I received a chain e-mail the other day: To All The Kids Who Survived...
My response:
I like some of these, like riding in a pick-up and drinking from a hose. But many of the rest are nonsensical. Tell them to the kids who suffered organ damage because they took pills from an unprotected bottle or the adult whose physiology was forever stunted or damaged by the effects of his or her smoking mother...things are just different. Pros and cons. Back then, people more often died from pneumonia and suffered the ravages of polio. If you got stranded on the highway, you had no mobile phone to call for help. Life spans were shorter. People in minority demographics were more often derided, beaten or killed out of fear, hatred, or ignorance because of the color of their skin or their sexual orientation. Life was simpler in a way yet more sheltered. Both eras have had their hazards and stupidities, and both have their benefits and opportunities.
It's great to remind ourselves that quality of life is often more about our own attitudes and decisions than about safety paranoia and access to technology. I actually really appreciate hearing about how life used to be, or how life is in other places or cultures. It reminds me my paradigm is limited and helps put things in perspective.
But gosh, sometimes you old-timers worry too much. *wink*
Proof is all around that more safety measures, more health knowledge, more medical skill, more technological advancements, more informational access, more cultural awareness, and more communication methods do not automatically amount to better quality of life or individual happiness. But in an age of reckless entitlement and gratuitous gratification, for those who try to live deliberately by principle, trying to use modern benefits and opportunities wisely, life's pretty darn good today, too. ...though I agree there's something to be said for crashing your wooden gocart.
1 comment:
When I read the chain email, I admittedly had a rush of nostalgia and warm fuzzies for an innocent and carefree childhood. However, my nostalgia wasn't exactly blind. I also thought of the things you mention in your blog. Nonetheless, the nostalgia won the moment.
You're right in your assessment, of course. Although we hear a lot more about the ugliness in the world from which we were more sheltered in years gone by, today is much, MUCH better in many very important ways that I wouldn't change. Furthermore, everyone has to deal with the ills and realities of the world at some point, and maybe today's children are better prepared to face the challenges and change the world. But I so wish I could turn back the clock just long enough to give them a little taste of a time when people were more sheltered and childhood was carefree.
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