Certainly the generations that came before us were able to speak about the invention of the car and how that changed the concept of distance. The generations before us can speak to how technology changed warfare and debate whether those changes made war more, or less civilized. Those who came before us can speak to the invention of many things that made life more convenient, less frazzled...and our generation can speak to the issue of how technology came to supplant the small joys of life.
As a kid, it was dangerous ground indeed for me to admit aloud that I was bored. The cure for my childhood boredom was a chore of some sort --certainly not what I had in mind when I heaved that heavy sigh and said the dreaded words. Being a quick study, I soon learned that when the bug of boredom loomed, the best thing for me to do was get out of that house fast.
It was never difficult to find a kickball game somewhere in the neighborhood, or baseball, or even a game of "statue." And if an organized sport was not to my liking, the park was just up the street where I could play to my heart's content. I had a bike, and I knew how to ride it, and ride it I did...not for exercise, but to get from point A to point B. Roller skating was done on the sidewalk or, more cautiously, in the street. I skated because it was fun.
I was present in the moment, because if I wasn't, I would get hurt. And those kinds of boo-boos took time to heal; it was unlike the video games of today where the player, though seriously injured or even dead is revitalized for the next round or game.
When I refer to "the good old days," I am talking about a time when life was not necessarily simpler, but it was a bit slower and certainly a lot less harried. In today's fast-paced world, it is little wonder that kids look at the pastimes of our youth and scoff. I see it as part of my responsibility to try and share some of the simplicity with those younger than me, to let them ponder an existence where people did not have phone access at all times, where one thing at a time was enough, where people looked to each other for solutions rather technology.
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