In what ways has U.S. culture changed since you were young? (screaming, cousin)
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Things are more transparent now, via all of the technology and social media. It spans from larger systems of government to smaller systems such as the family unit. I think more things were hidden in past generations. Now, it's harder to do that. It has it's pluses and minuses, but generally positive IMO.
When Kennedy campaigned for office, I remember hearing a lot of "I don't want no Pope for president". At the time, it was such a big deal that he was Catholic!
There was a lot of religious antagonism. My Baptist missionary cousins were given time off to come home from Brazil to campaign against Kennedy. We thought they were in the Amazon but they were in Sao Paulo trying to convert Catholics to be Baptists. My country Lutheran pastor would preach against the Baptists one week, Catholics one week, the Mormons one week...we might get a week off before he did it all again. None of that made any sense.
There was a lot of religious antagonism. My Baptist missionary cousins were given time off to come home from Brazil to campaign against Kennedy. We thought they were in the Amazon but they were in Sao Paulo trying to convert Catholics to be Baptists. My country Lutheran pastor would preach against the Baptists one week, Catholics one week, the Mormons one week...we might get a week off before he did it all again. None of that made any sense.
I’d pick my son and 6-7 of his friends up from the little league games In my old station wagon all the kids hanging out the back window with their hats on backwards still arguing an umpires call, and wanting to know who’s mothers cooking what for dinner .
taking over the US? we were very afraid Russia would drop the bomb and most of the world would be destroyed. What wasn't directly destroyed would be so contaminated as to be unlivable. Thus, bomb shelters.
and a whole lot of fear and distrust.
IME the "fear and distrust" was of the Russians. We did not fear our own schoolmates or our neighbors. As children we might distrust a few of the other kids who had reputations as "mean kids", but we didn't actually fear them. They didn't come to school with knives, or guns, and they didn't throw rocks on the playground or get into fights with each other.
We rode our bikes to school, to the store, to the pool, and to the neighborhood park, where we played without fear of drug dealers or pedophiles, and all this without any sort of Neighborhood Watch." We rode without helmets, and sometimes without shoes.
In my neighborhood people kept their front doors locked (we lived on a busy road), but back doors were left open in the summer daytime and the screen door was left unhooked so the kids could come and go from playing in the back yard. We played barefooted in the summertime and sometimes we got stung by bees we stepped on accidentally, but we knew to look out for bees before stepping into a patch of clover. No one carried an epi-pen.
I was always bringing home stray dogs. Because yes, there were stray dogs -- you could tell them from the other dogs because not on did the strays not wear collars, they were unfamiliar. We knew all the neighborhood dogs because we were out there with them, playing, and they were running free, usually off-leash.
Dogs had puppies, and cats had kittens, and you might sell the puppies for $5 each but the kittens you gave away for free. And if they didn't go to families in your immediate neighborhood, they went to school friends you knew. And you didn't have to ask to see the father; you knew the father. He lived down the street.
You didn't order a purebred dog or cat. You bought (or got one free) from a neighbor or friend, and chances are it wasn't a purebred but a mix of at least two other breeds. You didn't do research into what it would look like as an adult or how it would behave. It would get bigger, continue to have fur, and it would bark and chase cars. You didn't have to worry about its being housebroken because the only house it ever entered for any length of time was its own doghouse. It might not live for decades, but it got lots of exercise and was not overweight.
I’d pick my son and 6-7 of his friends up from the little league games In my old station wagon all the kids hanging out the back window with their hats on backwards still arguing an umpires call, and wanting to know who’s mothers cooking what for dinner .
And that's how it was.
My mom was that mom cooking dinner....miss those days!
I still remember my brother calling me one night around 1993-1994. We worked together all day at the time but he was so emotional and said you gotta go see this movie; it's our childhood - go see Sand Lot - and it was. That's how it was.
I agree with the cussing, although I work in an industry that seems to attract a lot of foul talkers. Dad spanked me right away for using a profane word in his presence. I didn't do that again! When I was a teenager, my mom would flash a stern glare and tell me to choose a better word.
Overall, and I don't know if one considers this a culture change, but the death of the community is the biggest transformation. Many small and medium-sized towns had a dominant employer (factory, mill, university, corporation, rail yard, prison, whatever) that provided enough good jobs to generate adjacent small businesses. My hometown is small, but has a large state university. My dad's hometown was home to a well-known heavy machinery company. My mom's hometown had a manufacturer of airplane parts. The parts factory is long gone. The heavy machinery company relocated its HQ to a mega-city. My hometown's university (my alma mater) is still running strong, but with less state funding and a lot more adjunct faculty.
When someone said "Thank you", the reply was "You're welcome". Now the reply is "No problem."
"You're welcome" felt civilized and respectful. "No problem" sounds a bit coarse.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell
One of my favorite jokes is when somebody says, "How you doing?" I respond, "How do you do?"
They get a funny look on their face.
I use "You're welcome," too, but sometimes I switch it up with "De nada," just for the fun of it.
I still say, "You're welcome." My mother drilled that into me and I couldn't get rid of it if I wanted to. Also, when asked how I am, I say, "Fine, thank you." Drilled into me.
I don't like it when someone says, "How ya doin'." But most people around here say, "How are you?" Of course this apartment complex is for over age 65 so that might have something to do with it.
The other day a young person said, "You're welcome." I think it was in a store and it was great to hear it!
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Good times! - and I mean that!!
