Quote:
Originally Posted by thumper
do you remember no.3 rd? it was nothing like now... no canada line, no parker place/aberdeen, etc... just landsdowne and richmond centre and a small bunch of strip malls. richmond motorsports used to be out there too. everything else was just warehouses... i used to come off westminster hwy on my bike and just open it up all the way to bridgeport on no.3 because there was zero traffic and almost no traffic lights (and what little there was is usually green)...
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My recollection of Richmond was limited to strawberry fields. 5 am pickup in front of Jong Wah in Chinatown. We rode on the back of a two ton flat bed truck that had sides and roof made out of plywood. No windows, except two small openings at the front for ventilation and a opening up high at the back. We sat on wooden benches. I remember standing up on the back bench, hanging on to the door at the back and seeing what was out there. Richmond was like nothing. Nothing but open land. I remember going over the bridge. It wasn't Knight Street Bridge, 'cause I don't think it was built yet. I believe it was the Fraser Street Bridge, which no longer exists.
We knew we were getting close to the fields when we saw the red radio towers - at least that was what we thought they were. We got to the farm at around 6 am and stayed there till about 5 pm. The ride back was not so good. The smell of perspiration mixed with rotting strawberry was not cool. The sounds........... not good. Those Chinese ladies were so loud - they kept getting louder to overcome each others' yelling The truck itself was extremely loud and the old man who drove it couldn't shift. He was careful when he went around corners, but there were some really scary moments when he braked all of a sudden. People would go flying.
We got home at around 6:00 pm. Walking home after a long hot day was enjoyable, especially after getting off that horrible truck.
When strawberry season ended, bean season started. Sometimes we worked on the cucumber fields and even potatoes. The worst job, by far, was weeding. I sucked at picking strawberries. I was damn slow at it and didn't make half as much as my sister, who was one of the fastest there. I was fast when it came to beans. I could yank a whole bunch in my hands and I was so quick at finding them. I do remember getting into trouble because I ended up tearing the plants to shreds going so fast.
Even though it was so shitty to work in the blazing heat, in a perverse way, I miss it. If I did anything like that today, they would have to send me to hospital. It's amazing. We never had UV ratings, sun blockers, and shit like that back then. We just turned a dark brown in the summer, LOL. I looked like a bloody Mexican, so I was told.
The place we went to was owned by a German family and the farm was on No. 1 Road. I know exactly where it is today. It's all condos now.