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I am 61 and have a friend age 71, he cannot let the past go. By this, I mean, he is always talking about how much better things were in the past 50's-60's, etc, and uses this phrase constantly "Ain't nothing like it used to be.".
After 3 or 4 years of hearing this , it finally got to the point, I just do not care to be around him due to that. If we traveled somewhere, his conversation was about either places he went years ago, or something he did growing up, I think you get the picture. He is single, and not educated, and instead of trying to adjust in today's world, tries to dwell in the 50's. There are many things that were good in the past, but I have enough perception to know back then, it wasn't perfect. And I don't endorse all that goes on in this time, but know embracing the past is not going to alter the present.
Guess I needed to vent, but I am sure if you are over 50, you have friends or acquaintances that are fixated about life years ago. I have trouble dealing with the present at times, without thinking about the past!!!
I agree, there are some people who act like things should never change. Some things change for the better, some not. Things will always change, they need to learn to deal with it.
Btw, they have shown in studies that we ALL romanticize the past.
Thanks to all that have replied, I didn't want to start a past vs present discussion, but people that you know or are friends with , who discuss the past or events in their past much more than normal.
My mother is 89, and other than the ocassional , remember the relative quote or she visited that place , is not transfixed on her past. I have found that uneducated people tend to go back to the past in their conversations , much more than any other group.
It got to be too much, hearing it from my friend that now, I only talk or visit him once in a while, and I had even mentioned his pre occupation with the past to him. If we traveled some where new and interesting, instead of absorbing the places, he was talking about the little red cow he had or how the Indians used to run through the woods, etc.
Don't get me wrong, I have not given him up as a friend, but have limited my endurance of eons ago.
I find that people who are consumed in romanticizing the past do not take full benefit of the present - no matter what the age.
I had a close friend in his thirties who would always go back to his college fun days (don't we all, to some extent?) but it got to the point that I said "aren't you going to create any new fun times?" I avoided him for a few months - the good-old-day stories were too, too much. When we hung out again, he definitely made it a point to get himself some new experiences.
My mom has that attitude, but a bit more severe - along the lines of "today's society is terrible, perverse and nothing like it was in the past. I feel sorry for my grandchildren and what awaits them." I'm a big history buff and at times I am overcome with grief at what some people have had to go through (and continue to go through in some parts of the world) so I really lose my patience when people start lamenting the old days just because something is in the news about social media or nudity, etc.
I am with you, OP - you just can't hang out with people who don't want to live in the present.
Technology is better today but society and family was better in the good old days in my opinion in MOST cases.
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