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August 2010 |
Son13 and a couple of his buddies take to the river on a hot summer day.
There's a funny story about these inner-tubes. As last summer wore on all humid and hot, I tried to track down a source for inner-tubes -or even just one- inner-tube for my youngest son to use and share with his friends. But, alas, in our small town there were none to be had; every tire place and service station I called gave me some story about - what? I don't even remember - but it sounded suspiciously like a liability story. Apparently the general public could not be trusted *gasp* to use this large, complicated items as a toy. And I wasn't about to shell out big bucks for one of those tow-behind-your-boat fancy vinyl clad donuts either. Why has childhood become so complicated? I had a house full of hot and bored boys, a shallow river nearby, and I was running out of ideas. I picked up the phone one more time and called the very last tire place in the phonebook. And they guy answering the phone said, Well how many do you need? I have three in my garage at home and you can have them all. I'll bring them in to the shop tomorrow - we open at 8 am.
Huh. *cough* Well okay then. We acquired, not one, but three inner-tubes, gratis, just like that. I offered to pay for them but he said no, that he was just glad to free up some space. Guess where I'll be going to get my tires serviced from now on.
There's a funny story about these inner-tubes. As last summer wore on all humid and hot, I tried to track down a source for inner-tubes -or even just one- inner-tube for my youngest son to use and share with his friends. But, alas, in our small town there were none to be had; every tire place and service station I called gave me some story about - what? I don't even remember - but it sounded suspiciously like a liability story. Apparently the general public could not be trusted *gasp* to use this large, complicated items as a toy. And I wasn't about to shell out big bucks for one of those tow-behind-your-boat fancy vinyl clad donuts either. Why has childhood become so complicated? I had a house full of hot and bored boys, a shallow river nearby, and I was running out of ideas. I picked up the phone one more time and called the very last tire place in the phonebook. And they guy answering the phone said, Well how many do you need? I have three in my garage at home and you can have them all. I'll bring them in to the shop tomorrow - we open at 8 am.
Huh. *cough* Well okay then. We acquired, not one, but three inner-tubes, gratis, just like that. I offered to pay for them but he said no, that he was just glad to free up some space. Guess where I'll be going to get my tires serviced from now on.
For more Saturday Snap contributions visit Alyce at At Home With Books.
8 comments:
Wow, I can recall my own younger years just gazing at this photo. And I know what you mean about finding the simple things...I'm glad you were able to uncover some of these.
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Wow, that's a great shot! And looks like such fun. You're right about childhood becoming more complicated. I'm not sure how we all managed to get through it without a massive amount of special liability insurance!
Have a wonderful Saturday!
~ Joy @Joysweb
what a great story and wonderful river to play in!
That is a great story, and free is always the best! :) My grandparents always had inner tubes for us to play on and I had never thought of where they got them from.
That brings back memories of the time I went tubing down the Salt River in Arizona... many, many years ago.
laurel - yes I try and keep things a simple as possible.
bermuda - they had a blast! They'd run up the banks and ride down again and again.
jlshall - yes, amazing we survived childhood at all. There's a (sadly) funny list I've seen documenting all the 'hazards' of growing up in the '60s and 70s.
food for thought - it's a great little river, like it was made just for playing in.
alyce - I never thought much about them either until I couldn't find them!? But ya, free is best!
leslie - that sounds like fun too. It's such a great way to keep cool in hot weather.
This reminds me of the slide rock in Sedona we visited a few years ago. Tubing is always fun.
Looks so relaxing!
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