THEN...
As a general rule people are very considerate and even hesitate a bit before asking older people - straight out - "how things were it the olden days?"
Most of us don't feel as old as we really are; or at least we don't like to be reminded of it. That's not because of accumulated years,either. We are, for the most part, glad we have lived so long.
We, when abruptly asked for an evaluation of years past are reminded of serious questions we have worried about for years. Among them, one that is very serious: "All those years!"( we are being told.) "All those years, and so little accomplished!"
It takes time for some people to realize that the past is now. It is not something you can package up or toss aside lightly. It is, rather, something you use and re-use even when you think it gone. We condense, meld, mutate and remeasure or re-evaluate those elements which were good and try to make up for those which were bad. There are no strict "cut off"ooints along the way. You will remain forever, what you have been.
So, when someone lightly requests that you share with them "how things were in the good old days" all you can do is tell them how wonderful life seemed to be when you were young; tell them about all the latest, newest inventions we saw come into being - so common now as to seem petty and even - many of them- worthless. You are, in a very real sense, parroting back to them exactly what they want to hear. If they think the olden days as being dull they will pick up on every quality you touch upon which strengthens their belief in that which they, themselves, are -at that moment- dreaming. They are seeking proof of you that their ideas are superior and trustworthy. They will look at your wishes, hopes and plans, and skillfully make them appear as mere trifles as they look into brighter than ever future of their very own. We worried about travel across the space between a town and a town ; they worry about travel across space between a planet and a planet! They are pretty much the same with a variation in distances involved, speed and them actual means of getting it done. I think most old people have moments when they look back over the lives as having been total failures. They look back at all the things which seemed to be an invitations for opportunity and advancement. They recall actions they took at the time, or did not take. They remember what they did about such challenges and wonder , if they had done otherwise, if things would have been better.
Think of this way with me. When young people ask for information about the "good old days,of just "the old days","when you were young", or pre-something or other - such as pre-War, pre-Depression, pre-Fast Food times, pre-TV -any such "mark" I try to tell i straight. Yet, even as I recount what we might have done, said or thought, I realize I am making a verbal line-drawing of it all and filling in with the colors - and with much of the substance - of my own youthful dreams, aspirations and desires.
As I said several paragraphs earlier: You remain, forever, what you have been.
A.L.M. March 9, 2005 [c579wds]
