Back in the old days

[WhiteRose]

Got this in email today:

Stay with this - the answer is at the end - it will blow you away.

One evening a grandson was talking to his grandfather about
current events.

The grandson asked his grandfather what he thought about
the shootings at schools, the computer age, and just things in
general. The granddad replied, "Well, let me think a minute, I
was born, before television, penicillin, polio shots, frozen foods,
Xerox, contact lenses, Frisbees and the pill.

There was no radar, credit cards, laser beams or ball-point
pens.

Man had not invented pantyhose, air conditioners, dishwashers,
clothes dryers, and the clothes were hung out to dry in the fresh
air and man hadn't yet walked on the moon.

Your grandmother and I got married first--and then lived
together.

Every family had a father and a mother. Until I was 25, I called
every man older than I, 'Sir'-and after I turned 25, I still called
policemen and every man with a title, 'Sir.' We were before
gay-rights, computer-dating, dual careers, day-care centers, and
group therapy.

Our lives were governed by the Ten Commandments, good
judgment, and common sense. We were taught to know the
difference between right and wrong and to stand up and take
responsibility for our actions. Serving your country was a
privilege; living in this country was a bigger privilege. We
thought fast food was what people ate during Lent. Having
a meaningful relationship meant getting along with your cousins.

Draft dodgers were people who closed their front doors when
the evening breeze started. Time-sharing meant time the family
spent together in the evenings and weekends not purchasing
condominiums. We never heard of FM radios, tape decks,
CDs, electric typewriters, yogurt, or guys wearing earrings.
We listened to the Big Bands, Jack Benn

If you saw anything with 'Made in Japan' on it, it was junk.
The term "making out' referred to how you did on your
school exam.

Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and instant coffee were unheard of.

We had 5 & 10 cent stores where you could actually buy
things for 5 and 10 cents. Ice cream cones, phone calls, rides
on a streetcar, and a Pepsi were all a nickel. And if you didn't
want to splurge, you could spend your nickel on enough stamps
to mail 1 letter and 2 postcards. You could buy a new Chevy
Coupe for $600 but who could afford one? Too bad, because
gas was 11 cents a gallon. In my day, 'grass' was mowed,
'coke' was a cold drink, 'pot' was something your mother
cooked in, and 'rock music' was your grandmother's lullaby.
'Aids' were helpers in the Principal's office, 'chip' meant a
piece of wood, hardware' was found in a hardware store,
and 'software' wasn't even a word. And we were the last
generation to actually believe that a lady needed a husband
to have a baby.

No wonder people call us "old and confused" and say there
is a generation gap....

and how old do you think I am ???.



This man would be only 58 years old!

 

[wink740]

Oh yes

Truer words were never spoken. Thank you WhiteRose for such grand words of wisdom.

 

[callableborg]

58

A most true presentation.

I am 53 yr. old and have seen it happen.

The new world is a better one though and even if we have lost the simple value of black and white we have more than made up for it in other ways.

Have to think about this and get back.

Great post WhiteRose.

 

[WhiteRose]

hehe Thanks, I didn't write it, just copied it from my email. It got me thinking about what my dad and my grandma have said about life when they were young. Dad remembers the 5 cent colas, and Grandma remembers life before Kleenex and Scotch tape when she had to wrap presents with string.

Grandma jokes that she and my grandfather had to get married because postage went from 1 cent to 2 cents and it was too expensive to keep writing to each other since she was at college in Washington and he was at college in Idaho.

Some things are better now, or maybe just more convenient, but I think we've lost so much in the way of values and attitudes toward other people. I can't get excited about a cultural trend where the males think it's appropriate and "cool" to refer to women as "bitches" and relationships are seen as disposable rather than something that needs to be worked on every day.

 

[callableborg]

old days

I think something has been lost in the way of values and attitude over the past century or so. When life was tougher people had to have a serious sense of values and be able to work together.

My mother had to quit school when she was 14 to help out on the family farm, not exactly a big opportunities situation. My Dad never finished High school because at that time he would have to move 25 mi. away to find the school.

The modern world seems to have alot to offer in the way of physical security, stimulation and opportunities but lacks in sense of community and shared value. Don't know where you live but I think community survives more in rural areas and smaller towns and citiesrather than in larger cities.

Will get back on this. The striking thing about your post is that it ties a whole lot of things up in the same bundle. These things cross my my mind every once in a while but this is the first time Iv'e seen such a concentrated package.

 

[Lord]

wow 58 years ago and all that? ouch this world really has changed a lot

 

[trixiefirecracker]

All this is kinda scary.....im 22 right now......but in 40 years i could be telling my grandkids how its was 'back then'.

Owwwweeeeeeeeeee

Trix xx

 

[markb325]

White Rose my pops use to tell me that stuff all the time and I quite often wonder what it would have been like to live in that era. Thanks for sharing that with us.

 

[huskie]

I read this before......????? But I was read it came from the the greatest generation and that would be some one who was borne in the early '20's?????? 58????? I doubt it. Thats '50 rock and the 60' hippy eara.

 

[woodgie2]

Well if you think that more discoveries and advancements have been made in the last 200 years than 2000 years before that, it puts a lot in perspective.

Then again, in the last 2 milennia what have we FORGOTTEN?

 

[WhiteRose]

I read this before......????? But I was read it came from the the greatest generation and that would be some one who was borne in the early '20's?????? 58????? I doubt it. Thats '50 rock and the 60' hippy eara.

I'd give the email maybe a 10 year leeway, but the attitudes of people don't change that rapidly. The 50's were still fairly pure as far as what was acceptable behavior. Just look at the tv shows that came out of that era. Not everyone who lived through the 50's suddenly went out an joined communes when the 60's arrived. They still had a lot of the family values that their parents grew up with and instilled in them.

 

[huskie]

I'd give the email maybe a 10 year leeway, but the attitudes of people don't change that rapidly. The 50's were still fairly pure as far as what was acceptable behavior. Just look at the tv shows that came out of that era. Not everyone who lived through the 50's suddenly went out an joined communes when the 60's arrived. They still had a lot of the family values that their parents grew up with and instilled in them.

I agree. But they did raise my generation (borne in '66) and considured an '80's child.

I remember some course I took in school that tault how my parents generation tried to take criedit for the above. It's not true. The above really applies to my Grand parents generation. Those borne in the '20s, raised during the depression, fault in WWII, and with stood the cold war. I miss my grand parents. Thats were the criedit should really go.

 

[WhiteRose]

I agree. But they did raise my generation (borne in '66) and considured an '80's child.

I remember some course I took in school that tault how my parents generation tried to take criedit for the above. It's not true. The above really applies to my Grand parents generation. Those borne in the '20s, raised during the depression, fault in WWII, and with stood the cold war. I miss my grand parents. Thats were the criedit should really go.

My grandma rocks Yes, she and my grandfather did a great job of raising their three kids. It was a different world then (early 30's). Plus, my grandfather was a forest ranger, so the family spent a lot of time in fairly isolated areas for half the year, then in small towns for the other half, so they didn't have a lot of outside influences sending conflicting messages to the kids. Then they moved out of the country for a number of years because of my grandfather's work, and when my dad came back to attend college, he signed up for ROTC then went right into the Marine Corps when he graduated. My uncle joined the Marines after high school and my aunt went into nursing school (they were both homeschooled through high school because they lived in Central America).

I guess our family pretty much missed the whole "hippie" thing because it fell between our generations. My cousins and I grew up in the mid 60's and 70's, but all three families spent some out living out of the States during that time (my aunt married an Air Force officer, so we were all in military families), so even our generation didn't have a lot of outside influences corroding the values passed down to us.

Yes, I feel out of touch sometimes with the new generation. But from what I see on tv and the way I see some people treat each other both online and IRL these days, I don't think being "out of touch" is such a bad thing.

 

[WhiteRose]

And I thoroughly believe that the leaders of the fashion industry must have been very heavily into the drug scene of the 60's, or they wouldn't have sentenced us to the fashions of the 70's

 

[lisalove]

My grandmother helped raise me (from age 7 to 14) and her values had an enormous impact on me.

I often feel I am much more traditional and conservative than people my own age, or even a few years older.

It is disturbing to think how far we will go as a society to 'outdo' the previous generation.