Coming of age in the ’50s First posted 04:23:17 (Mla time) November 12, 2006 Gil Yuzon Inquirer TO BORROW FROM DICKENS, IT WAS the best of times… and it was the best of times. The ’50s seemed to be the start of a “golden age” for our country, specially for us who were teenagers then. The Philippines was way ahead of the Asian pack and was poised to become the region’s first tiger economy. Our major exports were agricultural products—not overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), and certainly not teachers turned domestic helpers or doctors turned nurses. “Inflation” was unheard of and the exchange rate was P2 to US$1. We could take a jeepney or a bus for 10 centavos a ride; buy a bottle of Coke, also for 10 centavos; or settle for a bottle of Cosmos Sarsaparilla, today’s Sarsi, for only five centavos. For entertainment, we could see a first-run movie for P1.20, or two second-run movies for P0.85. Our forests were very lush and the supply of lumber seemed inexhaustible. Many houses, even those of the rich, were made of wood. The Pasig River was clear in many places and still had a lot of fish. “Air pollution” was unknown and a trip to Baguio, with its fresh, pine-scented air, was a treat to look forward to. The widespread problem of drug addiction was still years away. Cigarette smoking was the “vice” and, happily, it was not related to criminal or violent behavior. No one ever dreamed that kidnapping for ransom and car theft would become lucrative businesses. Graft and corruption in government was the exception, not the rule. Politicians and government officials were generally looked up to and respected. While today we accept worldwide and local terrorism as a fact of life, in the ’50s, this total lack of respect for human life was unimaginable. The conservative influence of the Church, specially in Catholic education and student life, was pervasive in the ’50s. Pius XII was Pope, and the liberal ideas of Vatican II under Pope John XXIII in the ’60s were still several years away. Mass was said exclusively in Latin, and we, Ateneans, knew the responses word for word. In church, women had to wear veils; sleeveless dresses, short skirts, slacks, jeans and shorts were taboo. Primitive Compared to today’s youth, our generation was primitive in technology. We did our homework in long-hand and more formal reports on an Underwood or Remington manual typewriter that today’s young people have never heard of. These days, students work on a PC or a laptop. Mistakes are deleted instantly; font types and sizes, colors and graphics changed with one click. We did our research in the library, going through stacks of books. Today, students surf the Internet for every kind of information. To enjoy our favorite tunes, we listened to the radio or played one of our breakable, single-song 78-rpm (revolution per minute) vinyl records on a turntable. There were no compact discs or iPods that could store and play up to 15,000 songs. We were quite happy writing proper letters and sending grammatically correct short notes to friends because there were no cell phones for instant calls or text messages. But our generation did develop virtues and positive habits that today’s advanced technology does not promote. We learned patience, perseverance, love of books and reading, the thrill of anticipation (versus instant gratification), imagination and improvisation. Last and not least, we could speak and write good, straight English. HS Class ’56 Most of us finished grade school (up to 1952) in Padre Faura in Ermita, holding classes in quonset huts and in the high-ceilinged rooms of the partly destroyed concrete buildings of the old Ateneo. After grade school, we moved to the brand new buildings of the high school in Loyola Heights that overlooked Marikina Valley. This was a major dislocation. The new site was far from our homes and was in the “wilderness.” But we quickly adjusted to the new environment, and learned to enjoy its wide open spaces where 12-year-olds could play to their hearts’ content. Many of us started high school in short pants but, by the time we graduated in 1956, long maong jeans, folded at the bottom, were the norm. The years in between kept us busy. We studied long hours and played a lot: intramural and pick-up basketball in the “covered courts” all year long, and “seasonal” intramural sports like volleyball, softball, soccer and track-and-field. We had our pick of extra-curricular activities. We served at Mass in the Sanctuary Society; we taught catechism to public school children; we developed our spirituality and devotion to Mary in the Sodality; we went to confession every Thursday afternoon and to the mandatory Mass every Friday morning. We acted in school plays, made speeches in monthly elocution contests, sang in Latin in special Masses and went caroling at Christmas for the Glee Club. We learned to officiate games in the Brebeuf Club, and cheered lustily for the school’s NCAA (yes, the National College Athletic Association) varsity basketball team at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum on Vito Cruz and, later, at the new Loyola Heights gym. We reported for and edited the school news in the Hi-lites; we contributed poems, essays and short stories in the Loyolan; we wrote articles, took pictures and solicited ads for the Blue Book, the high school annual. The big thing on Christmas was the Package Drive, the school-wide competition to collect goods and money for the poor. We went all over town soliciting donations, often running away from dogs and being turned away, and learning the virtues of agility, humility and perseverance in the process. The standard punishment for rules violations, specially “speaking in the dialect,” was called “post.” It consisted of walking around the campus, carrying a rifle on the shoulder, for what seemed like hours, on Saturdays or after school. Discovering girls Sometime in junior year, we discovered the wonderful creatures called girls in officially sanctioned “class parties,” chaperoned by at least one Jesuit and several parents. We began to realize there was more to life than schoolwork and playing boys’ games. HS Class ’56 has given the world doctors, lawyers, journalists, academics, advertising and communications professionals, public servants, diplomats, bankers, entrepreneurs, business executives, several cabinet secretaries and undersecretaries, one military general, one dedicated environmentalist, and the country’s No. 1 communist leader. Many have been outstanding in their chosen fields. A good number do civic and social work and maintain philanthropic foundations. Some 40 classmates have passed on. After 50 years, our numbers dwindle at a faster rate. But those of us who remain continue to forge closer ties with one another and constantly renew our zest for living with satisfying pursuits and advocacy. (To the “missing-in-action” Golden Jubilarians of Ateneo HS Class of 1956, contact Mari Javier, class secretary, 8262165, for information on our homecoming.) Copyright INQUIRER.net. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.