Dog Community

Some thoughts

Posted : 10/11/2006 7:52:12 AM

I have always wished that I had been born in the early 50's. Life was simple then. Today things are complicated. People are not friendly,having material things mean you are higher up. Kids are mean. Years ago kids would duke it out with fist, today you have to worry if that kid is going to show up with a gun. Kids would entertain themselves with a bat and a ball, today they want $300 game systems to entertain them. Kids curse and have no respect for elders. Manners are sometimes forgotten. They talk back to teachers and fight knowing they will only get sent home for 3 days to play their $300 game system. And if God has blessed you with a wonderful child that does do well and never fights or talks back, they get the crap kicked out of them at school for being a wimp.

Kids are spoiled rotten. How much do you spend on your children for Christmas and Birthdays? I have always gotten the one big thing they want (within reason) and a few smaller things or things they need. I know people that spend outrageous amounts of money on their children at Christmas. The kids are 9 and 10, one of their gifts was $200 each for a light saber. Plus a mountain of other things that they will play with once and be tossed in an overflowing toy box.

Then there's war, and illnesses, sick people (child preditors, murder,) Not that it wasn't around in the 50's, but things have gotten so crazy. My children are small and I am terrified for when they are teens. Drugs, booze, accidents. I worry about what the world will be like when they are having children.

Do you know all of your neighbors well? Living in a small town is the worse. Very clicky people. Some are wonderful, would do anything for you. While others judge you on your job, or the size of your house. Example: I have been on every field trip with my children. There are the regulars that I will talk with, but then there are others who will not even say "Hi". I asked my brother to take my son on one trip because I was sick. At the end of the day I asked him how it went, this is what he said.

" Angel, these people are stuck up. I wasn't on the bus 5 minutes and the dads were talking about what they did for a living, how they just build a new house, but were thinking about selling it because the color isn't right. So I started to fib and said I owned the company (My parents own a company and brother drives the company truck) and that I just built a house. After that they were my best friends."

So I asked him why he lied. He said because he wanted to talk to someone for the trip. He said they ignored him, until he said what he did, then they joked and laughed the rest of the day. I see it myself too. I have a parent who wont allow her son to come to my house. She said she expects a high standard of her children and thinks it would be best if he didn't play here. Can you believe that?

I'm not someone who is all about wanting money, I don't want a huge house, just big enough to live in. I don't want a new house. I would never build. I want an older home that I could make my own. People are obssesed with having so many things.

Fords just closed a plant here. 2000 jobs will be lost. They say for every job lost there 10 other people lose their job elsewhere. There are 22 houses for sale on the main road here. $400,000--$600,000 homes. People max themsleves out and live paycheck to paycheck, just to keep up with the Jones.

I just wish things were more simple.

pumaward

Posted : 10/11/2006 8:06:58 AM

I agree with you... although I sometimes wish I was born in Medieval times. I like the idea of roughing it out and living day-to-day. Probably the happiest time in my life was when my family was poor and logging. I spent almost every day out exploring the woods. Playing our Super Nintendo was a treat, not a priveledge.

I don't like the way the world is headed either... for many of the reasons you mentioned, and for the fact that so many people think they are better than "that." I.e. : "What's one soda bottle out the window? I don't have to follow social or enviromental rules."

I personally just want enough money to do what I want with my life. I don't want a big house, but a small one. I do want many acres of land (I'm thinking 30-50), but not to brag about it... but to LIVE in it. Preserve it. Know that it won't ever be destroyed by housing developements (at least while I live).

I, too, am afraid what this world will look like before I die. I wonder if Vermont will be a coastal state by then. I wonder what species extinct due to human encrouchment.

faramir denethor

Posted : 10/11/2006 9:46:18 AM

Angel,

check out Ecclesiastes 5: 10 "Do not say, How was it that the former days were better than these?"

basically, every time sucks in its own way...although i wouldn't disagree with your analysis of our time...people are judged by their economic status, and not the status of their character.

faramir

cyclefiend2000

Posted : 10/11/2006 9:52:25 AM

time frame is irrelevant.... i wish i were born to an extremely wealthy family. [

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magilacudy

Posted : 10/11/2006 10:26:25 AM

When we had the big power outage a few years ago, Oh I loved it. I thought it was great. No TV, company came over and we cooked together. I felt like we all got closer. It was nice. Although I would not want to have that forever, it was nice to take a breath and have that time to just think.

Julitza

Posted : 10/11/2006 11:08:25 AM

I also dont like how this worl is going. I was born in 1988 and even back then I can tell the difference big time.

When I was about 3, my mom would cross me to the other side of the street and i'd go to the candy store by myself. It was only across the street, but I know now a days we cant even do that, for fear of a child abduction.

Growing up, I was never allowed to go to the movies on my own. The first time I went on my own I was 15, almost 16 and I would get dropped off and picked up right after. The other day I went to the movies and stopped to get something to eat. There were about 6 9-12 year old girls flaunting mini skirts, make up and jewelery, and dancing in the parking. Their parents were nowhere to be seen.

Anyone could have just snatched them up. Its sad because they want to grow up before their time, which is why September was "pregnant baby" month. A 12 year old girl gave birth to her brothers child. The next day an 11 year old girl was discovered to be pregnant. A week later it was a 10 year old girl.

Our world is quickly going downhill, and Im afraid there is no stopping it

magilacudy

Posted : 10/11/2006 11:20:43 AM

Lizzie, you're 18? I had no idea.

cyclefiend2000

Posted : 10/11/2006 11:31:28 AM

1988,,,,, what a great time. it was great to be late teens/early twenties then. end of hair metal/beginning of grunge. was nice to be able to dress like a complete slob and you were fashionable. [

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doesnt seem like that was almost 20 yrs ago. ahhh to be 20-something again. those were the carefree days! [

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rwbeagles

Posted : 10/11/2006 11:39:00 AM

Faramir that's very true.

If you lived in Medieval times you'd be miserable unless you were nobility...and then you might still be miserable because your life was dependant on your connections.

In the 50's you'd be miserable unless you were white and a MAN...lol! It helps to think about other perspectives...

"There is nothing new under the sun"...as the saying goes.
Any persons troubles are not new to the world...only new to them.

fuzzy_dogs_mom

Posted : 10/11/2006 12:07:46 PM

I remember the 50s. Some things were pretty cool - other things sucked big time. Women didn't have much of a voice in anything. The few women that *had* to work were sort of looked down on. People of color were pretty much pushed to the back. Women had no choices at all. The "White Male" ruled supreme. Nobody questioned anything - whatever the government told you was gospel. Radio stations were segregated. I loved the 50s Rhythm & Blues and the only way I could listen to it was to tune to a Los Angeles radio station - which sometimes didn't come in. Singers like Pat Boone, Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, etc. singing songs that up until then were only heard on the all black radio stations ultimately opened the door for the original artists to be able to do their own music on all stations. It was kind of a fun time, but I sure wouldn't want to go back to it. []

Joyce

ron2

Posted : 10/11/2006 6:30:34 PM

I have an unpopular opinion. With regards to children, they are not disciplined. Teachers are not allowed to do it, parents are not allowed to do it. We now have "time-outs." When I was a kid, you could expect to get your but whipped by the principal and then your parents for fighting. Fights still happened but no one ever thought about bringing a gun into school and we all had seen plenty of movies and shows with guns in them. From westerns to t.v. cop shows, etc. The kids today have no consequences for their actions other than a "time-out' which is time to plan the next caper.

As for the haves and have-nots, that's always been going on. And yes, there are people that shallow. My wife works in retail and they already have stuff for Christmas, the busiest retail time of the year. Some companies make 25 % to 50 % of their yearly income during that time. I cannot remember ever being disappointed in a Christmas gift, no matter how small, or whatever. I was taught to be thankful for everything you receive and you will certainly earn the rest of what you have. And that the meaning of Christmas was to celebrate God's gift to the world. I'm not religious and don't go to church and I also realize that Christmas is pretty much on the day of Winter Solstice, which signified the midpoint of winter and the eventual return of spring, hence gifts to symbolize prosperity and fruitfullness. This world is not even the same as when I was born.

Heinlein once said the surest sign of the decay of a civilization is the loss of manners. And that, nowhere is that more evident than in the cleanliness or lack thereof in public restrooms. Or as I like to put, the cat will cover up her stool with litter. There are humans that won't bother to clean up after themselves, showing less hygiene than a common house pet.

But there are still people raised with manners and courtesy and I enjoy meeting them, from time to time.

Truley

Posted : 10/11/2006 8:47:03 PM

I am the manager of a Dr.'s office, and my providers are Psychologists. I see the breakdown in society everyday. We want everything to be hand delivered at no cost to ourselves, and if we have to go and get it, we want to be able to biggy size it at the drive thru window.

The things I see and hear everyday would make you cry. Children are not just spoiled and have no idea how to entertain themselves, they are expected to excel in everything they do, they are not allowed to make mistakes, have a bad day, be angry or sad. If they are there is something wrong with them! Fix it! Scored to low on a test? yup they have ADD or ADHD! Let's give them medication!

No matter what year it is, the same basic problems will always apply. It's who you know, how much you make and where you live. The best you can do is know that you are living the life you want to, the best you can, and if your happy then who cares if certain people don't talk to you? And, what makes you think that these people are happy? Or you can entertain yourself with the thought, somewhere out there, someone is doing the same thing to them.

My own sister tells me im outdated, I like to quilt, sew, do needlepoint and I am more apt to grab a book then watch T.V. I like being outdated!

p.s. please ignore my spelling and punctuation. I expect spell check to fix it for me[

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Dawn

ron2

Posted : 10/11/2006 8:56:41 PM

p.s. please ignore my spelling and punctuation. I expect spell check to fix it for me

Hilarious!

Elizabeth Onsurez

Posted : 10/11/2006 8:58:12 PM

I was born in july of 1957, I would not have changed a thing. I went through the drug scene, hippy clothes, the far out era. As each decade has pasted so much has chganged, some have forgotten what their parents had taught them as far as manners, so it was not passed on. Where has tradition gone?
Respect ? Life is no longer respected. Im proud to say I have two sons who have gone through some tough times, They have manners, respect... my 20 yr old will say, why is that little kid running around on his or her own, I would have never allowed that. I know when he has children, he wont allow it either. I dont buy expensive xmas gifts, never have, I was taught the meaning of Christmas, and it wasnt to get as many gifts as you can. I was indoors when it got dark, played with our cousins, and diffinitly no make up or short skirts. just my thoughts

fuzzy_dogs_mom

Posted : 10/11/2006 9:45:24 PM

That is so true about kids today not having a clue how to entertain themselves. I don't remember being all that bored when I was a kid. If I wasn't outside with my friends, I was reading. I loved to read - still do. Kids today don't so much as pick up a book unless they abslutely have to. They read only what they must in order to pass a test, but the idea of reading for pleasure is something they just don't get. I kind of feel sorry for them. They're really missing out.

Joyce