By: JBH Wonders, 11/2011
I grew up in the ‘60’s in these united states of America and now I am 60 years old, a true member of the infamous “baby boomer” group. Our generation has been tracked by some of the business world ever since someone realized, “Hey, we have a whole bunch of customers here”. “What can we sell them this year”? Many have prospered by providing goods and services to the vast market of baby boomers.
Many others have published articles of “then verses now”. So this is hardly an original topic for me to write about. It is just my two cents for what it is worth.
In my youth, I did not care much for eating vegetables, especially spinach and squash. Now I thrive on many different “veggies”.
Before we reached the age where the coveted “driver’s license” was sought after, bicycles were the transportation of choice. Now I ride them for fun and exercise. They are still used for limited transportation in some cases for us young “senior citizens”.
In my younger days I loved to drink milk and drank lots of it. Now I cannot (or should not) drink it at all. I also dumped salt on everything. Now I don’t, and I do not miss the salty flavor.
There was always a television in the living room of the house as early as I can recall. Children were not permitted to touch it. If we wanted to watch a TV program, permission from one of our parents was required. And then, one of them would turn it on and select one of the three channels available. It actually took an adult to change channels because the selector was difficult to turn (no remote control “flippers” in those days). And in later years, anyone whose family had a color TV (with a round screen yet) was some rich fancy kid. Now everyone has them of course.
I remember when candy bars cost five cents each. This grew to fifty cents by the time I was in High School. Now it makes no “cents” for me to eat them. I like still having most of my own teeth.
During the Cold War, I remember air raid drills in grade school. We were taught to hide under our desks. I developed a fear of all aircraft because of these drills. Whenever I was outdoors and heard or saw an airplane, I would hide under something. This fear eventually left me and now I actually enjoy flying. I avoid it however because of the “security” nonsense that goes on at commercial airports. (That is a highly published subject so I will refrain from writing about it for now).
Back in the sixties, as we young guys entered into puberty, to just see a girl’s knees was exciting. (“T&A” had not been invented yet). Nowadays young boys and girls are bombarded with sex issues by the age of ten. This is also a highly published subject and I have nothing additional to offer at the time of this writing.
In my youth, going to church was a hardship and not cool for some of us. As an adult, I do not go to church regularly but I do have faith in a Creator. I have yet to find a church where I fit in however.
My first computation devices were my fingers & toes. This advanced to a writing pad and pencil in grades one through twelve. In college I used a $10 slide rule in addition to a pad and pencil. It would be another five years before electronic calculators are affordable to the average individual. It would be another ten years before you could purchase a calculator for $5.
I started school when I was five years old and graduated high school at the age of seventeen. I did not attend any grade “K” kindergarten or “pre-school”. I don’t know if they existed then. If they did, it was not a federal mandate at the time for a child to go to one. My parents taught me to recognize different colors, spell my name, count to ten, and recite most of the alphabet before the public school indoctrination began. I was fortunate however that my first four years of grade school was at a Catholic parochial school. The teachers were nuns and made us study and learn the right things. Nonsense was not tolerated. So I had a head start before resuming the fourth grade at a public school.
Automobiles used to be tough and powerful with their “V8” engines and four barrel Holley carburetors. Gasoline was 100% gasoline and costs 30 cents per gallon. Now we use a “gasoline” mixture with alcohol and it costs 330 cents per gallon. That is why most of the automobiles now days are small, wimpy, and have small engines. The pros and cons of “gasahol” is also a widely published topic so I have nothing more to offer on it at this time.
Before any road trips were made, the route would be planned using a folding road map. I think they offered a special class to teach one how to fold these maps back up correctly. Now using a computer and Internet access, I can use “Mapquest” (there are others of course) and get step-by-step instructions on how to get from my easy chair to the Caribbean Islands and other places that I have never heard of. And if I am unsure of my geography, I can get a map printed out also.
Our entertainment media utilized something round that went round and round. Our music was on phonograph records and our movies (which could only be seen in a theater) where played by transferring a long, thin tape from one turning round object (reel) to another. This advanced over the years to audio cassettes, “eight tracks”, and VHS tapes. These media still used a long thin tape winding from one wheel to another. Today’s music is still on round turning objects (Compact Discs/CDs) and our home movies are presented on Digital Video Discs (DVD). So we seem to have come full circle (pun intended).
At some point in my youth my parents and other adults seemed to become ignorant of my needs and the world events. I have now experienced my children thinking the same of me.
And now…..
The man I see in the mirror is not the young face that took his first shave and fretted over acne so many years ago.
The man I see in the mirror no longer needs a course-toothed comb to groom his hair. It takes a brush and some “styling” to make me feel like I still have plenty of hair.
The man I see in the mirror reminds me of my paternal Grandpa and my Dad. I see thinning gray hair, wrinkles around the mouth, and big ears. (I’ve read that one’s nose and ears never cease growing).
Time stands still for no one.
“And the man whose hair is fallen off his head, he is bald; yet is he clean”.
Leviticus 13:40
“The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the grey head.”
Proverbs 20:29
“Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity”.
Ecclesiastes 11:10
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