Generation?
by Some of us were born at a time between generational influences and can’t fully relate to either.
I’m not as creative as my mother was about finding new uses for old items or making anything from scratch. I had little interest in cooking, sewing, kniitting, chrocheting and other domestic activities. While such things were done by her as a necessity, for me they are relaxing hobbies to take my mind off my worries and they can be frustrating too, if I can’t get them right. When they go well, I become obsessed by them for hours on end, so I don’t do them often.
The older I get the more I find that the effort and time saving gadgets are more of a nuisance than a help and I seldom use my blender and food processor. It is easier to do things the old-fashioned way than to get out the gadget, put on the right attachments and have to clean it up afterward. While they do the job faster and with less physical effort, it is not worth the bother and I am no longer rushed to get things done. I still like food to be ready to eat when I’m hungry though, and the best way to do that is eat out.
Now, with prices rising faster than people’s incomes and many people losing jobs, there is a new emphasis on cutting expenses, holding onto items longer, saving and reusing materials and separating needs from wants. We will have another generation of confused people caught between the values of their parents and peers (who are getting their values from from even more mass media sources, not only TV, but the Internet and you can’t go to a movie without seeing commercials).
What we were warned about has come true, our minds are being controlled by the merchandisers and there is no stopping them. Pandora’s box has been opened.
Liked it
-
-
-
-
-
Post CommentSharon F. Warner
On June 16, 2009 at 3:56 pm
I really enjoyed Tina Casello’s comentary, “Generation?” Tina and I are in a poetry group in Chicago called Brown Bag Poets. At a recent meeting, I read a poem of mine called “I Come from the Past.” Last week Tina told me that my poem had helped to inspire “Generation?” Thinking about that inspired me to write a poem for Tina, which I hope you can post.
Jeffrey B. Merrow
On June 18, 2009 at 7:55 pm
Great read. I enjoyed your views and relate well to them. you presented that read very well. I look forward to more from you.
Christine Ramsay
On June 19, 2009 at 2:01 am
I agree with those last two lines totally. I was born the year after you and went through much of what you went through. Now, like you, I have time to do things the way they were once done. I am not a great one for modern gadgets. A very well written article.
Christine
ladybaby
On July 17, 2009 at 7:47 pm
I was born in 1945. I can relate to what you say. I am still programmed to save and manage with what I have. It’s kind of funny that now it is called “going green.” I’ve been going green my entire life. I still take my cloth bags to market, and I’ve always told my kids that my middle name should had been, “improvise.” I never used pampers on my 8 children. I sew, knit, crochet, and never waste anything. Even leftovers need to be eaten, or given to the birds. It really bothers me on how much people WASTE now days. Maybe the state of the economy will help to bring back the habits of people who lived through the great depression.
Mr Arrogant
On March 13, 2010 at 7:08 am
Nice one