THE TIMES THEY ARE ACHANGING!

You read about it last September, when ‘Guiding Light’ went off the air after 70 years, and now, ‘As The Stomach Turns’ will cease to be soon. It got me to thinking how much things have changed over the years. The soap operas are but only one measure of what is popular in American culture today, and over the years. Other changes have occurred and the turnover is incredible!

When I went to high school, as you entered the building, there was no one to stop you: there existed no system of detection to check for weapons. The only weapon you carried was your brains: your good sense of what is right and wrong. You could leave your home and not lock the doors for the most part, there were few ‘home invasions’ and parents and teachers were still respected.

Having a part-time job was a privilege: you paid for your own higher education, and worried about old people. All this was expected of us, but today if you do that and you are considered either a “nice guy” or strange.

Church played a bigger role in our lives in those days. Priests were revered, and nuns and brothers respected. Today, some of the sad truths that have come out make them less than revered. That goes equally for ministers and rabbis.

Family was the base of our support. Mom and dad, sisters and brothers, we all looked out for each other. Grandparents were held in high esteem, mostly because they came to this country not able to speak the language. They were true pioneers, brave souls, looking to better not only their lives, but the lives of their future children, and someday, grandchildren. Speaking of family, we all lived within walking distance of each other, until the “Burbs’ became popular. Then out to Staten and Long Islands. Now, it is Florida, or the Carolinas.

In those days, you could go a whole day without being in touch with someone, not answering the phone. Now, with text messaging, cell phones and computers, it is INSTANT gratification. The ‘me’ generation is leading the way, and the baby boomers desperately trying to catch up, or not bothering at all.

None of what I just wrote should suggest that things have gone bad. Some things have, but a lot is good. Today we don’t buy into the latest government edict, we question everything, we don’t all agree. That is good: after all, we can’t build the future unless we let go of the past.