Change has been sweeping the globe, and it has had a profound impact on our lives. Maybe it’s time to see where change has taken us. After all, change is good — if it’s in the right direction. Do you remember the good old days when:
- It was cool to love your country.
- A cell phone wasn’t considered part of a table setting.
- A news anchor was the most trusted man in America.
- Time off was time off.
- Parents reprimanded their kids without getting reprimanded.
- Celebrities were made famous for the roles they took on, not the clothes they took off.
- Spam was food.
- You didn’t count your friends; you counted on them.
- Kids used to whine. Now grown-ups do.
- Hard work was a celebrated virtue.
- Teachers spent more time answering student, rather than parent, questions.
- 1984 was science fiction.
- Preparing dinner didn’t require a phone.
- Doing something illegal was against the law.
- Disrespecting your elders had consequences.
- Sunday morning was reserved for church.
- PC meant computer.
- Free speech was talked up.
- A penny bought something.
- Rewards went to the most deserving.
- Politicians were considered role models.
- Your mouth was washed out with soap for using foul language.
- People talked to each other, not over each other.
- You supported your local Mom-and-Pop store.
- We wrote love letters rather than texting them.
- Teachers were teachers and politicians were politicians.
- Traditions were honored.
- You only checked for mail one time per day.
- Sears was a household name.
- Lebanon was a tourist destination.
- Children didn’t need a license to open a lemonade stand.
- Holidays were celebrated, not attacked.
- Bad news traveled slower.
- Veterans Day was more than a sale day.
- People were too proud to accept handouts.
- Snowflakes fell out of the sky.
- Success wasn’t frowned upon.
- Children entertained themselves.
- Raising kids was considered a full-time job.
- People were not offended when you said, “Merry Christmas.”
- Stepping up meant raising your hand, not volunteering someone else.
- You earned your trophy.
- Politicians ran for office not from their constituents.
- Face-to-face conversations weren’t made via phone.
- Kids’ sports were not a fierce competition.
- Doctors made house calls.
- Personal notes were handwritten, not typed.
- People said it doesn’t pay to exercise. (Now they’re paying for it.)
- You didn’t expect rewards, you earned them.
- Little House on the Prairie and The Cat in the Hat were considered children’s classics.
- Christmas was less about presents and more about being present.
- Holding the door for someone was a welcomed gesture.
- Nobody had all the answers. (Now everyone does.)
- Kids recited the Pledge of Allegiance in school.
- Airline travel was considered luxurious.
This isn’t a plea to return to the past. It‘s an appeal to pause.… Just because it’s new doesn’t make it better. If change isn’t making things better, it’s time for change. Life doesn’t happen to us. It’s created by us. Do you remember the good old days?
Do You Remember the Good Old Days?
Please leave a comment and tell us what you think or share it with someone who can benefit from the information.
Additional Reading:
Are You Blurring the Line Between Right and Wrong?
Are You Preparing Your Kids for the Real World?
It’s Time for Grown-Ups to Grow Up
The Glue That Supports a Healthy Social Fabric
7 Reasons Why Traditions Are So Important
Are You Racing in the Wrong Direction?
Valuable Lessons: A Walk Down Memory Lane
If you like this article, subscribe to our blog so that you don’t miss a single post. Get future posts by RSS feed, email or Facebook. It’s FREE.
Hey Frank, you nailed it again. Makes me glad I grew up when I did.
That’s sad Scott. These things didn’t happen to us, they were created by us. As I said, If change isn’t making things better, it’s time for change.”
Thanks for taking the time to write.
Best,
Frank
I would say at least half the items in this list were worse in the past than they are now. You’re having false nostalgia for a past that never actually existed.
But you missed one: remember in the old days when it was so easy to publish your thoughts for all the world to see? No? Neither do I.
You make an interesting point Fred. Social media enables us to reconnect with old friends and make new ones. But it also gives folks a megaphone that can be used as a weapon for bullying and hateful speech. I think the jury is out on whether social media is a net positive or negative for society.
Thanks for taking the time to write.
Best,
Frank
Frank,
To expand on your comment about social media… and adding a culprit called the news media as well. I think a net negative is the sheer volume of information/disinformation that we are bombarded with daily. The human brain doesn’t have nearly enough bandwidth to process it all, especially when so much that is merely opinion is passed off as fact. But what do I know…I have heard lately that the Earth is flat.
Best wishes.
Great point, Mark.
Just because information is plentiful on the Internet doesn’t mean that it’s accurate.
In addition, although we have 24-hour news we aren’t better informed. Good reporting presents the news in an objective, honest, comprehensive, and timely manner. It portrays the facts and lets its audience arrive at their own conclusions. If the news media exaggerate or distort the truth, omit or cover up important details, or present opinion as fact, then they are misleading the public. Period.
Thanks for taking the time to write.
Best,
Frank
I am happy for you, that you had this childhood. Like countless others, I did not and I am relieved that the “good old days” are no more. We were excluded from your “good old days.”
For example:
1. If you were a divorced singe mother, housing was almost impossible to find.
2. If you were the child of a single, divorced mother and an absent father you were bullied and discriminated against at school.
3. Nobody opens doors for a single, divorced woman with a child, but they will make suggestive passes at her, or worse.
4. Bad news about your parentage travelled like lightning and thus, friends were hard to come by.
5. Being black, brown or a visible minority meant a hard life of discrimination.
6. Being gay could mean prison.
7. Politicians have always run for sport. That has not changed.
8. If you were developmentally or physically disabled, you were “retarded” with few options in life. If you had Downs Syndrome, you were sent to a “special home” to live out your life.
9. A person could be committed to an insane asylum without their consent and declared dead – like my grandmother was, as well as relatives of the Queen Mother. My grandmother had post natal depression, was experimented on and incarcerated for 20 years for depression because of the shame.
10. Women had very limited options for work.
One of the definitions of fundamentalist is – a desire to return to an imaginary past, which is what this article, no matter how well intentioned, does.
Hi Anna
Thank you for your comment. It clearly demonstrates the progress that we’ve made in this country. As I said, “This isn’t a plea to return to the past. It‘s an appeal to pause.… Just because it’s new doesn’t make it better. If change isn’t making things better, it’s time for change. Life doesn’t happen to us. It’s created by us.”
Change is good — if it’s in the right direction.
Thanks for taking the time to write.
Best,
Frank