Thursday, June 29, 2006

What Is This Doggone 21st Century, Anyway?

Welcome to "The Gods Are Bored," your highway to the heavens. Lots of them.

I remember sitting on my dad's shoulders, watching Dwight D. Eisenhower give a speech. I remember when there were only 6 or 7 t.v. channels, and you had to get up and turn a knob to change them.

I remember when Kennedy died, my mom said, "See how Caroline wears her nice little socks?" I didn't like nice little socks.

I remember rotary dials, talking on the phone while standing next to it, dropping a coin in a pay phone in a glass booth.

I remember the "Summer of Love," bracelets with POW/MIA names on them, Nixon coining the term "Peace with Honor" (soon to be trotted out again, mark my word).

I remember how happy my mom was when Nixon went down. Her whole family voted Democrat because Lincoln won the war. Some time I'll explain that.

I remember being at a big shot university when the technicians rolled in the very first Word Processor. I remember how all the professors trooped in to look at it and try it out.

I remember one of my colleagues having to quit her job because Ronald Reagan shut the federally-funded day care centers.

I remember being the first in my office to be brave enough to do my work on a computer. I remember my first personal computer. It did not have a color monitor. It was more sophisticated than the computers in my home office, I had to save everything in an older program.

I remember having a baby. And then another one.

And then BOOM BOOM BOOM! The fireworks go off, and the 21st century is underway!

I detest cell phones.

I detest HD TV and 700 channels with nothing I care to watch.

I detest hardwired smoke detectors that start chirping at 3 a.m. and I don't know how to get the damned things to shut up.

I detest Wal-Marts and Wegmans and right wing radio commenters.

I detest ex-urban housing developments.

I detest a discrepancy between the rich and poor that seemed much less polarized in my youth.

In short, roll back the clock. Declare me a geezer. Laugh at my ineptitude with modern technology. I can hate the 21st century if I want to. The bored gods tell me so.

If you'll now excuse me, I'm going off to read a book.

FROM ANNE
CLUELESS GEEZER OF YESTERYEAR

6 comments:

RennyBA said...

At least a good thing is to keep a sense of humor! I do hope the book was good though and wish you a happy end to your week! I'm gone golfing in the Nordic, so see you later:-)

Hecate said...

True, true, and I remember all that stuff, too. But today I got an email about my grandson's doctor visit, filed a pleading electronically, drove home in my hybrid car, ordred dinner off the web, and got to read your blog.

All of those are good things.

Anne Johnson said...

Yuriy, if you find something else, it might be your teeth on the sidewalk. We at "The Gods Are Bored" get so few comments that ones like yours get turned over to the bad faeries. Watch your step.

Anonymous said...

Life had a way of being more simply in the "good ole days"

Anonymous said...

Man I don't know what I would do if books hadn't survived to this date...

Interrobang said...

Heck, I grew up with only three or four tv channels (depending on the reception that day), I was 11 years old before we got cable, and older than that before they upgraded our electromagnetic telephone switching system enough so that we could have touch-tone phones...

...and I was born in 1975...

I think I bear a lot of the hallmarks of someone who grew up in a world where the clock was set back 25 years, since I also despise cell phones and Wal-Marts, and increasing income disparity. On the other hand, I'm a technical writer and I'd wither away without my computer. Go figure. :)