ah, yes…those were the days..or were they??

Back in the day….

I ran across this photo the other day..it is one of my all time favorites of my 3 kids taken by my ex-husband. Must have been late 70’s considering their ages. But it got me to thinking….What will people of this generation do when all their photos are on their phones or computers and not in albums or hanging on the wall? There are so many things I wish we still did or had from “back in my day”…and here are a few I came up with..

Remember when TV was free – We had I think, about 8 channels and an antenna to get them. But we didn’t know any different and were happy with that. We also had such quality shows on tv back then. Now we have thousands of channels.. a very expensive bill each month….and nothing to watch.

Remember when it was free to play sports in school – at least I don’t remember paying for anything back then. I don’t remember paying for anything my kids did in school either. They just played and had fun. Sports back then weren’t  such a big deal as they are today and they didn’t have to go 4 hours from home to play their game. I also don’t remember having to buy them all the things they needed to use everyday, like pencils or tablets(and I mean paper ones). They got them at school. For free.

Remember when doctor visit costs were minimal and no insurance was needed – the doctor we went to knew us…I mean knew us…he knew everything about us and our family and we never had to remind him of something he should have known because “he” was the doctor. He was like a family member. And he cared.

Remember when we knew all of our neighbors –  And I do mean all of them. It was great. Our parents didn’t have to worry about us because someone always knew us and what we were up to. I have lived in this house for 10 years and only know the person who lives to the left of my house. Maybe if people would try to get to know their neighbors again it would help us all understand each other a little better.

Remember when people said hi to you on the street – This is kind of related to knowing our neighbors but not really. We would go to the mall or grocery store or even just walking down the street somewhere and come upon a stranger…we would smile and they would smile back and offer a greeting of some sort. Now if I smile at someone I don’t know they look at me like I have two heads. Would it really hurt you to just smile back…

Remember when families ate dinner together every night – Yes, every night…regardless who had some activity or sport we still ate together. We laughed and we all told stories about our day. We bonded for that hour or half hour or whatever amount of time we had. But we had it and we were all together…and we were better for having had it.

Remember when people weren’t checking their phones every five minutes – We could go to dinner with friends or family members and actually have an uninterrupted conversation. Wow. I know some of you didn’t know this could even happen. I know I am guilty of doing it sometimes but I try to turn it off and just enjoy the people around me. Life is short. We all need to be more present in the moments we have with the people we care about.

Remember when people dressed appropriately – People dressed professionally for work. They wore suits and the women wore dresses. Yes, I get that times have changed and these are old fashioned outdated rules. Having said that, is it appropriate to wear tennis outfits and exercise outfits to work?? And my answer to that is a big NO…unless of course you are on your way to play tennis or work out. But not at work. At the store where I work they recently relaxed their rules about what the employees could wear. Now customers ask me who works here and who can I talk to about this item I bought…they say it is hard to tell who is working here and who is on their way to the gym. I have to agree with them. There is something to be said about looking professional at your job…if you dress like you don’t care, quite possibly you don’t! And this goes for kids as well. The way they dress for school or to come to the mall is appalling…I realize this makes me sound like an old lady…well so be it. Who are these parents letting their kids go out of the house looking like they are going to the beach…tank tops(the kind I wear under things) and their tummies sticking out? I could go on and on about this one…it is all about having a little respect.

Remember when we left things unlocked – We left our cars and our doors unlocked when I was growing up. Now we have security systems in both and they still get broken into. What has changed? Why did people behave differently back then?

Remember having fallout shelters – I recently dropped my grand daughter off at school and saw a very faded “Fallout Shelter” sign on the side of the building. The school was built in 1949. It immediately took me back to the 60’s and seeing this sign everywhere. We also had drills in school where we were all huddled under our desks or out in the hall way crouched down on all fours covering our heads with our arms. Do they even do this at school anymore?

Remember when appliances and cars lasted forever – Very rare was the occasion we had to replace an appliance. They just didn’t break down. They lasted so long my parents would just get tired of them and buy an updated one. And cars…my Dad would always buy new and it would last until he was sick of it. And they didn’t always need a repair or a part fixed.  If it did, he could most times fix it himself. We didn’t have to take it in to the dealer and have them run it on some machine to have the electrical system checked out to see what the problem was. Of course he always bought an American car. He had a fit when I got a foreign one.

These are just a few I thought of. I know there are a bunch more and maybe you can think of something I didn’t and post it below in the comments. I also tend to think the music was better back then too, but that’s just me.

“Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory.” ~ Franklin Pierce Adams (too funny and too true…I do have a bad memory these days)