for Mish and dVerse Poets Pub Open Link Night
a newspaper thrown on our front porch ~ every morning
my hot pink motorola flip phone ~ Obama on my home screen
blockbusters [ my city has the last one left in the world ]
a mall that's fun to roam
in person face to face conversations
my landline ~ better yet a rotary
a roomy airplane seat ~ dressed to the nines
a top-load washing machine
easy to open jars
a government that functions
by now you might guess ~ i was born in the 40s
Ha...I think there are a few baby boomers on here. I still have a flip top phone but have progressed to the top load washing machine.Modern life is not easy for us....Rall
ReplyDeleteDearest Helen,
ReplyDeleteWell, those good old days are also close to yours for me...
Easy to open jars that is a good one.
Hugs,
Mariette
I was born late 1939, so near enough. I still have a landline (as well as an iPhone); I have a top-loading washing-machine; my daily newspaper gets chucked on the front path (the porch is a bit far from the road, and up steps moreover); plenty of face-to-face conversations; and a very small mall which, in this small town, is fun because of the number of friends and acquaintances I'm likely to bump into there. The things I miss are the things gone from ME, not my surroundings, e.g. I am very unlikely ever to travel on a plane again due to health issues I have now (but when I did the seats were comfortable). I miss my old agility, ease, and speed of movement; the ability to breathe freely and deeply; not getting sleepy mid-afternoon but staying awake all through the day; the spontaneity and independence of just deciding to do something and doing it, not having to plan around my issues and general slowness; having no qualms about driving at night, or on busy highways....
ReplyDeleteI was born in May of the year the astronauts stepped on the moon. I miss quite a few things, like newspapers and magazines that I don't buy anymore. I miss the feeling of missing my friends (I wanted to see each other all the time I missed them), I think the more technology advances, the lonelier we become and we are content with that.
ReplyDeleteI miss listening to music from the record player or CD, I listen from the computer (it's easier and you find everything and quickly) that feeling when I was buying new.
Very nice post Helen, you made us think a lot!
Have a beautiful Sunday!
Or the '50s. Me too! Especially the first 6 listed.
ReplyDeleteSince we only have a physical paper delivered on Sunday I miss the 'puzzle page' with a word search, two crosswords, two other word games, and a Suduko.
ReplyDeleteTime passes and although some things disappear others remain. Those tightly sealed jars now require a contraption to open ... but perhaps it's just my fingers that have weakened. :))
ReplyDeleteHa, I relate to these wishes.....especially jars that can be opened by a mortal hand. LOL. A rotary phone........when communication was simpler. (And hand written or typed letters? I loved those.) A government that functions - that seems harder to achieve. I enjoyed this poem, it made me think.
ReplyDeleteStill has a Blockbusters?! Is that what people who live in Bend choose to pay for? I used to like Blockbusters.
ReplyDeleteGlass bottles, paper wrappers...I have mixed feelings about paper bags, having carried them for a mile or two,but there was less biodegradable plastic biodegrading into our bodies Back Then.
Typewriters.
Cassette tapes.
Being young enough to think that we'd do a better job than this, when people my age grew up and took over the world.
Even though I was born in the 1960s...and I liked rotary phones, too.
There are some things i miss - but i settle for the breath in my lungs - And birds singing in the morning !! i love the poem !
ReplyDeleteDespite being born in the early 60s I think I recognize a few of those... now I have to install a specific app on my iphone to get a rotary dial.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to have the first one back. Our town doesn't have a printed newspaper anymore and the online version is created in another city. I used to love reading the Sunday paper from cover to cover, as my dad used to do.
ReplyDeleteAs a child born in London in the 1950s, we never had a newspaper thrown on our front porch; we lived in a block of flats so we didn’t have a porch, but my father brought a newspaper home every evening. We still have a landline, but BT is in the process of digitalising our network, so we have a phone that connects to broadband. I loved the old rotary phones, something else my parents didn’t have until after I left home. Face to face conversations are the best. And yes please, I would love easy to open jars!
ReplyDeleteOh, I wish there was a new President Obama and easy to open jars, I'm starting to find them hard to open these days.
ReplyDeleteHa ha! Lovely, Helen :) I would totally welcome more "in person face to face conversations" before mobiles took over and I chuckled at "a roomy airplane seat ~ dressing up to fly." I've never dressed up to fly but I like the idea of it!
ReplyDeleteI think your poem is sparking a lot of conversation, Helen! Seeing Sunra's comment above, I remember dressing up to fly when I was a child. I'm not sure I miss it. However, I don't miss the cigarette smoking on the plane, too! We stopped getting our print paper delivered a few years ago because the service became so terrible. I do miss Sundays spent reading the Philadelphia Inquirer and the New York Times. I miss having the world before MAGA extremism and the current rise of fascism.
ReplyDeleteGreat poem and conversation starter, Helen! I was born in the early 60's. I still have a landline phone and a top load washer. I really miss face to face interaction. Even though I'm in Canada, I miss the U.S. presidents that did NOT divide a country and promote extreme ideas, racism, division and conspiracy theories. All of it trickles into our country and this is not who we've ever been. I also miss Blockbuster and seeing more children actually playing outside, rather than emerged in screen time. Your poem made me want to get all dolled up for a flight!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this, Helen. I miss when things seemed simpler and were cheaper. Also, I cracked up at that image on your sidebar, "One day you're young, and the next you have a favorite pharmacy." Ain't that the truth? I love your sense of humor, and humor seems to be the best way to face life as it changes!
ReplyDeleteBorn in 1955, I am barely a boomer, I miss that when we went to Australia in 1968, it was cheaper to go by ship than to fly - I miss slow travel... As always, Helen, you bring a sparkle to the proceedings at the Pub...
ReplyDeleteEvery baby boomer's wish. Perfect list, Helen. I'd love to see Obama back in the tainted house of white.
ReplyDeleteEven if I was born late in the '50s, yes, yes, and hell yes! Especially Obama.
ReplyDeleteLove this, Helen! We are a few decades apart but I wholeheartedly agree with you. We still get doorstep delivery of newspaper, we still have a landline and on any given day I prefer person to person conversation. So, yes ma'am, I am with you.
ReplyDeleteI often dream of being born in a different time.
ReplyDelete