Simpler Times

by Irwin L
(Lakeland, FL)

The following appeared in my email this morning from a friend in Canada. While I was not able to capture the pictures that accompanied each little verse, I did feel it appropriate to share with my readers as it does take us back to simpler times.

Hope you enjoy.

FOND MEMORIES AND LIFE WAS SO SIMPLE BACK THEN.

HEY, WASN'T THIS US?

We only had a living room
where we would congregate,
unless it was at mealtime
in the kitchen where we ate.

We had no need for family rooms
or extra rooms to dine.
When meeting as a family
those two rooms would work out fine.

We only had one TV set
and channels maybe two,
But always there was one of them
with something worth the view.

For snacks we had potato chips
that tasted like a chip.
And if you wanted flavor
there was Lipton's onion dip.

Store-bought snacks were rare because
my mother liked to cook
and nothing can compare to snacks
in Betty Crocker's book.

Weekends were for family trips
or staying home to play.
We all did things together --
even go to church to pray.

When we did our weekend trips
depending on the weather,
no one stayed at home because
we liked to be together.

Sometimes we would separate
to do things on our own,
but we knew where the others were
without our own cell phone.

Then there were the movies
with your favorite movie star,
and nothing can compare
to watching movies in your car.

Then there were the picnics
at the peak of summer season,
pack a lunch and find some trees
and never need a reason.

Get a baseball game together
with all the friends you know,
have real action playing ball --
and no game video.

Remember when the doctor
used to be the family friend,
and didn't need insurance
or a lawyer to defend?

The way that he took care of you
or what he had to do,
because he took an oath and strived
to do the best for you.

Remember going to the store
and shopping casually,
and when you went to pay for it
you used your own money?

Nothing that you had to swipe
or punch in some amount,
and remember when the cashier person
had to really count?

The milkman used to go
from door to door,
And it was just a few cents more
than going to the store.

There was a time when mailed letters
came right to your door,
without a lot of junk mail ads
sent out by every store.

The mailman knew each house by name
and knew where it was sent;
there were not loads of mail addressed
to "present occupant."

There was a time when just one glance
was all that it would take,
and you would know the kind of car,
the model and the make.

They didn't look like turtles
trying to squeeze out every mile;
they were streamlined, white walls, fins
and really had some style.

One time the music that you played
whenever you would jive,
was from a vinyl, big-holed record
called a forty-five.

The record player had a post
to keep them all in line
and then the records would drop down
and play one at a time.

Oh sure, we had our problems then,
just like we do today
and always we were striving,
trying for a better way.

Oh, the simple life we lived
still seems like so much fun,
how can you explain a game,
just kick the can and run?

And why would boys put baseball cards
between bicycle spokes
and for a nickel, red machines
had little bottled Cokes?

This life seemed so much easier
and slower in some ways.
I love the new technology
but I sure do miss those days.

So time moves on and so do we
and nothing stays the same,
but I sure love to reminisce
and walk down memory lane.

With all today's technology
we grant that it's a plus!
But it's fun to look way back and say,
Hey look,guys, THAT WAS US!


Comments for Simpler Times

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Final point
by: Gordon G Kinghorn

I omitted to mention Irwin, I have just forwarded a piece of work to Wendy, entitled; Simpler Times - Hard Lessons, a work that was based initially on the points raised in your 'Simpler Times' submission. I have made reference to this link in my article, I do hope you enjoy it.

Best wishes again. GK

Good news
by: Gordon G Kinghorn

Thanks Irwin, I look forward with relish to your next contribution - all the best my friend

More please
by: Irwin L

Thanks Gordon

I appreciate your comments. I just posted another item that should be posted via the Newsletter shortly. In it, you will find a link to check out other types of writing I do.

Hope you enjoy them when you visit that site as well.

Take care.

Nice one
by: Gordon G Kinghorn

Superb article Irwin, read your lines three times and feel richer for the experience - more please!

The Shepherd's Song !
by: Joseph Kainikkara

Your nostalgic lines took me too down the memory lane. Yes, simplicity has its own value. But then, change is the watch word and the only thing that does not change is change itself.

The moot question is whether it is a change for the better. If the change and the "progress" makes your life easier and more enjoyable, it is welcome.

The world has changed so much that, unlike in the past, a person knows and interacts with, another living on the other side of the globe, but doesn't know his immediate neighbor.

The "human touch" is lost in many of his actions and he has become a slave of his own inventions. The result : life style diseases and psychological problems are on the rise.

May be it is prudent to put a stop to the mad race and adopt a "back to nature and back to old ways" policy !

Simpler Times
by: Irwin L

Plus, to add to what you posted, Don, it was nice to see someone count out your change when you gave them a ten dollar bill for an item that costs $6.95.

It amazes me so much today how confused some clerks get if the item costs $8.35 and I give them a ten dollar bill along with a quarter and a dime and they look at me as though I am crazy. Some of them do not even know what to do at that point.

But those days were then and these are now and all we can do is our part to try and make life happier and simpler for those around us.

Thanks for your comments.

Watering Down Of Our Standards
by: Anonymous

Irwin, thanks for sharing, and Don, you are "spot on" with your comments!

I despise the phrase "no problem", as well as impoliteness, lack of civility, "dressing down", and general "sloppyness, from clothing to morality!

There are certain "standards" in life that do not.....or should not change, and I for one will continue to "dress up" for a dinner out, say please and thank you when appropriate, hold a door open for a lady, and be grateful that God has given me one more day on God's Green Earth!


And we lived through it all
by: Don Cracraft

And we lived through it all, and managed to know the difference between right and wrong. We said Thank you, and the response was 'You're welcome', not 'No problem.'

We never had to wait while a rude clerk finished his or her text messaging or phone conversation. We had respect for each other.

Don

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