Generations…

Back in the olden days… you know, the olden days!  What does that mean?  What constitutes “the olden days?”  Is it back when we were not alive or were very young?  The older I get, the more likely it is that I have lived in the olden days.  It seems that the generation that lived in the olden days had it easier than us… life was simpler.  I’ve often thought that I would have done well living long ago… when life was simpler.  

Remember Ma (Caroline) Ingalls… what worries did she have?  She had a little house on the prairie… two rooms with a loft! She did not have to clean toilets!  Her menu choices were small so meal planning must have been a piece of cake!  She lived on the prairie and did not have to mow the lawn or rake leaves.  Heck, in the winter they were snowed in their cabin so she didn’t even have to shovel!  Christmas shopping was a breeze… oh ya, they didn’t do it!  She did not have to send Christmas cards.  I’m sure life was much easier!  

Fast forward to our parent’s generation – early to mid 1900’s.  You know, the black and white time.  As a little girl, I was so sad for anyone living in the olden days… their lives were so gray.  How hard could they have had it?  Moms stayed home and prepared the home for the arrival of their husbands.  Kids played outside, just coming in for meals.  During the depression there was no food so they didn’t even have to come in to eat.  The streets were safer, with no petty crimes – only gangsters… and they hung out in the big cities! Families whistled as they walked down the street and all kids had respectful friends like Eddie Haskel.  I’m sure life was much easier!

Continue forward to our generation – 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s.  You know, the time of really amazing hair and clothing!  Our biggest worry was which leg warmers to wear over our stretch pants.  Or did we have all of our homework done in time for Wonderful Word of Disney on Sunday nights… right after Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom?  45’s were $1.00 at Newberrys (plus the bus fair to get downtown) and candy really did cost a penny at the Milk Bottle on Garland!  Movies at the Fox were double headers… two for the price of one!  Life WAS much easier!

So, here we are today… 2011… 21st Century… the present day… you know, WAY in the future!  Technology rules our lives.  Phones with a cord are obsolete.  Everything is instant and fast and ever-changing.  Who needs to be ready to watch our favorite program because we will just DVR it!  We don’t watch shows about talking cars or wild animals… we watch crime drama’s and reality TV.  If you don’t like what the family is doing or watching, just pull something different up on your computer or one of the other three TV’s in the house.  Who needs to use good old fashioned verbal communication anymore… we have texting!  Never mind actually getting together to share a meal or visit.  No time!  

It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there and our youth are living it large!  The world where kids respect adults and care about others… not there.  The world where kids play a neighborhood game of Kick The Can together… not there.  They stand around and text each other.  Words that we would never even have considered saying or actually said out loud are now common language…”it’s just the way we talk.”  A world of “reach out and touch someone” has taken on a total different meaning.  This generation is entitled… or so they think.  

It’s NOT easier, but it’s all they know.  The way we lived was all we knew!  I often think about how each generation truly believed that they were on the cutting edge of technology and life!  Life has always changed, but not at the rate it is today.  I think the Ingalls were on to something moving there family out onto the prairie away from the hustle and bustle of the city!  Some days I long to live in a time that was easier… you know when movies were a nickel and everyone walked barefoot to school… uphill both ways… in the snow!