It’s official…I’ve become my parents & grandparents…pining for the ‘old days,’ when things seemed much more innocent and carefree. When kids could ride their bikes around the neighborhood without fear of being snatched by a stranger…when ‘big brother’ wasn’t watching our every move…when tv shows didn’t require gratuitous sex, violence, and cursing to get a message across. By no means am I a prude…in fact, I do a lot of cursing myself…probably too much, in fact.
I’m 52, and it makes me shudder to think that the 80’s were actually three DECADES ago! My husband and I will watch tv shows or movies from ‘back then,’ and gasp when we realize how long ago that was when it feels like the blink of an eye. In many ways, it sucks getting old, but the one thing age brings is wisdom. It’s something we’d scoff at when we were younger.
It’s sad that wisdom only comes with age. I wish I had the self-awareness and wisdom I have now back when I was in my 20’s…or even 30’s. I could have avoided many mistakes…though as I write this, I realize we usually learn from those very mistakes.
I’ve always remembered something my grandmother used to say…the older we get, the faster the years fly by. We wind up growing nostalgic for what used to be. But time marches on, technology moves faster, and we push ourselves to move right along with it.
There are certainly advantages now that we didn’t have then…we have the ability to reach across countries and make new friends thanks to social media. Everyone with a smart phone can star in their own ‘movie’ by pushing the ‘record’ button and uploading themselves out into the ether. A cloud is no longer just an object in the sky. But these very devices now cause many more car accidents, as too many people can’t drag themselves away from their phones long enough to pay attention to the road in front of them.
The only way to evolve is to keep up with the times or risk being left behind. Still, it’s nice to long for part of the ‘old days’ before we were forced to use these dreaded ‘self-checkout’ lines in every store and knowing our local pharmacist. We’re losing that personal touch.
Yes, it’s amazing to have the ability to buy anything and have it delivered to our door (I do it all the time), but now we no longer have a local toy store…a local pharmacy run by ‘Ma and Pa Smith’…a local bakery….the grocer where we knew everyone’s name and they knew us…mainly any small business. They’ve been all but wiped out by huge chains and online commerce. I’m not sure this is progress.
What do you long for as you feel time march on?
