The Adventures of Pop Bottle Hunting

As we were driving home from church today, we notice all the debris along side of the road. My wife and I were discussing how it got there and what an awful sight it is to see. It reminded me of when I was a kid and the things I used to do to occupy my time during the summer. One of those kid things was going pop bottle hunting.

Back in the sixties when I was just a daring youngster; growing up was often filled with adventures that you created with nothing. It was a time before personal computers, mp3 players and mind numbing games. During any hot sunny day, you could find me traveling down every country road within a few miles. I wasn’t out there for a walk or because someone told me to get lost. I was on a mission to gain undiscovered riches in what many today could classify as very small. Nevertheless, with a bag in hand or perhaps a wagon being pulled behind me I was out to find my fortune.

Often times I would be gone for hours without a concern for safety from the germs the then glass bottles no doubt carried. I didn’t worry about being kidnapped by some unknown stranger as I wandered further and further from my home. Yep, those were times for me when I had little concern for safety of any type. My only thoughts were on how many pop bottles I could find. Because, the greater the amount of bottles I found the more money I gained. I had fun of my own making without any cost except for time.

Then when I’d had my fill of hunting, I headed straight to the local gas station where I exchanged my treasures for 10 cents on the bottle. Some days would be profitable and some would not. Upon returning home, it was a day that was filled with adventure and usually some sort of reward at the conclusion.

It's sad to think that the kids today will never know the fun of pop bottle hunting. Our society has become such that many kids aren’t even safe in their own backyard. Pop now comes in plastic or cans. To my knowledge, other than recycling them, which is great, there is no monetary value like glass once offered.

Additionally, some kids today don’t even want to budge from their comfortable seats for one minute if there is work involved. They truly will never know what fun they have missed. I suppose to some extent we are all to blame for these turn of events. We as an unsatisfied world continually accept the easy road where the offer of instant gratification is without effort.

Well, thank God for the memories that brought us joy and excitement once. They still can when we take the time to reminisce and travel the road of a time long gone and perhaps forgotten.