Dad
was an engineer at Pearl Harbor, Mom was a school teacher, regular folks,
but at the time condo living was not what locals did. This is also not
what most families did. We were living in Hawaii, land of trade winds
and sweet scented air, in a centrally air conditioned '70 designed condo
unit. You couldn't be too loud, or run around, or ride your skate board,
or much else as it would disturb the neighbors. Lots of retirees, tan
men and women that wore clothes from magazines, white people and no
kids. For a while there we were the only Asians.
Since
my brother and I were old enough to amuse ourselves and use the oven
to make Swanson's frozen dinners for lunch, my mother would leave us
in the apartment on the weekends while she ran errands. My favorite
Swanson frozen meal was the Hungry Man Turkey Dinner, mostly for the
mashed potatoes and cranberry treat.
I
never liked Barbie, Skipper or Midge. Ken was better but still not that
good. Their arms only moved like saluting Hilter, their feet never moved
and none of them could sit in a chair. I think this is why I got a GI
Joe, my brother too. His arm and hands moved, feet too. Torso twisted,
you could make more realistic poses and the accessories were MUCH better,
scuba outfits with tanks, fins and masks. Astronaut outfit, back pack,
mess kit, maps, binoculars, cool right? Forget Barbie. She was pretty
much only good for dates with GI Joe, but not even, like I said, she
couldn't sit in a chair, not dinner out!

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