Can we talk?

Things Change

         I miss a lot of the old ways. Things like visiting your relatives on Sunday, and sitting out in the yard, or on the porch for hours. Or going out in the car to look for wild blackberries. I miss sitting around the living room of some great aunt and listening to everyone swapping tales of hayrides, and unpaved roads, and barn dances. When we were kids, we played hide and seek until dark, or caught lightning bugs and put them in jars with air holes in the lid.

         I miss the tea parties and special events of church ladies, and college professors, and summer soirees. The fluffy decorations, the pastel colors, the gloves, dressing up, and ladies hats!
The best silver or stainless was used, not plastic. And real tablecloths!

         My mother came from a poor family, but we always set the table properly. Today, I've noticed well-educated women with good jobs don't know where to put the fork or how to place a knife. They prefer buffet style. Then there are napkins which never leave the table. You might forgive a man who doesn't know what to do with it, but I just expect women to put the napkin in their laps. Yet so few do. Those little customs, those nice things, seem to have been thrown out.

         I miss those little things that made us/me feel more civilized, better mannered. They were signs of an orderly society that had nothing to do with class or social standing.They were things or pastimes that kept us together as families, as neighbors, as a community. Now kids play with Smartphones or I-pads instead of chasing lightning bugs. They have gadgets to use instead of playing hide and seek. And it's not safe to walk to a neighbor's house after dark.

         So the world has changed. It's not as safe, or as friendly. It's over-crowded. Styles have changed, activities have changed, child-rearing has changed, etiquette has evolved. I just miss some of the things that made humans appear a little less untamed.