Sunday, January 27, 2013

Green Beans And Mule Farts

Back in my day I used to listen to stories that began with “Back in my day” now instead of listening to them I find myself telling them.

You all have either heard or told the old “Back in my day stories” where you walked to school in the snow, you remember that winter it snowed four foot and they never closed down the school and yes you walked, and to make matters worse it was uphill both directions.

Now days it seems the temperature drops below forty degrees and we bundle the kids up like the Michelin Man, carry them to a pre heated car, drive them to school, and have them either email, text, or call us when it is time to pick them up.

Yes it is true that kids these days have it made, because back in my day, by the time I sent a letter to Mom it would be a week later before I got a reply back telling me that it was only forty degrees and I could walk home.

There was no email, texting, cell phones or a computer system that fits into the palm of your hand, we are spoiling the next generation, don’t get me wrong I think technology is great, but are we actually teaching our kids anything about real life or has it come down to allowing technology to do the thinking for them?

Each generation makes it easier for the next, because we don’t want our kids to have it as hard as we did, and with each generation comes new gadgets and technology that the previous generation tries to comprehend.

Back in the day everyone it seems was a farmer, they planted crops, hunted and fished, raised and slaughtered their own animals, went to bed early and got up early to work hard for a living.

Then after many years of this lifestyle gadgets and machinery were invented to make things a bit easier, no more walking behind a mule guiding a plow when you had a fine tractor that does the job much faster.

Why sniff mule farts when you can have exhaust fumes blow in your face from the stack, but that design has been improved upon also.

I bet it won’t be long that a whole farm can be managed from a laptop, or one of those fine smart phones.

This is all well and good but by making it easier for each generation are we really teaching the next generation anything?

Back in my day we grew green beans in the garden, today’s kids think green beans come from the store, how many of them actually know that those beans have to be grown and shipped there first.

How many kids in this upcoming generation will be able to go out and raise a garden, hunt and fish for food and take care of their families if it was entirely up to them to help out?

Back in my day I knew I could do almost anything, although I have been proved wrong on many occasions, now I pray that the next generation will actually be able to do what it takes to survive.

What do you remember from back in your day that the kids today have never heard of?

36 comments:

  1. I remember having real conversations that didn't involve a single gadget, unless you were using a telephone. In my case, a party line!

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    1. Hey Ms. A, I remember the old party lines that has been a day or two ago :)

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  2. It's so funny, Jimmy, because I was just talking to a friend of mine about the same thing. Now that I'm older, I find myself saying, "Back in my day..."

    I used to hear my own mother and father say the same thing and thought, "OMG...they're OLD! And what are they talking about!?!"

    And it's ironic, because they also said the same thing that I say now, "Life back then was simpler."

    I too love technology, but I'm glad I learned all about it at the age I am now, because I feel like I'm more conscious of how to use it. And realize that it's very important to take time away from it and to sit face to face with someone and actually TALK...IN PERSON.

    Great post, buddy!

    Hope all is well with Cindy!

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    1. Ron, Kind of like music, I know that my parents shook their heads at my choice of tunes, now I shake my head at some of the tunes I hear and the ones I like are now considered oldies Ha Ha

      Cindy is doing really well, Thank you Buddy!

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  3. I hate it that I am now saying "I remember when" or "back in my day". I remember nights so hot that we'd sit on the porch waiting for the air to cool so we could sleep. I didn't notice the mosquitoes, because they just "were". I knew that sweating beneath the sheets was miserable, but knowing no alternative, it just "was what it was".

    I wonder what today's kids will have to say when they're old.

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    1. "Back in my day" our air conditioning consisted of a box fan in the window, most folks today wouldn't be able to handle the summertime without refrigerated air.

      I'd like to be a fly on the wall when the kids start their stories with back in my day

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  4. What do I remember that today's kids know nothing about? How long ya got...?

    Technology is great, and I'm amazed at how proficient our grandchildren are with their latest and greatest gadgets. But too many people end up so dependent on their gadgets, they're helpless without them.

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    1. Hey Susan, it's kind of scary how easy this technology is for the little ones, heck Benjamin is able to us how this stuff works and he is only going on three years old.

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  5. We walked to school in the snow up hill each way as well. You neglected to mention it was also against the wind in both directions.

    I find myself saying "there used to be" a lot. There used to be a hardware store over there, THere used to be a gas station over there, etc. etc.

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    1. Hey Joe, I really slipped up when I left out the detail about the wind :) isn't it funny how many places we remember that used to be there.

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  6. I remember back in the day when you didn't like what was playing on the TV you had to get up off your ass and physically turn the channel. I think there were pterodactyls flying around back then.

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    1. Yes Stephen before remotes all the kids got to take turns being sent to the TV to change the channel or adjust the rabbit ears, and the first remotes were actually a clicker, in our house we still call it a clicker Ha Ha

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  7. My kids never got the pleasure of being handed a damp worksheet, fresh from the mimeograph machine, and smelling that ink with their classmates!

    We actually grow green beans in our garden, so my kids know about that!

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    1. Lordy it has been a while since I smelled that ink, I know for sure my kids never was exposed to it either.

      We still do a garden each year, nothing like it in my opinion

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  8. I think our memories sometimes play tricks on us, each generation harking back to a time when things were so much better. After all, I'd love to drag myself out of bed on a freezing morning to start making up a "proper" fire with newspaper,wood and coal!

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    1. Yes Sir our memories do play tricks on us, and memories of the old days are really a blessing that we can torture the young ones with :)

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  9. Tony and I always say that we remember when walking was not a form of exercise... but transportation. :)

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    1. OH! And have you ever been to a campsite with a bunch of cub scouts trying to start a fire? They all know how to build one, but not one of them knows how to light a match, let alone flint and steel.

      And Back in my day, we had to LICK the stamps. Course, there are still some customers that insist on licking the self adhesive ones... but we put them in their own "special" category. :)

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    2. Hey Juli, Yes I remember walking being a form of transportation, and the time I have spent with a bunch of Cub Scouts watching their antics is beyond funny, not sure if they ever would have gotten a fire going without a lighter Ha Ha

      I hate to admit that I would be one to stick into that "special" category as Cindy brought in the first bunch of self adhesive stamps for us and I definitely was the one to lick them :^0

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  10. I wondered what your subject would be after I read your headline... :-)


    ...too many people end up so dependent on their gadgets, they're helpless without them... I bet that's what people started saying after the wheel was first invented!

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    1. With this title I could have easily gone into suggestions for fertilizing your garden on a fixed income, or even better "Back in my day" this is how we fertilized our gardens Ha Ha

      I am sure a lot of things we take for granted now that our ancestors thought were a waste of time.

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  11. Hi Jimmy! First off, if there was a list of top 10 best All-Time blog post titles, "Green Beans and Mule Farts" would be on that list for sure!

    I pretty much agree with you on all you've said here. You had to glue me to chair to keep me inside the house when I was young, now it's hard to pry a kid out the door. Kids are more advanced in some ways and TOTALLY the opposite in most others. A while back we were camped out in your neck of the woods and went into a shop (in Banning, I believe) that sold antique and vintage items. My 10 year old granddaughter pointed at something and asked me what it was. I said "you really don't know?" She said she didn't and had never seen one before. It was a typewriter...
    Anyway, I don't like the way things are going and think that most kids today are ill prepared for taking care of themselves and others if the S.H.T.F., but I guess it's part of our evolution. Things have been changing so fast that our heads are spinning. These days, email is now MUCH too slow for young people. They want instant connection. Boy, will they be in a world of hurt if the power goes out...

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    1. Hey Pat, Thank You my Friend being on the top ten would be an honor :)

      Like you I worry about the upcoming generation taking care of themselves if ever the S.H.T.F. I know that things would be quite different if the power ever went out and I feel sure I would survive just fine, the kids on the other hand...

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  12. Hi Jimmy. I reckon you've been eavesdropping on my conversations with hubby. The school traffic where I live is tremendous. Hubs often delays a journey until after the 'school brigade' has gone. Each time we moan to each other about how much better it was in our day, when we walked miles to get to school, in all weathers, and with whatever pain we could devise to get out of going there at all. The school heating always failed in bad weather but now they close the schools at the first hint of snow. Don't modern adults realise that kids LOVE to fool about in snow? And I swear we had worse weather, okay it came in the right season, unlike now. There was that much snow we built caves out of it, proper caves that we could play in. Marvellous. Wouldn't do it now, but then I'm no longer a kid...grins.

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    1. Hi Valerie, I remember walking to a lot of places when I was younger, I actually had a car but walked to school anyway when I was in High School, we were talking yesterday about walking places and wondering if the current generation could actually do it.

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  13. a fun post! I was telling my kids this past weekend about our swimming holes in the mountains....

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    1. Thank You Annmarie, It's fun looking back in the day and seeing the looks on the kids faces as we remember how good it was then :)

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  14. Much of the time, we made our own fun. We went outside and used our imaginations. Give us a big cardboard box and we entertained ourselves for hours. Some kids these days have no idea how to imagine well enough to get pure enjoyment from stuff such as that. Of course, they might have the brainpower to do so, but it's more the parents faults that they usually won't get the opportunity to find out.

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    1. Hey Jim, You are so right my friend, a lot of it is the parents faults because we do not make the kids get out and use their imaginations, they do grow up too fast and lack of knowledge on simple things is what is going to get them into trouble.

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  15. Wondering where you are? Hope all is well.

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    1. Hey Rachel, All is well my good friend, glad to hear from you :)

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  16. Haven't heard from you in a while...miss your posts and your gentle humor. Yes, what Rachael said - hope all is well!

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    1. Hey Lady, Thank you so much I am honored, everything is good here.

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  17. My husband is the nostalgia king. If I had a dime for every time he tells our kids to get one of the encyclopedia books off the shelf to study something...

    Oops, did I use that old phrase, "If I had a dime..." Get with the times, Anita!

    By the way, our set of encyclopedia collects dust on our book shelves. I don't know if my husband will ever be able to part with them.

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    1. The good old encyclopedias, I remember an encyclopedia salesman coming to our door and selling my Mom a set, I did use them a lot but just can't see this generation even picking one up.

      Back in my Day we didn't have a fancy smancy computer to look things up, we had to use an encyclopedia...

      I have a feeling your Husband will hold on to them because it's just the right thing to do :)

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