Whatever happened to...

...You've got a cardboard house,

Live there all the time

Keep your memories tied with string... -Queesnryche "Della Brown"

While I don't believe anyone should ever be on the "outside looking in". I've been through that, and it is not pleasant. However, there are times when it pays to be on the outside. A watcher. Observer. Out of the way, on the sideline, taking mental notes. It allows you to "see what you can see."

Driving through the Wal Mart parking lot, I was struck about how so many things in our lives have changed over the years. Sure, change is constant. What is it they say ? If you aren't moving forward, you're standing still. Or any other variation of that. I admit, I love my smartphone, most of the time. Love my computer. Love my iPod. Can you imagine life without the Internet? I wonder whatever happened to that "paperless" society we were promised went...

So, here's what I've "seen". Noticed. Observed. And as much as I love technology, maybe technology isn't doing us the big favor we thought. Maybe rather than enhancing our lives, maybe it's taking away from our lives. Taking away customs. Traditions. Personal interaction. Will colleges stop teaching Interpersonal Communications 101 and begin offering "How to Lose Friends and Influence Enemies"?

It's what we don't do anymore that is bothering me. Let's look at some simple questions:

Remember family reunions?

Remember family dinners?

Remember chores, and everyone had them?

Remember knowing your neighbors? All of them?

Remember going to your school to find out who your teacher was going to be?

School picnics in the park

Schools not surrounded by fences, but surrounded by kid's bicycles

How about going into a store or business by using the entrance on your right, and leaving by the door on your right

Drivers at 4 Way Stop intersections waving others through first, even though it wasn't their turn

Pen Pals

Convenience stores with comic book racks. Or paperback racks.

Maps.

Gas stations with post cards

Stuckeys

Riding in the back of a pickup

Television shows that weren't reality based

Television shows that didn't have 2 or three spin offs

Actually going into a bank

Houses with television antennas

The list could go on. I've got a few that aren't on the list that REALLY bug me. For example, has texting ruined our language? Truthfully, we've inserted so much slang into it, it's gone downhill, but how much time do you save when you type "u" instead of "you"? To go along with this, has texting ruined a generations ability to spell? Or for that matter, even communicate?

I understand the abbreviations of words when condensed to just a letter. Text messages are 160 characters. Twitter messages are 140 characters. And originally, when you paid for texts by the text instead of an unlimited plan, sure you wanted to get as much bang for the buck as possible. But that's the past. But it the damage done?

I remember fighting with my sister over who would "get in" the mail. Originally we had a mailbox on our front porch, next to the front door. Later, we had a mailbox at the end of the driveway, the kind with a red flag. You remember, folks used to put their names and house numbers on them. Now, not so much. Theft has become an issue. "Community" mailboxes have become the norm. Boxes that are all in one location and you have your own key. After all, what do you get in the mail anymore? Bills and advertisements. For the most part, checks are direct deposit. And letters?  LETTERS?

Let's talk about letters. If you went to college, or maybe just moved away from home after high school, you know the premium of a letter. Real mail. I remember my first year of college. I made the decision to live in a dorm. Mail call was around 10:00 am. So that I would have a lot of day left after my classes, I scheduled them all early, so I was often home in time for the mail delivery. Basically, it was a bank of "post office boxes" that your room key would unlock. There was a gent, a big guy, who would stand there, eye to the glass, watching for a letter. Maybe a bill. A magazine. Something. And on any day that he came up empty handed, it was as though someone stole his puppy. Forlornly, he would walk away, the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Mail was a big thing. Letters from loved ones. Letters from friends. Birthday and Christmas cards. And when you were a kid, they often included money. And we saved those letters and cards. Tangible envelopes and paper, maybe scented with perfume or cologne, to be kept, read, re-read, and stored with love. The same love that went in to writing them. Parents wrote their kids. Soldiers wrote their gals. Boyfriends and girlfriends would exchange piles of letters. But in today's world...nobody is putting pen to paper. Writing letters used to be cheap. Email is free. And there's the problem. Electronic email. Cold. Impersonal. Nobody has ever left tear stains on an email. You might see an email that ends with "SWAK", but nobody ever sealed an email with a kiss. There's no lipstick imprint. Letters are SO much more personal. Just think. Someone has to bring that letter to you. Deliver it. The letter you receive is SO important other people get involved to make it happen. To put it in  your hand. And when you eliminate letters...you eliminate stationary. Stationary stores have all but disappeared. Retail stand alone card stores (think Hallmark) are getting harder to find. All of that work put into writing and delivering has been replaced by a "Ping" on your computer or smartphone. It's gotten so impersonal, you don't even get to hear, "You've Got Mail" anymore.

Kids don't ride their bikes to school anymore. They don't walk to school together anymore. They don't swap lunches. You don't see kids eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches because most schools have banned peanut butter because of allergies. My grand daughter has a peanut allergy, so I get it. I'm concerned. Maybe we need to work more on why we have so many more kids with allergies rather than banning foods. And while we are on the "school subject".  Remember when female teachers wore dresses, skirts or nice pant suits? The male teachers wore a dress shirt and tie. Mr. Dwayne Fortenberry was my first male teacher. Always wore a dress shirt, tie, and some kind of aftershave. A great math teacher, even if he did wear short sleeve shirts with a tie.

I grew up in a small town, so I miss knowing everybody. Everybody. Although I have to admit, I don't miss everybody knowing me. In a small town, you screw up or do something wrong, mom and dad have had 3 phone calls, and maybe a visit from the Police before you get home. And in a small town, you know all of the back roads, for reasons best left unmentioned. I lived in two neighborhoods. I could diagram both of them, and put names on the houses of the neighbors. For blocks. BLOCKS! Today, I don't know the names of any of my neighbors. Well one, but I wish I didn't.

Leaving Wal Mart tonight, I had to stop to wait on pedestrian traffic. I don't mind. I want folks to wait for me. But the idiot who was so wrapped up in texting that he STOPPED in the middle of the walk way and continued to text, well, you ought to get a pass on running over folks like that. We are too wrapped up in our technology anymore. Social Media. Texting. Watching videos. Whatever the case may be. Take a challenge. Whenever you are talking with someone. PUT DOWN THE PHONE! I'll bet you can't. So start small. No phones at the dinner table. Remember when conversation was among those at the table, not with someone somewhere else?

Society has changed. Schools have trouble enforcing dress codes. There is no discipline. And teaching to pass a test is not teaching our children what they need to know. And parents get mad if their kids become trouble makers. We need to remember who is raising the our future generations, and with the handicaps we've given our teachers, stop blaming them when they turn out bad.

Here's a "job application" that was received by email:

"R u hiring? Im thanking about getting a job as a mekanic. Ill go to schol if you thank you wood hire me." No name or phone number included. Just an email address. I was hoping the "it" (not sure if it is a male or female) would get an interview. I wanted to see them. We are ceasing to do things the way we used to do things. No prepared resume with cover letter. No haircut and shave, shirt and tie with "shiny shoes", nothing. No need to go into a business to apply. You can make a bad impression with poor spelling and grammar. Many who do show up have their shirt tail hanging out, torn jeans, dirty sneakers, chewing gum and their nose so far into their phone, you'd think they were verifying they'd just won the lottery. Nobody says "yes" or "yes, Sir" or "yes, Ma'am" anymore. No respect. You'd think we've all become Rodney Dangerfield.

I think all in all, we gave our parents the respect they were due. Except maybe when our friends were around. In those days, failure to do so usually culminated with you waking up next week. Today we have too much instant gratification. And when we don't get it, we complain. We speak up. Out. There's a long post online about a restaurant that ran into trouble because of bad reviews. People were complaining about bad service. Cold food. Poor service. A little research showed that the problem was not the restaurant. Not the food or quality of the food. And not the service. It was the number of people who spent 10 minutes taking pictures of their food and posting them on different social media sites. So much time would go by, that the time would become elongated, and the food would cool off. Sad to say, there are businesses that have closed over issues such as these.

Progress has changed our world and turned it upside down. There are so many more complaints that I have, but I'll let it end here. All generations have one thing in common, and that is that every generation has their own version of "the good old days". Every generation had their own "we had good music when I was growing up". Spending time at record stores, favorite radio stations and dj's...those are becoming a thing of the past. We had to get up and turn the channel, and we only had 3 or 4 channels. Today's kids watch television on their phone. Well, videos. We put playing cards on our bicycles with clothes pins to make "motor" sounds. Today's 5 year old kids have $500 tablets and iPads. It is a different world. I want it better for my kids and grand kids. But I dunno. I'm not sure we are heading in the right direction.