Let’s be honest, life was better forty years ago...oh and if you weren’t around forty years ago, trust me. If you don’t trust me then maybe that supports my case!
People used to have conversations with each other, that is to say (pun) they exchanged words verbally. The primary source of intercourse wasn’t sexual but social and it certainly wasn’t vi a keyboard or a pocket phone and the idea of having ‘friendships’ via an artificial concept such as Fakebook would have seemed illogical at best and undesirable at worst. We cared about each other because we made an effort to find out, maybe a really long phone call but usually a visit or a catch up for a meal or a cuppa. We were far more interested in our mates and family than we were in whether a ‘celebrity’ was happily married three hours after the lavish ceremony or not. Magazines actually told us things and, amazingly, they were often based on fact. Editorial meetings determined priority of stories and interviews rather than brainstorming ideas for a story that is almost totally made up. The Women’s Weekly even came out...weekly!
We were constantly told to hold our heads high when we walked, not because we had our snouts in a tiny screen on a phone or music player but because we needed to be mindful of our posture and those around us. Nowadays everyone seems to be in their ‘zone’ and care little or are unaware for anyone else, the clash of the devices distances us from each other while being sold on the concept that they ‘bring the world closer’.
There were fewer cars, fewer people, fewer buildings, the trams ran better and the trips were shorter, the trains were very rarely packed and there was always someone on the station. There were no ATM’s, Eftpos machines, debit cards and crippling interest rates or account keeping fees – we actually earned interest on our ordinary everyday savings accounts and it was standard across the banks – what dictated which bank you chose was the service and the products, imagine that. If you had to ring the bank you got through to the manager or assistant and they’d ring you back if needed but NEVER did you have to do half the work and manipulate an IVR before you spoke to someone. Sure they closed at 3.30 (and often for half an hour at lunch) and 5.00 on Fridays but it never seemed to matter. Post offices were open on Saturdays and we even had a mail delivery on Saturdays.Their used to be a cornerstone in every corner store and retailer called Customer Service; that concept now appears to be as foreign as most of the products on our shelves. Lord just trying to capture the attention (and hearing) of a shop assistant is challenge enough, let alone service.
You went to a petrol station and only had to choose between Standard and Super and someone served you, washed your window and checked your oil and water. Today you even have to pour your own Slurpee and yet we’re paying 600% more for petrol than we did in 1970.
Toys, tools and technology used to last as did washing machines, fridges, televisions and CLOTHES!
People knew their neighbours and their names, they looked out for each other and we watched the kids grow. Today we are so distrustful of each other and a middle aged man daren’t smile at a kid, no matter how cute, hilarious or sweet that kid might be. A child will be swept out of the way and subliminally the seeds of mistrust are planted for all future generations when the incidence of ghastly crimes against children is actually less than it was 40 years ago. Not to mention that we are living in a time when we need each other even more.
Politics, terrorism, pollution, global warming, natural disasters, lying and corrupt media make up our news and fascinate us so much now. We are so much more intelligent and worldly today and yet we find it difficult to make decisions, try something different, think deeply or connect in a significant way. Maybe it’s because we have technology to do our thinking and much of our work. Maybe it’s because email and social networking has removed ‘nuance’ from our relationships, we’re all surface and words, rather than feelings and engagement. Kids lose hope when their first relationship falters and it’s heartbreaking enough for them to want to kill themselves. Bullies thrive in cyberspace because there is no filter to say ‘these cowards are also troubled, it is about them not you. Take their power away and ignore them’. Words used not to harm us, now because we have little else; they drive us and influence our sense of self -way beyond what they ought.
Life was better forty years ago, it just was. Now we just have to be better, we have to rediscover each other again, discover the joy of talk, dance to the music of our common humanity and learn to be decent enough, respectful enough to simply care. For if we don't, in forty years time some grump will look back and lament about the things which made today .better than the way the world is in 2051
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