdrawal,,, _____ TUESDAY NOV 4: ELECTION DAY: USSR writers union ousts Alex Solzhenitsyn,,, LINDSEY WINS RE-ELECTION AS MAYOR NYC,,, Nixon says SILENT MAJORITY supports him,,, ______ WEDNESDAY NOV 5: US Seanate unit votes to ban cigarette ads on TV after end of 1970,,, ______ THURSDAY NOV 6: US officials believe pull-out from Viet possible by mid-1971,,, ______ FRIDAY NOV 7: Oct jobless rate was 3.9%,,, NOV 8: US officials worried about food additives,,, ______ MONDAY NOV 10: Agnew attacks 'strident minority',,, ______ TUESDAY NOVEMBER 11, 1969: Veterans Day: Vets march to support Nixon and Vietnam, I PROBABLY HAD THE DAY OFF ,, Countdown to second manned moon landing going smoothly,,, Red China not voted into UN,,, ______ WEDNESDAY NOV 12: Funds voted for ABM,,,______ THURSDAY NOV 13: Agnew attacks news distortion,,, ______ SATURDAY NOV 15, 1969: 250,000 anti-war demonstrators in Wash DC,,, ______ NOVEMBER 18, 1969: Joseph P. Kennedy dies,,, Apollo 12 about to land on moon,,, ______ WEDNESDAY NOV 19: APOLLO 12 LANDS ON MOON,,, Congress permits draft lottery,,, ______ SATURDAY NOV 22: Gene isolated for first time,,, ______ MONDAY NOVEMBER 24, 1969: Lt Wm Calley charged for March 16, 1968 murders,,, Apollo 12 splashes down,,, Cowboy singer Spade Cooley dies,,, _____ WEDNESDAY NOV 26, 1969: Nixon signs draft lottery bill,,,______ THURSDAY NOVEMBER 27, 1969: THANKSGIVING DAY: I know I quit just before Thanksgiving Day because my bastard boss who made me take off on every THURSDAY/PAYDAY so I had to walk all the way up on my day off now, when that day would be GOOD for me as I could take off on Thanksgiving as it was my regular day off suddenly scheduled me for that day. Yes, for some reason we did NOT get the Holiday off. So I quit! Of course, I still had to walk all the way back for my last paycheck. I think they might have held one back as well. And the UNION, which I wasnt allowed to belong to all that time, suddenly took a huge amount out of my very last paycheck!!! I appealed but the crooks kept it. Noone got anything out of that union and my father said it was a shop union ruled by the bosses. The one very, very good thing I got out of that job was the EZ MATIC YASHICA CAMERA which is STILL the best camera Ive seen anywhere,, ______ SATURDAY NOV 29: United Mine Workers Pres. Tony Boyle denies union corruption,,, 2-17-2000____ ______ ____ ______ DECEMBER 1969::::::__ _____ _ Following Jets, Canadiens, and reading NY Daily News,,, visiting parents at jobs,,, Hannah Penn walk to Sherman St area,,, To York County Shopping Center,,, On ulcer diet,,, Now worried about how to catch up in Astro as I was now a year behind everyone else. Now I had a NEW thing to worry about.,,, Family fortune kept going down throughout 1969,,, 2-25-00,,, Strat-O-matic Game, was playing with breaking down the codes since 1965 so I could make my own cards,,,, At some time, I dont know when or even what year, Dennis gave me his BIG LEAGUE MANAGER game and it took a while but I found out it was based on the 1959 baseball season,,, _______BACK IN NEW YORK CITY___: I recall visiting the Mellingers in Astoria with my camera. I was on DITMARS/31st ST late at night with WAYNE M. and I was taking photos. One was when it was really cold and a little snow was coming down and I aimed it at the last stop of the subway line as we were crossing the intersection. It froze in the cold once but then I go a great highspeed night photo. We walked all the way down to 31st and Broadway as well one night. That night? I was also in Greenpoint taking photos from the Pulaski Bridge in the daytime. Lots of photos towards the Manhattan skyline. I was too young to realize I should have taken them of the stores of Greenpoint and Astoria as theyd all be gone in 20 years. I also think I saw an important basketball game with the Knicks and Baltimore Bullets on TV at Johnnies house. I think he was also telling me that the RUSSIAN navy was bigger than the US navy because thats what he said they told him when he was a sailor,,, _______ YORK___: I was out at night taking photos with Skip. We went downtown and I took a photo of him pretending he was coming out of the GOD IS LOVE chapel. Then I took a photo of the JACKS decoration. He took a photo of me in front of a sign that said DR. W. K. ,, Down at the movie theatre where CARLISLE meets West Market there were picketers in front of the theatre. I think they were protesting I AM CURIOUS, YELLOW so I took their picture and they thought I was a newspaperman. Some man said to us something about us not wanting something done to us that some girl did to a guy in the movie but I still couldnt understand what that had to do with it all. I just kept away from anything that offended me.,,,,, More divorced women were showing up to be nice to the decent guys they had rejected in the 60s for scuzzy guys,,, My Aunt and cousin were their unfeeling, unempathic selves,,, I followed the Jets,,, ______ JC PENNEY: ______ :: I was out of work for a couple of weeks but then I went to JC PENNEYS to work at their camera dept. I recall not too much before that being in the half-opened York Mall on a cold night and walking to the end and peering in to the yet unfinsihed JC PENNEY store. Little did I know at the time that Id be working there soon after it opened,,, The artsy girl from when I put up stock at the new BON TON in the Summer was in charge of all the decorating at this store. I went into the back with her a few times to help her set up stuff,,, I had a slightly younger co-worker there who was always really dressed up and looke dlike a male model,,, The store boss was a woman and that was the first time I worked for one. I was shocked later to see her with her husband pushing a baby carriage past my dept (Or was that in 1972 that I saw the two?),,, I first had an obnoxious male boss. Once before Xmas I wanted to buy something at tme camera dept when he and I and someone else was there and I got on the camera line during my lunch hour as a customer. He then yelled at me for getting on the line and told me to do it on company time when the line was shorter which I thought was 'illegal'. He was gone soon for some reason and the slightly older girl in the dept took over. Her father was the only person to die in the Summer riots,,, Then she was gone for a long while for an operation or something and suddenly Im in charge!!! ,,, There was a 19 year old girl who, I think, also decorated. She was having an affair with a 34 year old man in the storerooms in the back. And she grumbled to me about how everyone else thought it was terrible. I said nothing. I have a photo of her at home I took in my dept,,, I have a photo of me at that JC PENNEY register but I dont know if its early 1970, late 1969 or even Summer 1972,,, I could only leave the booth to straighten up the little weird stuff we had outside the camera dept which included knickknacks and candles. I liked the smell of the Vanilla Candles. We also had the GREETING CARDS to put back in their proper place. PEANUTS was still a huge fad. I was told to read the instruction books for all the expensive cameras so I did. Then this obnoxious Oriental woman who took care of the records between me and the door to the lot turned me in for reading during work. I told them I was supposed to do it but the female boss said I should learn all the cameras on my own time by taking the booklets home. I feared losing one of them,,, I recall waiting for the bus out to PENNEYS on a bright day in Dec 1969 and I was standing on the corner where NEWSWANGERS and the Jewelry Shop was and I suddenly realized that that moment would be in my brain forever. And it still is. Very vivid memory for decades.,,, 2-23-00,,, age 20,,, ______ MONDAY DECEMBER 1, 1969: The first draft lottery is held in Washington DC. I watched this on TV upstairs in my room. Too late for me. My rejection was in April. My birthday in this thing was really low, something like '40',,, ______ WEDNESDAY DEC 3: Marshall Voroshilov of WWII dies. I think in the summer I first read Marshall Zhukovs book,,, ______ FRIDAY DEC 5: Aviation pioneer Dornier dies,,, ______ MONDAY DEC 8: Price of free market gold drops to $35/oz,,, DEC 11: Nixon confers with LBJ,,, ______ FRIDAY DEC 12: Senate votes to outlaw cigarette ads after Dec 31, 1970,,, US bombs supply lines in Laos,,, ______ SATURDAY DEC 13: Britain to leave Libya in 1970,,, ______ SUNDAY DEC 14: MIT prof Millikan dies,,, House declares detergents to be major pollutants,,, ______ MONDAY DEC 15: Nixon announces withdrawal of 50,000 by April 15, 1970,,, ______ FRIDAY DEC 19: Fierce fighting on Cambodian border between US and Comm troops,,,_____ SOMETIME around here my father and I went out to look for a Xmas tree but the had a different type here. I dont recall if we found one like we had in NYC or not. I do know that the gas station by the brickyard where three streets come together near PSU-York is a place we looked for them and got one at least once or twice or more. Mt Rose at Boundary at ???. It was a TEXACO,,,, I recall going to QUEENGATE with my mother on the bus Xmas shopping in December 1969 and recall coming out of the 5&10. Its still there but will close soon,,, ______ TUESDAY DEC 23: Viet Cong begin three day holiday truce,,, ______ WEDNESDAY DEC 24: Large Xmas sales,,, ______ THURSDAY DECEMBER 25, 1969: CHRISTMAS DAY,,, ______ MONDAY DEC 29: NY film critics vote 'Z' as best picture of 1969 (Because its ultra-left anti-Fascist),,, ______ TUESDAY DEC 30: Nixon vows to balance budget,,, US gives NV a list of missing troops,,, USSR cutting back on space program,,, ______ WEDNESDAY DEC 31,1969: NEW YEARS EVE. This night was unbelievable! The last bus left just a few minutes after 10pm. The streets were covered with ice and mounds of snow. The wind and cold was terrible. I was five miles from home. At the very last second on Xmas Eve as they were turning out the lights another jackass evil customer ran up and dumped a whole pile of work on me while I was there alone. Then the scumbag ran back to his car. I had to stand there and once again fill out one back for each of the dozens of Xmas films. I then missed my bus. I recall walking all that distance home on the ice in the windy cold and not celebrating New years Eve because I needed TUITION MONEY. I especially recall the instant I started to cross the street by the YORK HOUSE restaurant where the gas station is now next to TACO BELL. I walked on the ice all the way into the center of town and then to home. : S.Afr PM Vorster refuses to relax apartheid,,, Spiro Agnew to Vietnam,,, 2-17-2000,,, ___ _____ _____ _____ JANUARY 1970::::::________ Followed Jets, Canadiens and read NY News,,, visited parents at work,, Sometimes waited in doorway of BonTon for mother to eat lunch with. ,,, Ulcer diet,,, Walk Downtown via George St,,, To YCSC,,, To Queensgate via bus,,, _______ JC PENNEYS_____: I was working in JC PENNEYS one day and who should come in but JC PENNEY himself! He looked just like the guy on the MONOPOLY GAME! And he was a very short smiling guy with two kids, boy and girl, who were in their teens and looke dlike his grandkids. The boy wanted to see a camera we had,,,, My Summer School Physics teacher came in to say the same thing he always said. He was with his wife. He said, "I still dont see how YOU could ever flunk Physics". His wife said, "Hes extremely intelligent: You can see it in the eyes". I had never heard that before,,, That was a time for compliments. Another time I was standing there when two slightly older women came in and one said, "Look!" as she approached me and the other said, "Yes, He looks like John Davidson". Huh!? I didnt look THAT good but I lapped the compliments up. I needed my ego to return to Astro after missing a year,,, ______ BACK IN NYC_____: I was in Dales parents house during the SUPERBOWL OF 1970 and saw the KANSAS CITY CHIEFS cream the MINNESOTA VIKINGS in Dales front room with his father,,,, At some other time I said I wasnt interested in watching golf on TV and Howie said, "Can YOU do it?" Which was besides the point. I cant balance a bunch of Dixie cups on my nose either but it wouldnt interest me as a TV sport,,, 2-24-00; I got a big box of Knickerbocker Jelly candies to bring back to IU with me in January,,, 2-23-00,,, _____ YORK_____: Billy and Steve were on the third floor of my house and they loved the PINBALL MACHINE I had gotten (For Xmas?). They also had a WALKIE TALKIE SET and sudenly some guy cut in very loudly complaining about them being on the air,,,, I later converted that pinball game into some sort of league and I would play against JIMMY and others as WORLD CITY TEAMS,,,, age 20,,, 2-23-00 533pm,,,


My Snazzy List of Links

MUSIC OF ALL OF 1969:
Music of March 4,1969: Reading Sherlock Holmes
Music of April 1,1969: Vietnam Draft Physical!
Music of May 6,1969:
Music of June 3,1969:
Music of July 1, 1969:
Music of August 5, 1969:
Music of September 2, 1969:
Music of October 7, 1969: J.M. Field's Camera Dept, Mets win W.S.!!
Music of November 4, 1969: J.M. Field's, car crushed?
Music of December 2, 1969: J.C. Penney Camera Dept.
Music of January 6, 1970:
Music of February 3, 1970:
Music of March 3, 1970: Back at I.U.
1970 Briscoe Quad: To The Next Page In Sequence---------------
Time and Date, 1969:
IDS- 2000:
HT-2000:
TO MAIN MENU:
THE NEW MALLS IN 1969-1970!!!: