My last column completed the series on my (mostly humorous) experiences with customers and events during my long-time employment with my family-owned wholesale hardware business. It was a real learning experience for me, in many ways, but mostly an enjoyable one. (I spared you from all the worries, problems and challenges I also faced. Which I suppose are part and parcel of any job.) I would now like to offer a different set of observations, based on my travels across this amazing country. I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to experience a number of widely varying places in America, from the East Coast to the West Coast, North and South, primarily through business, and it has given me a unique perspective in many ways.

I was fortunate to grow up in Savannah, a medium- sized city at the time, before growth exploded it to what it is today. Things were mostly quiet, back in the ‘50’s and ‘60’s, as we mostly escaped the civil unrest that rocked other places as the Civil Rights movement changed America.

Things were still segregated, to a large extent, but they were beginning to move, slowly but inexorably, to the place where the races felt comfortable with each other and on a more equitable footing.

I was fortunate to grow up in a household that believed in treating everyone equally. I had friends of all kinds: Black, White, Filipino, Chinese, Greek, Christian, Jewish – it made no difference.

Crime was non-existent, back then. People left their houses and cars unlocked, and never worried about break-ins. No one had to worry about being robbed of their shoes, as kids all wore the same thing: Keds sneakers. The only difference back then was whether you preferred “high-top” or

“low-top.” Drugs were what one got when you went to the doctor when you were sick. The only thing you ever saw being smoked were cigarettes, or occasionally cigars – but those were 99.99% by adults. It was rare for even high school or college students to smoke cigarettes – and never at school, or even home.

That would get you in big trouble! As would any sort of cursing.

Drinking alcohol may have been done by a few, but I never knew of it when I was in school.

Pregnancy outside of marriage was verboten, and marriage usually quickly followed the few who did. Only a few high schoolers had their own cars, and if they did, they were usually second-hand and small ones. We were mostly lucky to get to borrow our parents’ cars for games or dates on the weekends.

Mostly we all went to school during the week, church every Sunday, and you’d better get good grades, or there would be hell to pay at home!

Recreation was school sports on the weekends, movies, or the occasional dances. As kids, during the summers our parents usually took us to the beaches on Tybee Island, and we had our share of “fun in the sun.” Things were generally low-key.

For most of my classmates in high school, going to college was expected; but the cost was much less than it is today.

Student loans were unheard of, back then. We worked jobs after school, during summers and Christmases, and often got campus jobs when we did get to college. Most of us finished in four years, then got jobs somewhere and got on with our lives.

It was a much simpler time. And I am grateful for it. “Stress” back then came from studying hard for a big test, or worrying about parents’ reactions if your grades came in lower than expected. Car-jackings had not yet been thought of, street robberies were unheard of, and no one had guns. We didn’t have cell phones or computers, but no one felt deprived.

One of my greatest joys as a youth growing up in Savannah was being able to ride my bike anywhere I wanted. It took me to the swimming pool in Daffin Park during summers, the Putt-Putt on Victory Drive on Saturdays after chores, the Library on Bull and 37th Streets, or shooting baskets in Hull Park with my friends after school.

Sadly, that way of life is gone forever. I am not sure that what we have gained since is worth what we lost.

Rafe Semmes is a graduate of Savannah High and the University of Georgia. He works in Savannah and lives in Midway.