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Also didn't expect that jobs like teaching, managing a store, ... would no longer support a family on a single salary. While there were some mothers that worked out of the home, most families had a single breadwinner.
When I was dating in the late 60's and early 70's, the idea that I would have a career after kids came or how much money I was able to earn was not a concern. My husband would support us.
When our daughters were dating, part of their appeal to their potential partners was how much money they were able to earn.
The number of children in daycare is something I didn't see coming.
One of our daughters is having her first baby next spring and is planning on quitting her job and staying home with him.Every other young person we know or she knows has their baby in full-time day care by three months. Some earlier than that.
lasik eye surgery eliminating the need for glasses or contact lenses
Yet, eyeglasses are still everywhere. Not fully embraced or affordable enough to be considered a breakthrough that benefits the full breadth of society.
1. bottled water. why would anyone ever PAY for that? i was SO wrong.
2. as above: "Most little boys carried a pocket knife, even to school with no problems." substitute: teen boys' deer rifles.
3. teachers - male/female/gay/whatever sexing with their students. this surpasses school shootings as WTF?
Bottled water has replaced the cigarette as to what people hold in their hand and place to their mouth.
The thing about "quality" in the old days IMO is that the people knew it would be a long time before they could afford or even come across another item like that, so they took care of it. Nowadays, you don't have to scrimp and save to buy clothes or wait months for something to show up at the local store etc.
Or blame the parents and family for not giving them that sense of caring about the silver and gold? and old furniture??
A good example is the TV set, which was often the most expensive item in the house. It was also notoriously unreliable, and you got it repaired continually, because buying a new one was cost prohibitive.
I never thought I be able to record a movie or show on TV. When I got my first VHS player I spent hours and hours creating a movie library.
I never thought I'd see the closings of bookstores. Shades of "Fahrenheit 451"!
I never thought I would be watching shows or reading books on my phone!
I never thought I would be able to talk to strangers all over the world on my phone!
I never thought that buying second hand clothing in a thrift store would yield higher quality clothing than buying them in a department store.
I never thought that a person's worth and choices in society would be determined by a score created by some random entities using meaningless formulas.
I never thought that paper maps would become obsolete. I do love my old maps and I keep them in my car just because.
I never thought childhood would become so regimented and supervised and stressful.
As to TV recording, I recall liking specific episodes of shows, and then looking forward to the summer rerun season to see them again.
It's interesting to think how much of our entertainment relied on the prime time programming of three TV networks.
What can you add to the following list that YOU did not foresee?
- Smartphones
- Personal computers
- Kindles and other electronic books
- The Internet and social media (i.e., Facebook)
These have been life-changers for me, mostly for the good, but I am not sure about those generations born with these taken for granted.
As for the others, not really surprises, especially the demise of mainstream mass media, it was always dumb; personally I stopped watching television in 1993 and reading newspapers since "free" news on the internet, and nowadays I have even significantly curtailed reading news on internet and just look at market prices to inform about what is real, instead of a bunch of sycophants saying and writing b.s. to promote some faction's agenda.
Maybe, but with the clothing, many rich people say that they buy a few excellent quality clothing items in anticipation of having them for years. A really good blazer. A few perfectly fitting expensive pairs of shoes. A great trench coat. I guess I'm really fed up with the cheap clothing with loose threads hanging off and the flimsy material they're made of. Of course, the manufacturers might not like this trend because they want people buying new clothes all the time.
And the antique furniture, porcelain dishes, gorgeous silverware, items of gold and silver--and more--those are works of art. I'm not materialistic but I appreciate beauty and great craftsmanship and knowing that it took some brain work to design something and craftsmanship to actually make it. Of course, the decline probably started with the Industrial Revolution when formerly hand made items could be made by a machine and mass produced, but it's gone to the extreme.
I've contributed to it in my own small way by selling some silver items on ebay, knowing that they would be melted down for the value of the silver itself. But it's mostly been things that were damaged and I knew that today's generation isn't going to pay for repairs. In that case, it's no huge loss to melt it down (arrrrrrg.)
What next? Do the museums sell off their treasures because no one cares anymore? And is this just happening in the USA and other western countries, or is this the way of the entire world? I never thought I'd live to see the day when a millenial would look at a Tiffany lamp and just shrug. Maybe it's a sad commentary on the decline of our society and devaluing our heritage, but I just do not get it.
Are you buying the cheap clothing?
Don't do that. Wait for sales. Maybe those "millennials" like something from the Tiffany era that you would shrug your shoulders about? Put it in perspective and don't let it get you down.
I never foresaw any of these things. It's all been a surprise to me.
But I assumed there would be a cure for cancer now. I thought we would be taking trips back and forth to the moon.
My elementary school teacher told us that everything would be robots or automated and people wouldn't need arms and legs anymore.
My college earth science professor told us that no one should build in CA because it is semi arid and it's hard to get water.
Lately the one thing that I would never have expected is that the younger generation doesn't care about quality--clothing, furniture, dishes, all of it can be junk and they just don't care. No respect for good workmanship. Somehow I just can't get over it. Things that have been treasured by generations, works of art, silver and gold melted down-- trashed because they don't care.
And its not just the younger generation. I was with older friends (70s) and they were just going on and on about getting their daughters some Pioneer Woman cookware. I just rolled my eyes. Why not some All-Clad?
Last edited by Clemencia53; 11-28-2018 at 08:54 AM..
Reason: eft off a letter
The number of young people who aren't interested in learning to drive or owning a car is surprising to me.
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