March 9, 2021
Growing Up In Bandera
By Glenn Clark
The Bandera Prophet
As kids we never could have imagined how advanced our vehicles would be as we entered into our golden years. We were more concerned with having a car or truck just for getting to school or dragging Main Street. I can't recall even one having air conditioning but most had an AM radio. For sure the trucks all had a gun rack in the back window and most likely a .22 rifle could be found hanging there.
State laws and interior vehicle designs have put a damper on one of my favorite things about being a teenage boy on a date. When a girl moved to the middle of the front seat it was an indication that the movie you were going to see wasn't going to be the highlight of the evening. Mandatory seatbelts, center consoles and captains chairs are depriving generations of teens of that special feeling. One of the many perks we enjoyed by being 60's teens in Bandera was making nightly trips up and down the main drag in town.
I can remember when four door trucks first came onto the market. They were kinda odd looking but they caught on fast. The single cab trucks were mainly used for work and going into town for supplies back in the day. The family car was used on Sunday with the whole family going to church services or maybe a trip to San Antonio for shopping. That is no longer the case due to the quad cab trucks.
When I was a kid learning how to drive in our old Chevy truck I had to step on the starter that was located on the floorboard. Today if we are going in my wife's car I start it from inside the house so it will be cool or warm when we load up. The heated and cooled seats with power lumbar make for an enjoyable ride. The retracting sun roof is what I considered a compromise to my wife always wanting a convertible.
I just tell that car where I want to go and it tells me how to get there with turn by turn directions. My wife still tells me how to drive occasionally so I guess some things will never change. I wonder if she would still slide over to the middle of the seat if we didn't have that center console.
I suppose it's a sign of the times that we have these smart computerized cars now as we are Growing Up In Bandera. I have to admit it has made life a bit easier and my body does appreciate the comfort. As teens we never noticed any discomfort in those old cars we ran up and down Main Street thousands of times. Oftentimes gas money was a problem even at seventeen cents a gallon back in the day.
#272 2021
State laws and interior vehicle designs have put a damper on one of my favorite things about being a teenage boy on a date. When a girl moved to the middle of the front seat it was an indication that the movie you were going to see wasn't going to be the highlight of the evening. Mandatory seatbelts, center consoles and captains chairs are depriving generations of teens of that special feeling. One of the many perks we enjoyed by being 60's teens in Bandera was making nightly trips up and down the main drag in town.
I can remember when four door trucks first came onto the market. They were kinda odd looking but they caught on fast. The single cab trucks were mainly used for work and going into town for supplies back in the day. The family car was used on Sunday with the whole family going to church services or maybe a trip to San Antonio for shopping. That is no longer the case due to the quad cab trucks.
When I was a kid learning how to drive in our old Chevy truck I had to step on the starter that was located on the floorboard. Today if we are going in my wife's car I start it from inside the house so it will be cool or warm when we load up. The heated and cooled seats with power lumbar make for an enjoyable ride. The retracting sun roof is what I considered a compromise to my wife always wanting a convertible.
I just tell that car where I want to go and it tells me how to get there with turn by turn directions. My wife still tells me how to drive occasionally so I guess some things will never change. I wonder if she would still slide over to the middle of the seat if we didn't have that center console.
I suppose it's a sign of the times that we have these smart computerized cars now as we are Growing Up In Bandera. I have to admit it has made life a bit easier and my body does appreciate the comfort. As teens we never noticed any discomfort in those old cars we ran up and down Main Street thousands of times. Oftentimes gas money was a problem even at seventeen cents a gallon back in the day.
#272 2021