One of the hardest things for old folks is to remember that young folks were born in a different age, and vice versa.
DB - The Vagabond
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If you are a senior citizen who has tried to convey what your life was like when you were young you have probably seen that benign, uncomprehending smile on the face of whatever youngster you were talking to. It isn't that they don't believe you, it's just that they don't understand. They have probably heard things about the "old" days but have no experience with them. They can't imagine a black and white TV with an antenna on the roof, a milk man delivering mile to your door every morning, telephones without dials that got a live operator every time you picked them up, cars that ran on gas which cost 50 cents a gallon or less, penny post cards.
When I was a kid I was amused at my grandmother who had a fright every time the phone rang. But she was a woman who, when she was young and newly married, would drive the ox cart into town to buy supplies for their sod house on the Nebraska prairie. I couldn't conceive of it.
Young people today know about things I took for granted that I wasn't supposed to know about. I've heard preteens make remarks about things and I want to say to them "How do you know about that?" but I realize it's an old fogy question so I keep my mouth shut.
But I wonder, considering the rapid development of technology, if it's possible to be an old fogy at the age of 20. At the tender age of 71 not only can I not keep up with all the latest gadgets, I also no longer want to. If someone says to me "What?!! You don't know about such and such?" I will answer "There are a lot of things I don't know about and neither do you. Now I'm more interested in Mozart than Microsoft, so there."
We do change as we grow, but it seems that every age has a different starting place.
DB
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SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?
1 response so far.
dbdacoba@aol.com
Thank you.
DB
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3 comments:
It is an amazing time. I still like to keep up with technology and how it is changing, but there are a lot of new things we choose not to get involved with. I suppose that will only get worse with more years in my rearview mirror.
When I get to Omaha, maybe I will have to make a pilgrimage of sorts, eh?
I feel you on your post DB. But it is all an illusion. Just as you can grasp the idea of what it new, should a capable, intelligent younger person understand how different something was and how it translates into todays changed world.
Every now and again I startle myself when I break out with some story about the "old" days. My word I cannot possibly be that old now can I? Well, yes I can and I am. To many young people today the 1990's is ancient history. It is such a different world to them as they have not much memory of simpler times as we geriatrics do. I am technologically challenged and not ashamed to admit it. If I do not know what it is or how to use it, then I do not need it. I will admit that there is much that I miss from the "old" days and I am very happy that I was around to experience them.
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