Remember the 'good 'ol days' of today

Simply Sleight, by Kari Sleight

I received one of those "Remember When" e-mails from a friend the other day. You know, the ones that seem to be written with no other purpose other than to make you feel older than dirt?

The lengthy e-mail included many gems, like "Nearly everyone's Mom was at home when the kids got home from school?" and "You got your windshield cleaned, oil checked and gas pumped, without asking, all for free, every time? And you didn't pay for air? And, you got trading stamps to boot?"

The e-mail also reminded me of the time when "Laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes or towels hidden inside the box," and that "They threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed. And they did!" It went on to say "Remember when no one ever asked where the car keys were because they were always in the car, in the ignition, and the doors were never locked?" and "When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited the student at home?"

The e-mail ended with "Do you remember a time when …

Decisions were made by going 'eeny-meeny-miney-moe'?

Mistakes were corrected by simply exclaiming, 'Do Over'?

'Race issue' meant arguing about who ran the fastest?

It wasn't odd to have two or three 'Best Friends'?

The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was 'cooties'?

Having a weapon in school meant being caught with a slingshot?

Saturday morning cartoons weren't 30-minute commercials for action figures?

'Oly-oly-oxen-free' made perfect sense?

Spinning around, getting dizzy, and falling down was cause for giggles?

War was a card game?

Baseball cards in the spokes transformed any bike into a motorcycle?

Water balloons were the ultimate weapons?

If you can remember most or all of these, then you have lived!

E-mails such as this one are usually designed to remind us of "the good ol' days," a time when life was simpler, slower-paced, and less worrisome. A time when crime wasn't as prevalent as it today, drugs weren't as widespread and a murder in the community was a rare headline in the newspaper, children respected their elders and wouldn't dream of talking back to them.

Ah, yes! Those were, indeed, the "good ol' days." Or, were they?

If you only recalled the good memories as outlined in this e-mail, it would be easy to romanticize the notion and pine for those simpler times. I offer, in defense of modern day, a different version of "Remember When."

Do you remember a time when …

Driving drunk was socially, and legally, acceptable?

Cancer or heart attack was almost always a certain death sentence?

Having a baby meant changing, and washing, cloth diapers?

Cigarettes were considered cool and sexy?

Dropping a note to friends and family took a week or more?

Child abuse was 'none of our business'?

Air travel was considered a luxury and reserved for the rich and famous?

Polio, measles and mumps were common, life-threatening illnesses?

"DINK" was a name we called our siblings when they annoyed us?

Progress and development bring about many changes, good and bad. We aren't the only generation to fondly recollect the good times of the past. I remember my mother talking about how much better and simpler it was when she was growing up, and oddly enough, my grandmother has told me similar tales, just as her mother told her, and so on.

While it may be good for us to reminisce, we shouldn't lose sight of the good things that happen in the name of progress. We have many diseases yet to discover vaccines for, social problems left to solve and technology advances left to develop. It's nearly impossible to imagine what the world will be like in 50 or 100 years, but you can be sure that our descendants will more than likely be passing "Remember When" anecdotes via a future version of e-mail.

Kari Sleight is the publisher of the Frontiersman newspaper.