Buck Turgidson said:
In light of current conditions, it seems surreal that in 1980 and 1981 my Houston area high school took about 130 of us down to Laredo and dumped us off at the border crossing to walk across the bridge into Mexico without adult supervision. The first thing we did each time was find a bar, start drinking and later buy cheap switchblade knives. Marching in the George Washington Day parade the next morning with a pounding hangover was miserable. Nevertheless we all came home safely. The people in Mexico back then just wanted our money, not our heads.
It is so dour to think about how things were "before progress" along the border. I have seen many pictures, dating back to the 30's & 40's, of Valley HS bands marching in parades, inaugurations, celebrations and such in Mexico. I have seen some from the late 70's and early 80's, but that is no more.
People don't realize the closeness and shared lives that the border communities once led. US/Texas fire departments used to answer calls, the bad ones, in Mexico and ambulances would go over all time. School districts would have a bus route that usually involved a school district bus going to the Mexican side doing U turn and picking up American students.
There was so much interaction. I just again, for the first time in a long while, saw where some Mexican college teams played RGV High Schools in football again. The previous used to be a common occurrence and Texas youth leagues all start teams would travel to Mexico to play the Mexican teams as well, in football and baseball (not so much futbol, lol).
In those days, as opposed to the current times, there was true governmental authority and devotion to decency and goodness in Mexico. That no longer exists at governmental levels.
