Reclaiming the Past

A news clip reminded me of a time when I was growing up. I was raised in the 70's. I lived in a fairly small Midwestern town. Americana. There was a downtown and there were factories and there were the neighborhoods where people lived. Subdivisions were new and there were not many in my town.

The most complicated device we had in our house was either the electronic calculator (a huge device by today's standards) or the microwave oven. We did not get the latter until I was in high school. But oh, that was cool! Put a hot dog on a paper plate, push a few buttons, and in about 2 minutes, it was cooked! Amazing!

We have so much more stuff now. Technology and science has made our lives so much easier. And more complicated too.

Why do I yearn for those days? Is it because in my memory, they were carefree? That could be true. I was in school. My parents paid the bills. I didn't have a whole lot of worries.

I should have. That was definitely the beginning of my various neurosis. But that's another story.

Was it that I was blind to the various cares of the world? Did my parents do all the worrying for me then, just as I take that burden from my child now? Did my mother and father long for their childhood days of the 30's?

Maybe.

Or is it the simpler time that I want? Do I want a time when we had 3 channels instead of 300?

No, I enjoy the technology now. But think we have a completely different way of thinking now. There is a new middle class. There are so many more opportunities for a young person now than existed then. But along with those opportunities has come a false sense of entitlement. We have a different perception of what we should and should not get out of this life. Conveniences have been necessities. The cell phone is my perfect example. We'll be 15 minutes away from our house and my wife will use her cell phone to call the house to see if there are any messages. This is a pet peeve of mine because I talk on the phone everyday on my job. My time away from a phone is precious quiet time for me. But that's just me.

My daughter complains that one of her backpacks is too big for her school locker. Another won't hold all of her books. She just rolls her eyes when I say that I did not own a backpack until I went to college. "How did you carry your books," she asks? "With my hands," I answer.

So will this generation gap continue? Probably. She'll tell her kids that once she had to type on a keyboard to do her school research on the computer. Her kids will roll their eyes too.

Then, they'll look at the computer display (inside the backpack) think about a question, and the answer will appear.

She'll long for the good ol' days too.

No Longer Angry

As a writer, you learn to take inspiration whenever it comes. Inspiration does not knock every day. Usually you have to dig it up when it is needed. So I watch for nuggets of wisdom. Disney Channel (insert necessary copyright, legal stuff here) was my source last night. A line from the movie was, "I'm tired of being angry all the time. " The gist was the charactor was simply not going to be angry anymore.

I can relate to that. For weeks now, one thing or another has made me stressed and usually angry. Mostly it has originated through work, but a few physical problems have added to this almost daily frustration.

But what a simple way to look at it. "I'm tired of being angry all the time."

What has the anger gotten me? I think I have lost weight. I was not really heavy to begin with, but now most of my pants do not fit. No one that I was angry at has changed their habits which made me angry. I have not persuaded even one person to do things 'my way.' So I have taken all the consequences of the anger myself. Is that fair? I'm not angry with myself so why am I the one who is suffering?

Any psychiatrists that are reading this--chew on that. I know easy stuff.

She's Not So Little Anymore

Today did not start well. On most mornings, my daughter and I have a routine. A part of that routine is feeding the pets that are outside. I grab some grass for the rabbit and put it in her pen and check her water. The rabbit is never lying down in the pen. She is always sitting or hopping around. Today she was lying in the corner.

I thought, did she leave us in the night? I went to her and touched her. She was gone. She must have died sometime in the night.

So I had a decision to make. Do I tell my 11 year old that one of her pets was gone? Since the rabbit was spending every other night outside, it was not unusual for our daughter to not see her in the morning. I really did not want to ruin her school day by telling her what I found.

So she went to school and my wife picked her up at the usual time. We agreed we would tell her when we were both there to comfort her.

She was sad. But there were no tears. She wanted her dog to hold and the dog gave her numerous licks. Again, still no tears.

We decided we would take the rabbit to some nearby woods and give her back to nature. Our girl even pointed out that some animal would probably eat her.

No tears still. And now she is watching TV and talking about the summer.

She's not so little anymore.