Christmas Parking Spaces

Is your house just a little crazy?  Yes, it is that time of the year when nerves are on edge and parking spaces are a big "no".  But I am good.  All the shopping is done and the wrapping, too.  Yahoo! 

Now for another back in the day memory.  Parking was always at a premium in Shawnee where we shopped for Christmas presents, but if you drove around the block about 18 times you will probably find a parking space.  The parking spaces were on a slant in front of all the stores.  The absolute premier parking space was right in front of Kress or perhaps between Kress and Woolworth's.  In those days it wasn't uncommon for people to leave their kids in the car while they shopped and that is exactly what we did.  Actually, we liked sitting in the car better than following mom or dad around shopping and besides they were playing Santa so even though we were old enough to know about Santa, we didn't want to rock the boat.  And besides..........you get to people watch.  And.......if you were ornery like my brother and me, you cause traffic to come to a halt........for a parking space!  Yep, we did that!  Here is how.  In those days there were no back up lights on cars.  So if you pressed on the brake, it looked like you were getting ready to leave.  You would be surprised how long a car would wait before they finally gave up and moved on.  Oh man, that was good entertainment for a 10 year old.  We would laugh and laugh over how clever we were. 

Just so you will know, even though we were in the car, we were checked on now and again.  Mom and Dad would bring packages and put in the car and see that we were OK; there might be a bag of chocolate covered peanuts if we were good.  What I also remember was how fun it was to watch all the shopper rush home with their treasures.  In tribute to all those long ago shoppers, here are the lyrics to that famous song "Silver Bells".     

Silver Bells
Writer: EVANS/LIVINGSTON


Silver bells, silver bells
It's Christmas time in the city
Ring-a-ling, hear them ring
Soon it will be Christmas day

City sidewalks, busy sidewalks
Dressed in holiday style
In the air there's a feeling of Christmas
Children laughing, people passing
Meeting smile after smile
And on every street corner you'll hear

Silver bells, silver bells
It's Christmas time in the city
Ring-a-ling, hear them ring
Soon it will be Christmas day

Strings of street lights, even stoplights
Blinkin' bright red and green
As the shoppers rush home with their treasures
Hear the snow crunch, see the kids bunch
This is Santa's big day
And above all this bustle you'll hear

Silver bells, silver bells
It's Christmas time in the city
Ring-a-ling, hear them ring
Soon it will be Christmas day

City sidewalks, busy sidewalks
Dressed in holiday style
In the air there's a feeling of Christmas
Children laughing, people passing
Meeting smile after smile
Soon it will be Christmas day