Jukebox Days

Everywhere people talk about the good old days.  We carry on about the way we used to leave doors unlocked, ride bikes without helmets, walk miles to and from school without sidewalks, or according to the Egg-Nazi, he walked back and forth, even when there was snow up to a buffalo's ass and it was uphill both ways!  First of all, I have no idea how high up a buffalo's ass really is, never looked, really don't care to either,  As for the" up hill both ways"...you had to know the route.   Hate to admit it but there were lots of hill, not really steep ones, just lots of long hills.  I think he still uses that excuse, so I won't make him walk.  In case he hadn't noticed, hills in this part of Florida are few and far between.

After an afternoon of running errands, Mr. Bill suggested we stop at the A&W Root Beer place, not to far from our home.   Central Florida is home to many things, but restaurant chains are as numerous as the CVS and Walgreen on every corner.  Not expecting too much, we stopped.  Yes it's a chain, we were pleasantly surprised,  they have an old fashioned jukebox, much like the one we had at Fred's News.  This old juke box, at the A&W, plays the old forty-five records, although I"m not into the oldies but goodies.  Years before we owned Fred's News, I can remember listening to the old jukebox at the place.  Between that and the pin-ball machine, you might find someone reading the magazines while waiting their turn to play.  

The Colonel, one of the older Fred's News patrons, loved the old juke box.  When he was in town, he stop by, put a quarter in and play the music.  Really didn't matter to him, as long as it played.  He'd ask anyone to dance.  Mostly, he'd just talk and reminisce.  For years the juke box helped the night group get through their cleaning routine.  As soon as the door was locked, the music blared.  Many times, the floor sweeper became the performer, using the broom as their microphone.  Young Lee, perhaps the best of the performers, would sweep and dance all in one swift motion.  If she found anyone watching, shyness set in, performance over.  It was great fun, making the mundane cleaning chores more tolerable.  Lee, not the only performer, Everett and Floyd, also showed their musicality.

My favorite story regarding the jukebox comes from Mr. Bill himself.  He had the opportunity to work for "the brothers" about two years before they decided to retire.  They also had a few other employees that would of loved to own the place.  Emil decided, Bill and I would be the new owners, there was no changing his mind.  One of the ladies, upset at his choice, made it clear...I'll quit before I ever work for anyone other than Emil.  True to her word, the day of the signing, she grabbed a quarter, her song choice "Take this job and shove it"!  We applauded her loyalty. 

Eventually, the juke box became a thing of the past, taking up more room than it was worth.  Everyone sad at it's demise, but thrilled to have it out of the way.  TV shows now helped the cleaning crew make it through the evening hours.  If sports were on and a nail biter in progress, everyone watched.  Ward, a baseball umpire, usually hollering at the calls he just witnessed on the TV, Floyd imitating Ward.  We should have filmed all of these nights, anyone who had the opportunity to be a part of the late night goings on, agreed, it would of made TV's top ten list of best sitcoms.