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Do you ever wish we were living in different times
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<blockquote data-quote="donna723" data-source="post: 36145" data-attributes="member: 1883"><p>Probably the most peaceful, stable era that I remember was from the mid to late 50's (post-Korean War) to the early 60's (pre-Viet Nam). It was uncomplicated then and kind of serene. It's amazing to me now how little we got by on then, compared to what is considered "necessities" now. And we got by just fine! Most mothers didn't work and I didn't know <em>anybody</em> who had more than one car or more than one bathroom. I didn't know anybody whose <em>house</em> was air conditioned ... a few stores maybe but not houses! And cars certainly weren't air conditioned - they came with a radio (with <em>knobs</em>!) and a heater and that was pretty much IT! No AC, no satellite radio, no things that talk to you and tell you where to turn! You bought a map. Our house had one phone (with a dial), attached to the wall by a cord, and we had a little chair to sit in when you were on the phone. No Caller ID ... you took your chances when you answered it, kind of an adventure! We had a huge console TV (with tubes that burned out!) that got three channels - you actually had to get up, walk across the room, and turn a <em>knob</em> to change channels! And you didn't have to worry much about what your kids were watching on TV when the choices were between Howdy Doody and I Love Lucy! And I didn't know anybody who owned a dishwasher! That's wht the kitchen sink was for! We got by without AC, even in the sweltering St. Louis summers - not even a fan! We had a "system" though ... after dinner, when the sun went down, we'd sit on the porch and when the mosquitos started to bite, we'd come in again! And as kids, we were free to roam all over the neighborhood, even ride city buses all over town, and nobody worried that we'd be kidnapped or molested or caught up in gang violence or drugs. It was wonderful! I always regreted that my own kids could never know the freedom <em>we</em> had as kids, or the family closeness, just spending an evening sitting around talking and laughing ... all that's gone now.</p><p></p><p>When we moved to Florida in the late 50's it was pretty much the same. For the most part, we were well behaved in school. Worst thing anybody did was talk in class or chew gum :cry:! We got through school in the Florida heat and humidity with no AC - now they close the schools if the AC breaks down! Wimps! Our high school was in a wing that was built out into an orange grove ... 30-35 kids in a class, NO A/C, NO such thing as teachers aides, certainly NO computers, we barely had a library. No calculators - you had to actually LEARN how to work the math problems with a pencil and paper! And you had to actually WRITE your papers and you got graded on it! No "Spell Check" or printers to neatly do it for you. Hardly anybody had after-school jobs or their own cars ... the lucky ones got to borrow their parents cars on the weekends. Having your own car to run around in or lots of spending money was NOT considered a necessity then. And with all this, I KNOW that I learned more in school and got a better education than my own kids did! I know that, in a lot of ways, things are better now ... but we have paid the price for that "progress".</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="donna723, post: 36145, member: 1883"] Probably the most peaceful, stable era that I remember was from the mid to late 50's (post-Korean War) to the early 60's (pre-Viet Nam). It was uncomplicated then and kind of serene. It's amazing to me now how little we got by on then, compared to what is considered "necessities" now. And we got by just fine! Most mothers didn't work and I didn't know [i]anybody[/i] who had more than one car or more than one bathroom. I didn't know anybody whose [i]house[/i] was air conditioned ... a few stores maybe but not houses! And cars certainly weren't air conditioned - they came with a radio (with [i]knobs[/i]!) and a heater and that was pretty much IT! No AC, no satellite radio, no things that talk to you and tell you where to turn! You bought a map. Our house had one phone (with a dial), attached to the wall by a cord, and we had a little chair to sit in when you were on the phone. No Caller ID ... you took your chances when you answered it, kind of an adventure! We had a huge console TV (with tubes that burned out!) that got three channels - you actually had to get up, walk across the room, and turn a [i]knob[/i] to change channels! And you didn't have to worry much about what your kids were watching on TV when the choices were between Howdy Doody and I Love Lucy! And I didn't know anybody who owned a dishwasher! That's wht the kitchen sink was for! We got by without AC, even in the sweltering St. Louis summers - not even a fan! We had a "system" though ... after dinner, when the sun went down, we'd sit on the porch and when the mosquitos started to bite, we'd come in again! And as kids, we were free to roam all over the neighborhood, even ride city buses all over town, and nobody worried that we'd be kidnapped or molested or caught up in gang violence or drugs. It was wonderful! I always regreted that my own kids could never know the freedom [i]we[/i] had as kids, or the family closeness, just spending an evening sitting around talking and laughing ... all that's gone now. When we moved to Florida in the late 50's it was pretty much the same. For the most part, we were well behaved in school. Worst thing anybody did was talk in class or chew gum [img]:cry:[/img]! We got through school in the Florida heat and humidity with no AC - now they close the schools if the AC breaks down! Wimps! Our high school was in a wing that was built out into an orange grove ... 30-35 kids in a class, NO A/C, NO such thing as teachers aides, certainly NO computers, we barely had a library. No calculators - you had to actually LEARN how to work the math problems with a pencil and paper! And you had to actually WRITE your papers and you got graded on it! No "Spell Check" or printers to neatly do it for you. Hardly anybody had after-school jobs or their own cars ... the lucky ones got to borrow their parents cars on the weekends. Having your own car to run around in or lots of spending money was NOT considered a necessity then. And with all this, I KNOW that I learned more in school and got a better education than my own kids did! I know that, in a lot of ways, things are better now ... but we have paid the price for that "progress". [/QUOTE]
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