what we have lost

The approach of another birthday (thank you, God) started me thinking about the changes I have seen in my lifetime. And while I haven't been on the earth all that long, relatively speaking, some of them have been pretty awesome. Some are actually awe-inspiring. Others, not so much.

I have always lived in a home with electricity, but not always a telephone, or central heat, or indoor plumbing (now THERE's something to be grateful for, especially on a below-freezing winter night).

When my ancestors first went from sea to shining sea it took five months; the first time I drove from Carolina to California it took five days; now it takes five hours (not including the time spent circling the airport waiting for a landing slot and circling the parking lot for a spot for your car and standing in line to get through security).

Stockings for women are no longer considered required attire for work (except at DISD).

Women don't wear hats to church (Mom's hats and matching gloves in every imaginable color are stored in a box in the bottom of the closet, too bad there's not a genealogical society that would want them).

Men don't wear pocket handkerchiefs in their Sunday suit coats.

Pants still have belt loops but 99% of the time there's no belt in them (my Dad is rolling over in his grave about that one),

Thank you notes are still for sale but when's the last time you received one, or sent one? (This is excluding my granddaughter who ALWAYS sends one, Lord love her.)

Phone calls are out, forget writing letters, now it's all about email and blogs and twitter and facebook.

Photos are stored in cyber space or on removable drives instead of pasted in albums.

Books are online instead of on shelves.

I used to know the name of every family on our block; these days I know the name of only four out of sixteen (not because I don't care but because they move in and out so quickly I can't keep up).

Child abuse and spousal abuse have become the norm rather than the exception.

Welfare used to be a thing to be avoided at all costs; men would dig ditches and women would take in laundry, anything to avoid being "on the dole."

Teachers spend more time preparing their lunch than their lesson plans and worry more about a paycheck and tenure than learning (and then we wonder why our students are so woefully uneducated at graduation).

It used to be that only the top players got a trophy; these days everybody on the team gets one.

Preachers don't actually preach (too afraid of saying something that's not politically correct and perhaps offending a listener).

And when's the last time you actually trusted a politician to have your best interests at heart?

People not only spit on returning soldiers (a la Vietnam era), now they also scream curses and wave protest signs at their funerals.

I guess the only thing that hasn't changed is the worth of friendship. And I am so very grateful for yours.