The Good Old Days - Then and Now

I have been thinking lately about the "good old days."  About how much fun we had.  And about how it's too bad that anyone under 50 years old totally missed out on all those cool things we experienced in our youth.  Yeah, we were cool alright.  I mean really cool, as in bad, which was actually good.  Let me put it into more familiar terms.  I'll use Jeff Foxworthy's "You might be a redneck..." theme as a common reference to help make my point.  (If you are under 50 - stick around.  I have a few things to say about your good old days).

If you knew someone whose name was Penrod, you might be over 50.

If you put out wooden sawhorses to block Main Street on Halloween, you might be over 50.

If you snuck out of the house late at night and took your parent's car for a joyride, you might be over 50.

If you got the game Operation for Christmas (and your tree was decorated with tinsel made out of aluminum), you might be over 50.

If the junior high and high school dances had actual live bands, you might be over 50.

If you went over to your friend's house to listen to records, you might be over 50.

If your dad let you sit on his lap while he was driving and help steer the car, you might be over 50.

If you traveled 200 miles one summer to visit a friend who had moved...and hitchhiked all the way there and back, you might be over 50.

If everybody on your 5th grade basketball team wore the same outfit (white t-shirts and shorts) and had the same haircut, you might be over 50.

 

And...if you wore a leisure suit to work, you might be over 50.

If you haven't guessed by now, all of those things come from my personal experience.  But, I'm pretty sure there are others, many others, who know exactly what I'm talking about. 

Now - for those of you under 50, the truth is that you really haven't had it so bad.  Just think of all the cool things you have.  Like iPods and Smartphones.  Skyrim and Call of Duty.  Snowboards and mountain bikes.  The list is endless.  And the list is different for each individual person.  So, there really are no "good old days."  Because, whether you are a child of the sixties or a product of the eighties, and whatever fads and fashions you've experienced...they are all part of what brought you to where you are now.  And, as Ziggy Marley sings, "These be the good old days." 

Oh, one more thing - does anybody know when and why 'streaking' and 'mooning' just sort of died out?  Never mind.  I guess we should just be thankful that they did.  Streaking and mooning.  Wow.  What were we thinking?  Definetely not cool.

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