As a son of parents of The Greatest Generation, to be referred to as Son of
the Greatest Generation, or SGG for short, many of the good old time
conveniences have been abandoned in the cause of better living through
technology. While listening to two women, generations apart discuss the heat,
one wondered how the other got by without AC. The older woman just smiled and
said we did, with much less complaining, point and victory to the older woman.
When I was growing up, in the old days, referred to as the 50’s and 60’s, when
it got hot, people sat on their front porches at night. Sipping lemonade, from
squeezing lemons into a pitcher, then adding water and sugar. And drank it over
ice, or rather sipping it, as real lemonade prohibits drinking it fast. Things
were discussed face to face, until it got too dark, and it was time for bed, as
things will have cooled off. Air conditioning consisted of all the windows open
and a cool breeze going throughout the house, no in window AC yet, that was for
rich people and department stores. Sometimes we would listen to the radio,
listening to a ballgame, while older cars would go by and cause static and
interference. Neighbors would go out for walks, and adults addressed each other
as Mr. and Mrs., first names were reserved for closer friends and neighbors.
Some evenings free movies would be shown in the park at dark, sitting on
blankets while the loud chirping of crickets and the smell of fresh cut grass
filled the air. Hot at sundown, but by the end of the show, your girlfriend had
her sweater on. We got out and talked to each other, one on one-this was called
being sociable. If we even had a term for it at all. Long before notebooks,
i-phones, and lap tops, we got together face to face, rather than screen to
screen. Today they call it social engineering. Proving real engineers should
only drive trains.
Back then, if you wanted to meet, you talked at school or work, sometimes
on the phone. Which was either a permanent fixture on the wall, provided free
of charge by the phone company, and they lasted forever, or one sitting on a
desk. Dial phones, with exchange prefixes, such as ADams, or CHellwood, or
PLainfield, ours started with AD2-----. And you knew what part of town or city
the person was from by their prefix. Some even had party lines, or shared
lines, waiting for your turn to talk, so conversation was more important, unless
you were a lovesick teen hogging the lines. Summer also meant dances, over by
10am, per local curfews, but allowing you an hour to walk your girlfriend home,
just getting home in time for your curfew. We were social, meeting, greeting,
and talking with each other.
Sometimes a friend would stay for dinner, your mother making pot roast, in
a pressure cooker. Vegetables bought from the road side stand, cooked in pots
on the stove. Which all took time, and added heat to the room, a tough one in
summer, a blessing in winter. No microwaves or processed foods, recipes were
written on cards from their mother, who got them from her mother, passed down
who knows how many times. Again people communicated with each other, face to
face, and many relationships lasted the years. Fathers had areas in the
basement for small workshops, usually with an old work bench and radio, to pass
the time. It was called a hobby, and many things were fixed rather than thrown
away and replaced back then. How to advice on all things passed down. Garages
were for cars, not an additional bedroom, or worse storage area for extra junk.
What we didn’t use we donated to the Salvation Army, Veterans, or church. Only
when it was unfixable anymore was it thrown away. Makes recycling look like a
cop out. In winter your dad would start the car, letting it warm up while he
went in and finished his coffee, percolated, not microwaved or fresh brewed.
Thermostat down during the day, manually. And some like my grandparents who
used coal, would arrive to chilly home, until they built a fire, and the house
warmed. They never had a thermostat, they knew what happened if they forgot-so
they didn’t. Extra comforters for winter, open windows for summer. And again
some how we got by without Facebook, Twittering was something birds did, and if
you called a girl, be sure her father wasn’t on an extension line listening. So
we used manners, were courteous, and this magical thing happened back-they were
courteous and respectful back to us. Thank you was followed by, you’re welcome,
and men held doors for women, not because they were ladies, but because we were
gentlemen, like we were taught. Sadly so much of this has been lost with the
SGG getting older, as we Baby Boomers will do, and not taking the time to pass
it on to our grandchildren, or the children we are raising for our children.
Social engineering has taken the place of courtesy, privacy, and common sense.
No truth in some profiles, does the picture match the person you never met?
Does yours?
Proverbs tells parents “start them off in the way they should go.” But
somewhere between start and go the rules change. No one wishes to listen, but
we have a generation that is the most informed, but the least educated. Pushing
buttons have replaced dialing phones, and now each member of the family has
their own cell. Which somehow I managed to avoid, and still get by. Case in
point, a woman was late the other night, and called the man I was covering for,
knowing he wasn’t there. Who called my wife knowing I had no cell phone...duh?
I still picked her up, she is always late and we had expected it...but all the
social engineering still came down to a person caring and making a decision.
Conflict resolutions were resolved face to face, and many avoided from families
talking to each other, like on a front porch. The F word stood for family, or
friends, and we used it often. Today...
We have society rotting from within. Just like history has shown us over
4000 years. Just as God warned us it would, if we strayed from Him. it is
tough being a parent today, but imagine your kid was Jesus? And He was
perfect? What instructions would you have for Him? About girls? Stealing?
Dating? Motorcycles? Yes, Joe and Mary had it rough, but Jesus helped by being
the perfect son, too. But they still raised Him. Today your kids may be grown,
with kids of their own. Values may have changed, but Jesus hasn’t. Take time
to sit and visit with them today. Share things of the past, after turning off
the cell phones. Sit on the front porch, or go to a park. Hard today when
filled with druggies, but find that place to visit with your family. Yesterday
it was the garage for Landon and me, checking oil and lubing chains. But it was
the time spent together that is remembered. Start with God as an example. When
is the last time you hung out with Jesus? Looking for more of God, hang out
with Him, like Psalm 1 says. Meditating, thinking and praying, but spend it
with Him. Prayer, the original social engineering, from the creator. Reading
the Bible, still nothing like turning the pages of a book. Go out and greet
some neighbors, sit on the porch and watch kids play. But get out, and be
blessed. Or maybe be a blessing. Don’t hide behind Facebook, don’t Twitter to
a sitter. Cruise to the Drive-in and talk over Cokes, and soft serve. Face to
face, just like God wants us to be with Him. And seal it with a hug and maybe a
kiss for that special one. Try that one on your i-phone, and then ask, how far
have we really come?
Technology for the most part has been a good thing, but sometimes it just
goes on too long. When all is said and done it comes down to you and Jesus.
Aren’t you glad He has stayed the same? Aren’t you glad you can still change?
Jesus Christ, God’s technology that was the best from the start. Call it
Jesus.1. Google Jesus today, no computer needed. You are all it takes. And of
course there is always the cement pond...
love with compassion,
Mike
mattjew25biker.blogspot.com