How in the world did we manage to turn out to be a pretty successful generation when we didn’t have school lunches that were provided by the Federal Government? I assure you that the parents back then did not think anyone else was responsible for feeding their children. We lived on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, bologna sandwiches, apples, cookies and a few other variations and we turned out to be a pretty strong generation. Now, we are paying taxes to provide not just lunch to students but breakfast and after school snacks!! What is going on? How did this happen? The government made inroads during the Great Depression when the government bought excess crops from farmers to help them and to feed poor children. Okay, who wouldn’t agree to that but over the years, just like any government endeavor, it grew and is now a monster. As tax payers we have the right to complain but sadly we become complacent and that is never good.
How did we manage with just one TV in the house and it was black and white. No color back then, folks. We never paid attention to that because our imagination saw the color. Plus, only three channels to choose from. It was a big deal when public TV gave us a forth channel. A good time was had by all when someone would be moving the rabbit ears around to try and get a better picture and the rest of the people in the room would be hollering out advice. I occasionally catch myself looking for something to watch, and that is a choice from hundreds of channels, and then I make the comment, accompanied by a heavy sigh, that there is nothing on. Yes, I have become a bit spoiled too. We managed back then because we were outside more with our friends or we read books.
I am as dependent on my cell phone as most people today and I wonder just how we managed with only one phone in the house. It was usually black and you often had to share the line with a neighbor. This was called a party line and trust me it was no party when you wanted to make a call and couldn’t because someone was talking and talking and wouldn’t hang up. We didn’t know where people were every minute of the day nor did we get regaled with pictures of everyone else’s lunches etc. during the day and we managed just fine. If you wanted to make a long distance call you had to dial the operator and explain where you wanted to call. She would then call you back when a line was free. It could be a couple of hours. Now, we can call all over the world from a phone the size of a pack of cards. The real problem as I see it is that people are too connected to their phones and don’t socialize with other people. Who hasn’t been to a restaurant lately and looked around to see tables full of people and they are looking at their phones and not each other? Technology should not take over our lives as life is far too short to allow that to happen.
How did we manage without ‘fast food?’ We ate the majority of our meals at home. In the summer time there were the hot dog and ice cream stands that were open for a couple of months but other than those the option to eat out was a restaurant and eating out was an occasional treat. I was raised in Tonawanda, New York. This is a city between Buffalo and Niagara Falls. Our restaurants reflected the ethnic background of the citizens. We had a German, polish and Italian restaurants for the most part. On Fridays a lot of restaurants offered fish fries as there was a large Roman Catholic population and the Church at that time said you shouldn’t eat meat on Fridays. Fish fries were very popular and you found a lot of non-Catholics filling up the restaurants on Fridays along with Catholics. However, eating out was a treat and not a weekly event. Today the selection for fast food is varied but we must be cautious as I don’t know of any fast food that is really as nutritious as a home made meal.
How did we manage before Google? Today if you are chatting with someone and the question of when did John Wayne die comes up all you have to do is grab your smart phone and google the question. We actually had to wait until we could get to the library and check for the information. Now, random information, financial transactions, current news etc. are only a click away. Sadly, so is war. During W.W.II people had to wait a couple of days to hear about a battle on the radio and to see any coverage meant going to the movie theater where it was shown before the scheduled movie. In the 1960’s when Viet Nam flared up you could see the coverage the next day. Now, we can see battles practically as they are being fought. In my opinion it makes real war seem like a TV show or a movie instead of the reality of the horrors of war. Although a lot of aspects regarding getting information quickly are good this one particular issue I have negative feelings about.
How did we manage, as girls, when we could only wear skirts to school and the hem had to be below the knee! Now, keep in mind that I grew up in Western New York where the winters could be brutal. You could wear pants under the skirt to get to school and there they had to be taken off. That rule changed a year or so after I graduated. It was sensible to change the rule but then, like a lot of changes, it went down hill. I am happy that I don’t have children in public schools today because from what I can see it is now okay to come to school half naked. I don’t care what feminists say about temptation being a two way street blah, blah, blah. The bottom line is that teenage boys are not really fully human. They are basically hormones covered with skin and to see so much flesh is down right distracting when you are trying to get those young men to learn Chemistry or Algebra. Plus, what happened to teaching young women to have modesty? Very little is left to the imagination these days. I also see where the students are running the schools and everybody seems concerned about their feelings and their rights. Trust me when I tell you that nobody cared about our feelings or rights and again I want to emphasize that we turned out, for the most part, as a strong, successful generation.
Yes, we managed back then. We didn’t know we had it tough. You don’t miss what you never had. On the plus side we depended on each other more and appreciated what we did have. I don’t see much appreciation these days but I do see and hear a lot of people complaining that they don’t have the newest gadget and their lives won’t be fulfilled until they do have it. I have thought about this and I honestly don’t remember ever thinking, when I was young, that my life would be more fulfilled, in some manner, if I only had a new gadget. Seems to me we managed just fine back then but today, not so much.