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I get notified on FB when there are activities going on in and near my city. I can go on Google Maps for directions to get there. I can go on Google Earth and simulate the drive so I know exactly where to turn and where to park. I am able to find and do so much more now that the Internet provides the information that I need. I can go alone, secure in the knowledge that I have a cell phone to call for help if I have car trouble. Technology has made my life much more full than it would have been if I was relying on mailing away for brochures or combing the newspaper for announcements about places and events.
I can go on the internet and find out how to replace the backup battery in my alarm system (which I had to do last night to make it stop beeping), to manage a sparking gas range (caused by water getting into the components...solution: let it dry out!), find out the best paint for my current furniture makeover project, watch a video on changing the cabin and air filters in my car so I could do it myself, find meetups for groups of people who share the same interests and comb reviews to figure out the best company to hire to replace my fence.
This is just a sampling of how technology has allowed me to live a more independent, complete and secure life as a single person. I am not interested in going back to pre-tech days, at all!
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,563 posts, read 81,147,605 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bette
I read this post and have been thinking about this and what kind of world our children will inherit.
Even though some had rough times in life or tough childhoods, I have been coming back to his words and it just makes me sad.
I want to go back to a time when this song was on the radio every day. I want to be able to leave the back door and the car unlocked. I want kids riding their bike in the street. I want neighbours who know each other and say good morning. I want to be able to walk home alone at night without fear of being raped or robbed. I want Sunday lunch with friends. I want to have a cigarette at the bar without the "looks". I want to be able to speak without fear of someone listening until they can find something to be offended by. If anyone knows of a place like that which still exists....please, let me know.
This was talking about 1976 so what changed? Did I play a part? I did get married, have 2 children but I couldn't be a SAHM even though I wrestled with it. I did have a grandma for hire who came to my home and was a part of our family for 20 years.
I remember 1976. High school football games; my brother was a DE - he played against Mark Richt in HS (became the UM coach a few years ago and was at FSU and Georgia; everyone went to the games and then I remember we would all go home in time to watch Dallas. My dad just loved that old JR.
But, it seems we all spent more time together then. In the 1980's, we all got married and had kids but we all spent time together. Was it working a lot? The internet?
I think the wisdom from this board will come up with some good answers.
It takes a lot of time and effort to find a place as described in the bold quote, which is almost a complete description of where we live now. People still leave homes unlocked and ride bikes or play in the street, and the rest.
In 1974 I had gotten my degree and was about to start graduate school, when at work I was robbed at gunpoint, just a week before our wedding. We spent far less time together even with the kids (we had 3, starting in 1980) due to both of us working, and having to split up to get kids to various activities in different places. Now we enjoy the grown kids and the grandkids when they visit but have a lot more time with each other. We are still both working at 66 and 67 but enjoying the highest income ever without the expenses that we had when the kids were here.
I'm not sure what the OP's point is, but for us our current life is far better than what we experienced back then in almost every way.
I read this post and have been thinking about this and what kind of world our children will inherit.
Even though some had rough times in life or tough childhoods, I have been coming back to his words and it just makes me sad.
I want to go back to a time when this song was on the radio every day. I want to be able to leave the back door and the car unlocked. I want kids riding their bike in the street. I want neighbours who know each other and say good morning. I want to be able to walk home alone at night without fear of being raped or robbed. I want Sunday lunch with friends. I want to have a cigarette at the bar without the "looks". I want to be able to speak without fear of someone listening until they can find something to be offended by. If anyone knows of a place like that which still exists....please, let me know.
This was talking about 1976 so what changed? Did I play a part? I did get married, have 2 children but I couldn't be a SAHM even though I wrestled with it. I did have a grandma for hire who came to my home and was a part of our family for 20 years.
I remember 1976. High school football games; my brother was a DE - he played against Mark Richt in HS (became the UM coach a few years ago and was at FSU and Georgia; everyone went to the games and then I remember we would all go home in time to watch Dallas. My dad just loved that old JR.
But, it seems we all spent more time together then. In the 1980's, we all got married and had kids but we all spent time together. Was it working a lot? The internet?
I think the wisdom from this board will come up with some good answers.
Boy the way Glenn Miller played
Songs that made the hit parade
Guys like us we had it made
Those were the days.
The internet changed everything. Before that malls changed the way we shopped. Before that the turnpike changed the way we traveled... and it goes on and on...….forward and backward. Today is the best day to be born. Next Tuesday that will be the best day to be born and it also goes on and on.
When I saw this guy's comment (and it was a man), over 250 people responded in the affirmative agreeing with him and sharing their thoughts.
My own parents had everyone gravitate over to them. All the celebrations either took place at their home or wherever they chose.
I don't have grandchildren yet but want that in my own family or at least to pass on traditions which I think are being tossed away. I want our home to be that safe place.
I know we can't go back and there are things that were wrong back then. I have 2 sisters who were SAHM moms and have today very active social lives and are very intertwined with their children and their children.
I know one thing. The news went off at midnight and you had at least 6 hours from it. Today, it's 24/7 and it's making so many depressed because that what sells. We have a news station here in Miami that was one of the frontrunners of that type of news.
What can I do as a little person to make this world better? Kinder? Should I organize a block party? Most of the neighbors know each other but we haven't had one since 2016.
It just seems people seemed to be kinder and gentler back then.
kudos for trying to do something about it. No, you won't change the whole world but maybe just a little corner and that's not so bad.
The thing I miss about the 70s is my youthful looks and idealism. Also family and friends who have since died or lost touch were around in the 70s.. No I like the times we live in now with the smart phones, computers, Hey Google/Alexa, and access to the world in an instant. I have everything I need now and have traveled and my children born in the 80s raised and grown up. I have Grandchildren too..No the past is the past, nice to reminisce but you can always listen to music at anytime on your smart device to bring you to the past. Too many conveniences we have now to go to the past.
Well I don't miss my idealism...for me it was primarily due to naivete and hubris. Over the years I've gained wisdom, patience, and the ability to see that there is much more than black and white, many, many shades of grey. I do miss my youthful body though.
As the song goes "those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end - we'd sing and dance, forever and a day"...We can't stay young forever - and while I wish I could look the way I once did (and didn't appreciate), I'm ironically more comfortable in my skin than ever before. I'm recently retired and grateful to be so.
As for my former, youthful body, I feel like telling God if he gave me back the body I had at 18, I'd take better care of it this time.
I like the idea of all of us doing our part in making our part of the world a nice place. Be kind and helpful to others - pass it on and hope it spreads! I like the random acts of kindness as well.
I want to go back to a time when this song was on the radio every day. I want to be able to leave the back door and the car unlocked. I want kids riding their bike in the street. I want neighbours who know each other and say good morning. I want to be able to walk home alone at night without fear of being raped or robbed. I want Sunday lunch with friends. I want to have a cigarette at the bar without the "looks". I want to be able to speak without fear of someone listening until they can find something to be offended by. If anyone knows of a place like that which still exists....please, let me know.
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Well Where I live, life is pretty much still as you describe (except for the cigarette part). The only time we lock the house doors is if we are going to be gone all day or on a trip or when we go to bed. The car is locked in town if I have a $2000 musical instrument or my gun in the vehicle. People are neighborly and tolerant-even the liberals! Mrs5150 like to take walks in the evening. Such is life in our part of Eastern CA. I guess it depends where you live. I could never live in a city
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