Maryland's Classical Music Station

The Good old days…

I suppose we all, at one time or another, have said something like, “Well, I remember when we didn’t have cell phones, and we did just fine.”  You know you have–so have I.  And I think that the number of times one says something like that increases with every year of age.  Nothing scientific–just the way I see it.  The fact is, we DID do fine without them (cell phones, et. al.) largely because we never even thought them possible.  I’m sure that 50 years from now, people will all be addicted to some new form of technology, and you will hear people say, “Well, I remember when we didn’t have…”  It’s interesting, but when the telephone was new, there were a lot of people in America who said, “What do we need THAT for?  The telegraph works just fine.  Besides, I don’t want some box in my house ringing bells at all hours.”  There were also some people (believe it or not) who resisted automobiles, thinking they were a passing fad, and nothing will ever replace a good horse and buggy.  Have you ever heard someone say we’d be better off if we were still using horses and buggies?  Well, in the 1800’s, there was so much horse manure in the streets of London, that it became known as “London mud.”  I’m sure it was very fragrant.

I have a friend (we all have at least one like this) who adamantly refuses to get a computer, cell phone, cable TV, or even voice mail (or an answering machine, if they still make those).  Of course, he is constantly complaining that “all those computer people” are leaving people like him behind.  He’s always complaining that it’s hard to do anything without a computer.  The fact is, like it or not, the world isn’t going to slow down to wait for people like my friend to catch up.  I laugh when he says he’s too old for that stuff, when I have other friends in the 80’s and even 90’s who embrace new technology.

None of this doesn’t mean I won’t wax nostalgic about the time when people weren’t always texting or talking on cell phones, or back when we only had 3 channels, etc.  I will, even though nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.