Days of Old

My father told me when I was young that the
world was changing too fast and that he sure
did miss the old days. Things were different
back then he use to say. Sometimes he would
digress about how things were different and
I would moan and say "oh no, not these stories
again".
Now I catch myself doing the same thing with
my children.
DIVORCE; In the fifties people who got divorced
wore a scarlet D on their forehead. They were
marked by people. Society frowned on the idea
of divorce and criticized those kind of people.
HOMOSEXUALITY; I am not homophobic, but I cannot
imagine people in the fifties accepting the idea
of same sex marriages.
POLICE in schools, RESTAURANTS banning people
from smoking.
People KILLING people for no apparent reason
except they made them mad.
MOTHERS killing their children.
The list goes on and on. What is my point?
My point is that in every generation we think that
the good ole' days were the good ole' days.
We as a society are becoming more accepting of
anything goes. My father felt the same when I
grew my hair long, wore beads, and listened to
Led Zeppelin. So for me I look at the world we
are becoming and become more judgmental.
POLITICAL CORRECTNESS; is taking over for right
or wrong. I am as liberal as the next man, well
maybe not as liberal, I but I am catching on about
the good ole' days syndrome.
Things were different 40 or 50 years ago.
Better, cheaper, easier? It is all in the mind's
eye. What works for some does not work for others.
If you are happily divorced, merrily gay, contented
with smoking, or don't mind having a policeman
stationed at your school, maybe today's rules
are OK. However, when you have lived in both world's
and had the quiet life with no marches, no political
correctness, and brought up as children who were to
be seen and not heard, things were quite different.
I am a grown up. I pay my taxes. I accept society's
changes. But the good ole' days are starting to look
pretty darn good. Don't worry though. WE will never
go back to 30 cents for gas, 25 cents for a pack of
cigarettes, or a nickel for a coke. Maybe I am wrong
but things sure seemed easier and cheaper in the
good ole' days...and I have become my father.