Monday, June 8, 2009

Does this generation of kids know wishbones?

I bought a rotisserie-cooked, whole, small chicken from the deli at my neighborhood Kroger's the other day. Linda and I ate on it for lunch that day; then I cut it apart for meat for making sandwiches later. In cutting it apart, I ended up with a wishbone. I got to thinking, and I cannot recall the last time I saw a wishbone. What with chicken nuggets, plus KFC - Popeyes - Church's - and other fast food chicken places for pieces (breasts, wings, legs, etc) and Chick-Fil-A and others for chicken sandwiches, Linda and I never buy a whole chicken anymore. Even if Linda does the cooking, these days she buys packaged breasts (her favorite) and wings and drumsticks (my two favorites) from Kroger's. We never see a wishbone. Haven't for years. When I was a small boy back in the 1950s, my mother would always buy a whole chicken because it was cheaper than buying the packaged pieces. Whenever she fried chicken several times a month, my sister and I always pulled the wishbone and whichever got the longer part got their wish supposedly. Now I wonder if young children or even young adults know about pulling apart the wishbone and getting your wish. Or is this another old tradition lost to progress and modern convenience. What do you think? I may have to write a poem about this.

4 comments:

Katie Hines said...

Turkeys still have wishbones, so save one from Thanksgiving or Christmas and tell your kids about it. I have, in the past, cut and cooked whole chickens, which also have wishbones. My kids have pulled their fair share apart.

Harry Gilleland said...

Somehow I never think about turkey wishbones since we never had turkey growing up except for big family holidays, and then we never got to pull those wishbones. Besides turkey wishbones are a lot larger and don't seem to have the same magic in them. :-) But, I agree kids nowadays would come nearer knowing about wishbones from turkeys than from chickens.
Thanks for your comment.

Cheers!
Harry

Holly Jahangiri said...

I don't know about most kids, but my two (ages 20 and 13) know wishbones! They love playing "make a wish." We've also done experiments with vinegar and turning them into rubber, then sticking them into a bottle.

Are you saying I'm old?

Unknown said...

Yup, wishbones were reserved for Thanksgiving turkeys in my house.