was the romantic past better?
As Karen and I were about to
start watching our video recording of Friday night’s programmes we noted that
the Waltons was on television. At the
finish of the video we saw that Little House on the Prairie was on,
Is this wholesome overload? I
asked.
Life seemed so much better then, after all they only had diptheria and
tuberculosis to worry about.
This set my mind in motion I started pondering some of the terrors of modern
life.
One of the many things that troubles me is how we import so much from the
States, for instance ‘Trick or Treat’, it amazes me how extortion with menaces
has been raised to cultural acceptance.
I thought what has happened to traditional customs when kids stood on street
corners with a pram full of old clothes arranged with varying skill and asked
you if you would give a ‘penny for the Guy’.
You had a choice in those days now it’s
give us something or we’ll do something nasty.
The joys of the touch tone telephone are almost endless, you phone a number in
the vain hope of talking to a human being to explain your problem then the fun
begins. As soon as you press the button
you are taken on a rollercoaster ride to who knows where, the only certainties
are you’ll hear a load of stupid music, get very frustrated and never talk to
anyone who can solve your problem.
You’ll probably forget who you’re talking to and why you phoned them in
the first place at but you’ll have the pleasure of knowing that your phone bill
has increased.
Despite the fact that we are living
longer, advertisements and the media are doing their level best to make our
lives seem shorter. Have you noticed
that Christmas seems to start about September and you are encouraged to book
your summer holidays by television advertisements starting on Boxing Day. Even this hardened veteran was shocked at the
TV when it was announced that Cadbury’s Cream Eggs were back in the shops just
after Christmas, I mean, cor blimmee strike a light it’s not Easter until the
end of April.
As a matter of fact we had our first hot
cross buns in the week after Christmas.
Just to show how Old I’m getting, I’m outraged that kids of 4 wear designer
clothing and carry mobile phones, schools are now offering pension advice at
career sessions (how long until the funeral directors move in?) If you haven’t had a serious love affair by
12 you’re probably going to be left on the shelf. Whatever happened to
childhood, it used to last nearly to teenage, do you remember making up your
own games? Now you don’t have to
anymore, all you need is a Playstation, let someone else make them up for
you. Kids now only need to be able to
walk the distance from their front door to the car.
I have recently noticed that supermarkets are selling organic milk, apparently
it comes from cows that have been fed on grass.
This was a real surprise to me….
I always thought milk came from Sainsbury’s.
Have you seen the BT internet advert?
Apparently all you need to do to get on the internet is to dial an e-mail
address. Call me stupid if you like but
how do you contact an e-mail address if you’re not on the internet?
We no
longer worry about Heaven and Hell, there is a far more interesting question in
our lives, where in the universe does the money go for four days after it leaves
your account and before it arrives with the payee?
An enigma
of Biblical proportions.
Karen
recently saw ‘free range sausages’ on sale in the supermarket. We were both troubled by this, does this mean
there are herds of sausages in our Green and
Now that
I am on a roll had that you noticed that the statements made in the media often
state the opposite to what actually happens.
"We
have every confidence in the performance of this individual."
Usually
means they are for the chop or
"we
have no plans in that direction."
means
it's almost a certainty.
Is that
the People's front of
As we turned off the television I couldn’t help thinking about Michael Landon’s
wonderfully coiffured hair, was there a
‘Little Hairdresser’s on the Prairie’ close to the little house?
Ralph
‘misery guts’ Edmunds
ps I recently heard and article on radio four in which somebody had written a
piece complaining about the “youth of today” and their lack of respect, I
thought this is going to be from a hundred years ago but I was totally shocked
when the complaint had been made by somebody in ancient Greece.
Seems to
be nothing new under the sun.