"The good old days"???? As we age, are we really wrong? (men, father)
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I so remember the days before computers and cell phones,microwaves,etc and give a big NoThanks. I love the conveniences that have come with technology.
There are some great things that can be accomplished with the Internet for sure. I can research about anything, see videos on how to do a lot of things and learn a lot on the web. I would miss it for sure if it was gone. I do miss talking to people without all the distractions, but sometimes you can talk to others without them looking at a screen.
Why complaining about young people? Its not their fault they have all this tech and phones. Blame those tech companies instead for pushing their bs on us. You didn't have that stuff back then obviously so you cant miss what you didn't have.
It isn't really complaining, it is more observing from a more seasoned perspective. Older people have the advantage of seeing life before the Internet/smartphone era, to now. Most people in my age group embrace the new technologies, but some don't. Lots of good from new technologies, but social media isn't very good for many. Lots of bullying and negative crap out there, which I feel is a key reason for school shootings, but that is a different topic.
As others said, some things are getting better and others are getting worse. I love using computers for certain things, and can hardly imagine how I used to live without them.
On the other hand, I am so tired of seeing people staring at their phones all the time. Sometimes they almost walk into you, because they don't want to look up from their phone while walking.
I am tired of seeing people sitting across from each other at restaurants staring at their phones, and ignoring each other.
It is funny you mention people staring at their phones when going out to eat. I guess what is on their phones is much more interesting than who they are sitting with. Odd, but true. I don't go out much anymore because it is kind of depressing compared to my younger days when people actually danced and had fun with each other. All the clubs are closed down now and there is almost no dancing anymore. That is kind of odd, but I guess it is easier to sit and look at a screen instead of moving to the groove. I get it though. What is on the smartphone is more entertaining than most anything else. It is what it is.
My husband and I often have our phones out while out to dinner *as part of the conversation.* We're talking about possibly doing something and need to look up weather, directions, hotels/flights, read reviews, open up Calendar, Notes, the calculator, etc.
As a child of the 60's/70's I can say with conviction that we had it better than kids today in a lot of ways. That though must be weighed against what was the standard accepted corporal punishment, and the hidden pedos that got away with a lot more (I hope it is less now!).
We played, outside, with the neighborhood kids. We rode our bikes. We didn't come home until the street lights went on. We created games, scenarios, imaginative role playing, built things, went swimming, fishing, tree climbing, walks in the woods. No social media or facebook to have wars on, no internet, no cell phones, no video games. In that regard, children have it much worse. Childhood obesity is way up. They don't exercise! Do they even want bikes? I bet many don't. I rarely see kids out playing, using their imagination. They are all inside with the latest greatest video game if boys, fighting publicly having clique wars on facebook if girls.
There were bullies then and there are bullies now, that is one aspect that I think has remained constant; it's just the method of bullying that has mostly changed.
Peer pressure on kids is worse than ever. If somebody said something bad about you in the 60's/70's, it was quickly forgotten because it wasn't posted for everyone in the school to see on social media. Publicly humiliating one another was a one on one thing, nobody could prove it really was ever said, so it was fought about and then forgotten.
In the days before cell phones I remember begging a dime off my friends or, later, 20 cents, standing at the pay phone in school calling my mother to pick me up because it had begun snowing hard and the temperature had plummeted, and the phone rang and rang and rang until the recording came on to announce that "my party" wasn't answering.
Later, the answering machine might pick up. If my mom wasn't around she wasn't...
I froze on the way home from school more times than I can count and had constant ear infections.
I recall some "we had it tougher" stuff with fondness but other stuff, I can see the merit in having changed later on (today).
And let's be real, life in the past wasn't magical for everybody. In fact, there were entire groups for whom life was...yeah, pretty routinely awful. Meanwhile, if we got sick we had to pay the doctor cash or we didn't go...women could get touched in the workforce and what were they going to do, narc about it? They'd just get fired and everyone else would close ranks...once teachers were no longer allowed to hit kids, they were still allowed to call them morons in the classroom...some cars didn't have seat belts installed at all, much less anybody using them...and yes, there were fears out the yin-yang. Mothers worried about EVERYTHING and a lot of old wives' tales were rampant.
Here's the thing: I won't recycle the old Greek pre-Christian diatribe (was it Socrates? I can never remember) who complained about "the youth of today," but it's been true for thousands of years and will continue to be. Life changes but so does our perspective and yes, we are going to remember our youth as "better" in certain ways even though if we had our technology and amenities yanked from us now that we're used to them, we'd probably freak out.
In 30 years, we will see a brand-new crop of middle-aged people...who today are making duck face on IG and speaking to one another across the room with their phones...snarking that "kids" don't know how to communicate and X, Y and Z were so much better when they were kids (i.e...in 2018).
I'm in my late 60s and know I don't have many years left, but I don't consider the past to be "the good old days." The good old days are today, right now.
I love new technology and all the conveniences we have today. The good old days weren't all that great in many ways. They were great in some ways, but I wouldn't say the past was better than the present, or the future for that matter. I don't think it's age, it's attitude.
There are some great things that can be accomplished with the Internet for sure. I can research about anything, see videos on how to do a lot of things and learn a lot on the web. I would miss it for sure if it was gone. I do miss talking to people without all the distractions, but sometimes you can talk to others without them looking at a screen.
I am now able to keep up with my family and friends in three countries via Skype or social media, or listen to local bbc radio stations. Putting aside the personal the advances in prosthetics is amazing technology. Not sure what you mean about being unable to talk to people without the distractions unless you mean when you are with someone and they keep looking at their phone ( which is rude).
Well have to buzz, husband just sent a text from the gazebo , tea? I just sent a text back, “yes please.”
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