Survivors
© Copyright 1998 - by Jim Pool

WE ARE SURVIVORS ! ! ! !   Consider the changes since 1940 that we have witnessed:

We were before television, radar, jets, penicillin, polio shots, frozen foods, Xerox, contact lenses, Frisbees, and the PILL.  We were before credit cards, split atoms, laser beams, and ball point pens.  Gosh, we were before pantyhose, dishwashers, clothes dryers, electric blankets, air conditioners, drip-dry clothes, and moon walks.

We got married first and THEN lived together (how quaint).  We thought fast food was what you ate during Lent, and outer space was the back of the Riviera Theater.  In our time, closets were for clothes, not for coming out of.  Bunnies were small rabbits, and rabbits were not Volkswagens.  Designer Jeans were scheming girls named Jean or Jeanne, and having a meaningful relationship meant getting along well with our cousins.

We were before house-husbands, gay rights, computer dating, dual careers, and drive through divorces.  We were before day-care centers, group therapy, and nursing homes.  We never heard of FM radio, tape decks, electric typewriters, artificial hearts, word processors, yogurt, and guys wearing earrings.   For us, time-sharing meant togetherness, not computers or condominiums;  a chip meant a piece of wood;  hardware meant nuts and bolts;  and software wasn't even a word.  "Made in Japan" meant junk and the term "making out" referred to how well you did on an exam.  Pizza, McDonalds, and instant coffee were unheard of.

There were 5 and 10 cent stores where you bought things for 5 and 10 cents.  For a nickle you could buy an ice cream cone, ride a street car, make a phone call, or buy enough stamps to mail a letter and two post cards.   You could buy a new Chevy for $800, but who could afford one?  A pity, too, because gasoline was only 11 cents a gallon.  Cigarette smoking was fashionable, GRASS was mowed, COKE was a cold drink, and POT was what you cooked supper in.  Rock Music was Grandma's lullaby and AIDS were helpers in the Principal's office.

We were certainly not before the difference between the sexes was discovered, but we were surely before the sex change; we made do with what we had.  And we were so dumb as to think that you had to have a husband to have a baby!

No wonder we are so confused and there is such a "generation gap" today, but we did SURVIVE and will continue to until the good Lord says we have finally got it right enough to go with Him.

See also How Old Are You ? and Life Begins at 80, and Generations.