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aeromed202
August 26th, 2012, 12:17
As an intro, I just came upon this following a B-29 cockpit image link during a search. As I read the text, although I'm not as old as this fellow, I could still feel a sense of loss and wistfully thought of what seem to me to be somewhat better days I never got to experience. There's more on the site but I thought this was just right. So turn off the distractors and reflect a little, I sure did.


http://www.lilesnet.com/paul/how_old_am_i.htm

"

Explaining Yesteryear To An 18 Year Old Is Difficult!http://www.lilesnet.com/paul/images/BuckRogersPioneersCard.jpg
One evening my grandson Jonathan was asking me about current events from his social studies class. He asked what I thought about the shootings at schools, the computer age, and just things in general.
Here is what I told him! "Well, let me think a minute . . . I was born before television was popular, penicillin, polio shots, frozen foods, Xerox, contact lenses, Frisbees and the pill. There was no wide use of radar, credit cards, laser beams or ball-point pens. Man had not invented pantyhose, air conditioners, dishwashers, and clothes dryers. We hung the clothes out to dry in the fresh air and man hadn't yet walked on the moon.
What A Concept!http://www.lilesnet.com/paul/images/60.gif
Your grandmother and I got married first-and then lived together. Every family had a father and a mother, and every boy over 14 had a BB Gun and a box of tools that his dad taught him how to use and respect. Dads and sons went hunting and fishing together, built things together, fixed cars themselves. I learned to call every man older than I, 'Sir' and I still call policemen and every man with a title, 'Sir. '
Sundays were set aside for going to church as a family, helping those indeed, going for a Sunday drive, and visiting with family or neighbors. There were no freeways. I was born before there was gay-rights, computer-dating, dual careers, daycare centers, and group therapy.
Our family, friends, teachers, politicians 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.
A Different Time!Serving your country was a privilege; living here 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.
http://www.lilesnet.com/paul/images/MyAge.3.jpg
We never heard of FM radios, tape decks, CDs, electric typewriters, yogurt, or guys wearing earrings. We listened to the Big Bands, Jack Benny, and the President's speeches on our radios. We didn't have transistors; we all had burned fingers from those pesky un-reliable vacuum tubes in the radios.
And I don't ever remember any kid blowing his brains out listening to Tommy Dorsey. 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 10cents. 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. Movies were 75 cents and we went to the local Drug store and fill a bag with 4 cent full-sized candy bars!
I could remember dad buying a new Chevy Coupe for $700. Gas was 24 cents a gallon. Service stations were service stations! I remember PUMPING gas into the car using a HAND pump! 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.

How old do you think I am - ? ? ? ?

I am currently 68 years of age. "

Kiwikat
August 26th, 2012, 12:49
Glad I didn't grow up in an age like that. I'd probably say the same thing about now if I was born in another 50 years... lol. :mixedsmi:




Good to see we are making progress in many areas! Many might say politics are worse these days, but history shows that its always been a mess. Just easier to see it now.

pfflyers
August 26th, 2012, 13:08
Every adult I've ever met no matter his age always calls the days of his youth the "good old days" and every one of them says "today's youth are going to... heck".

beana51
August 26th, 2012, 14:44
Vely interesting!...I thought those were the good old days...Compared to the depression?.....This young fellow tells his time well.....Grew up in that time..However its those years of the great depression one wants to forget......Hover was president when I came along..the rest is history.......So now at 80yrs old,all what we have seems normal,..Yet We know the best is yet to come...Cheers!

Last Christmas


http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l609/beana51/GEDC0014.jpg

aircav1970
August 26th, 2012, 15:51
Being born in the early 1950's these observations of those days bring back a lot of memories,no TV in the house yet,listening to radio programs with my Grandfather,he loved listening to boxing broadcasts and all the stuff like Jack Benny.Telephones that weighed 5 pounds and had "party lines".my Grandmother using a wringer washer (that I got my fingers caught in) and hanging the clothes outside on a line.We all think of those as being the "good old days" but,honestly,I love having been alive to see all the technology leap forward the way it has the last 60 years and I envy my grandchildren and what they will see long after I'm gone....

rhumbaflappy
August 26th, 2012, 16:30
I remember as a boy, listening to Winston Churchill one night when the weather conditions were right for getting a New York station's reception in southern Wisconsin. I also listened to WLS from Chicago, listening to Larry Lujack and the top 40 hits... all the great pop music of the 50's and 60's.

We didn't lock house doors at night, or car doors anytime. A lot of fishing and softball. We had a 5&10 as well. Life was innocent. Today? Not so sure... but my memories are a kid's memories. These are my memories. My siblings had other memories that were not so golden. Everyone has different experiences, and reactions to those experiences. It was a golden time for me, and I am grateful.

Dick

rpjkw
September 2nd, 2012, 10:42
I'm 62 and I can happily relate to the "good old days".

Bob

Naismith
September 2nd, 2012, 13:33
I firmly believe that one of the problems today is too much news. It's there 24/7 on our TV's, radio newspaper both national and local, it's beamed to us on our cellphones, tablets, PC's. The same stories repeated ad infinitum. It gives a distorted impression that the world is going to hell. Used to be for my generation that you would sometimes get ONE newspaper a day, and pick up the 6 o-clock news on TV in the evening for 30 minutes, and that was it. We never heard about the murder rate in some far off land nor did we really care. We still don't really care but all we hear is a drone about death and destruction.
Recently our last flew the nest. We moved the TV into the basement. I haven't seen the TV news in weeks as we dine and exercise the dogs about then. My mental health has improved immensely and I am not so crabby since. I don't miss it. Occasionally I looked at an online newspaper and found that just pissed me off so I avoid that too now.

Now I live in almost total ignorance of events in Abu-Wherever or the Democratic Republic of Corrupt Politicians, and am way happier for it.

I do miss Wolf Blitzer though....