With the 40th anniversary of our landing on the moon, I read that most Americans alive today have grown up not knowing anything different, assuming it was just another historical event. Not exactly so. In 1969, We showed the rest of the world we are the best and we beat the Russians in the cold-war space race. (Michael would have had to name his 'walk' something else.) It made me think and do very little research, as in Wikipedia. The median age in America is now 35.3 yrs old. It was 32.9 just a few years ago. That means that half of the American people are now younger than 35.3 years. This younger group doesn't know of a life before certain items existed and are now taken for granted: microwaves, garbage disposals, clothes dryers, remote control, cable and color TV, ipods, ATM's, automatic garage door openers, dishwashers, air conditioning - standard equipment in homes and vehicles, smoke-free airplane rides, McDonalds, Internet, spray paint, smoke detectors, drinks in aluminum cans, disposable diapers, house hold computers and cell phones. Rap was something one did on a front door to announce your presence, before the electric door-bell; all just a sampling of what comes to mind. I know I've omitted several. (So many, that MOD CONS was created by some unknown, frustrated, writer to define it all.)
Of course, this is all relevant with age. I recall my grandma telling me about having to pull the curtains across the windows to keep the Indians (oops, Native Americans) from looking into their homes at night. Travelers navigated by dead-reckoning and stars. No Tom-Tom or Garmin.
I put together model cars and airplanes using a glue that now is kept under lock and key and can only be purchased by an adult. I watched black and white TV, having to get up, walk across the room, and change the channel by turning a little knob that clicked while turning. If the picture was bad, you'd adjust the rabbit ears or slap the side of the set with your palm. I rode in the back of a pickup truck on many occasions. Our swamp cooler was all we knew and were glad for it. We shared a phone line with neighbors, counting the rings knowing the call was for us. We didn't get calls telling us our factory warranty was about to expire. Everyone spoke English. We asked, "Whatcha doin'?" instead of "Whass up?" Global warming and terrorism weren't daily words then. I could go on and on, but I'd bore you with trivial garbage - garbage used to be burned nightly, (what ozone damaging, green-house effect?) now it's a "land fill" with bulldozers and recycling.
Makes me wonder what our grandsons' lives will have for modern conveniences. I hope they have nothing to do with hiding from enemies or fighting off weird diseases.
Thank you Neil Armstrong and NASA.
5 comments:
And they sprayed mosquitoes with DDT while we played in the streets.
I'm definitely in that younger group that doesn't know much of life before Mod Cons as you call it (I would DIE if I had to use something other than disposable diapers). I was a teenager, however, before my family got around to getting a microwave, cable TV, and a household computer. I'm quite familiar with typewriters (albeit correction tape varieties). Fun post. Except you're scaring me with the "hiding from enemies or fighting off weird diseases" comment.
We are all so spoiled now. I go crazy if I can't find the remote! :)
Interesting, so many improvements in your lifetime. We had no polio vaccine or flouride when I was little and were quarantined if we had chicken pox or the like. Movies were black & white. Not everyone had indoor plumbing, electricity or telephone. Radio provided news,advertising,soap operas, dramas and music such as the National Barn Dance, which later became the Grand Ole Opry. Uncle Bill drove a Model T Ford(no driver license required) horse drawn wagons were common in farming areas, other travel would be by train; & that's not even ancient history.
I remember adjusting the rabbit ears on our tv - and I loved riding in the back of your truck when you cam up to SLC! We are definitely spoiled now!
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