The good new days [Archive] - Simple Living Forums

Square Peg

5-12-11, 3:48pm

Hello everyone

I have been reading the new boards pretty faithfully but haven't had time to post because I have been working through my first year of graduate school with husband and 3 kids in tow. But now I am done (YAY!) and one of the posts caught my eye. On the Consumerism and the Media forum, treehugger posted:

But does that mean some people can't find any nice things about the way things are today, here and now? I know plenty of really nice, kind, thoughtful people. Always looking backwards (with rose colored glasses or not) seems to set people up to be unhappy today, and those are the people I feel sorry for.

I agree! So I thought it would be fun to start a post that celebrates what is good about today and today's people.
I'll start.

We moved to our new town in August so that I could go to school here. One of my neighbors brought us a home-baked loaf of zucchini bread to welcome us. Another neighbor has brought us buckets of tomatoes from her garden and baked goods. She also brought us two dinners! Just because she had made too much. Two different dishes, each enough to feed five.

At the last three houses I have lived (including this one), I have been able to leave my sons home (starting at about 11) while I go out for a bike ride or a drink with my husband. A couple of things make this possible: first I am within a short distance and have a cell phone, second in each of these houses we have had neighbors that we trust so that if something bad happened, the boys could run to their houses.

Speaking of cell phones, I often hear that "nowadays" we can't let our kids out on their own adventures. My perception is different. My boys would take the bus to their favorite comic book shop and get lunch at the taco truck. In our new town downtown is just a few blocks away, so they are armed with a cell phone and out they go: comic store, music store, used book store, library, ice cream shop, pizza joint, all at their fingertips. The youngest is almost 10 and even he will tag along with his big brothers. My two oldest (12 and 14) walk to and from school, almost a mile with a very big hill both ways! We bought them a bus pass when it was cold and icy, but now they would rather walk because it is faster. My youngest walks to school as well, a couple of blocks with a sizable hill. They know about strangers and they know about traffic.

Communities I have lived in still have great community building events: concerts in the park, fairs, carnivals, teas, rummage sales, parades, fundraising dinners.

There is also a turning back to things that are cherished: community gardens, knitting circles. I was even reading that people are starting to have typing parties, where people all show up with their manual typewriters and write. And adult proms are becoming fashionable.

Then there are things that are unique to this time period (and hopefully remain) that I love:
Netflix
Cancer treatments that kept my sister alive and healthy after a Stage IV dx
Dyson vaccuums
Asperger diagnosis and treatment
Acceptance of people of differing abilities
A biracial president and a black first lady in the US
Gay marriage and unions
20-somethings who call or text their parents frequently
The Internet
Women's advances in education
Not having to wear girdles or hair pins
A Latina Supreme Court justice in the US Supreme Court

And lots lots more. Please feel free to add.

JaneV2.0

5-12-11, 4:00pm

Effective, available birth control comes to mind, and personal computers and technology in general that's practically magic. And cubic zirconia...:~)

Really, I love living now with all the oft-maligned choices available to me. I might have liked to have been born later, but never earlier than I was. Hooray for today!

Square Peg

5-12-11, 4:26pm

birth control! good one!
And having a husband that doesn't think twice about cooking dinner or doing the dishes or the laundry.

Kathy WI

5-12-11, 4:28pm

I agree, today is way better than the good old days. As a SAHM, I don't get out much, and I'm really glad I have internet. I have many gay friends and I'm glad that their existence isn't a taboo subject. I'm glad that there's so much diversity in my small city in Wisconsin so that my son has friends of other races and it's no big deal.

catherine

5-12-11, 4:55pm

I am SO HAPPY to be part of the Information Age with computers, the Internet, etc. Thrilled. I came from learning to type on a manual typewriter, using carbon paper, working for NBC and going to the News Department to use the ONE fax machine they had in the building. Yes, even the word processor is a miracle.

As for the internet, I know I am a better person because of it. I can't tell you all the meandering I've done that has led me to people like Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Pilgrim, you guys, etc. etc.

I'm so glad I wound up young enough to be able to salvage a few dendrites and take advantage of modern day technology. I am no Luddite.

danna

5-12-11, 9:41pm

Agreeing with all the above...

redfox

5-12-11, 11:30pm

Contraception, legal abortion, civil rights, voting rights, soon legal marriage for all, a growing recognition of transgender people (except spell-check; it wanted me to type transponder!), an African American President!!!!! Seriously! I still cannot get over that.

Organic food going mainstream, superb mass transit choices, revolution in senior care and end-of-life care, heirloom tomatoes, men who cook & clean & change diaps without being prompted, women who run corporations and governments, women who regularly run for national offices (even if they are pretty out there... I am still glad they run, thank you Ms's. Palin & Bachmann!), cross-race marriages are legal, the World Court in the Hague, anti-retroviral drugs, a world class effort to eliminate malaria, better and better flu vaccines, fabulous artisan cheeses - beers - breads - soaps.

This was a totally random, stream of consciousness list!

Mrs-M

5-12-11, 11:43pm

I view this thread as a wonderful big pot of soup, it's stock consisting of a magnificent abundance of ingredients, the ingredients being- all the good things everyone has mentioned!

To add, good health! Without good health we have nothing.

herbgeek

5-13-11, 6:27am

In no particular order, my list:

Being able to use technology to keep in touch with those I love, even those on different continents.
Having choices in who I want to be, how I want to work, what I want to do with my life. I am not constrained by gender, or by what occupations my parents had.
Hot tubs.
The world of information at my fingertips. I have always been a huge information hound - as a kid I would read the encyclopedia for fun. Anything I want to learn about, I can instantly do that.
Being able to work in my sweatpants from home.
Reliable transportation. And a AAA card and a cell phone for those occasional times the transportation is not reliable.
Organic food. Low VOC paint. Availability of organic fertilizers and pest control. Awareness of contaminants in our ecosystem, and ways to avoid them.
Indoor smoking bans (I once worked in an office when people were allowed to smoke at their desk and it was awful).
ATM's and on line banking/financial transactions make things convenient for me.
Any shopping I could possibly want to do is available on line.

junco

5-13-11, 7:44am

As the mother of a son with an intellectual disability I have to say:

1. My son could go to public school. Before the 1970's he might have been denied the right to a free and appropriate public education.
2. Increased understanding of people with disabilities, less stigma.
3.Increased services available such as respite care. I recently spoke with a retired special education teacher who said she would sometimes take students home for the weekend because the parents had no one else who could ever care for their children if they needed a break.
4. Computers! My son has severe fine motor problems and cannot write with a pencil, but he can write on a computer, use email, instant messaging, facebook, etc. This has opened up the world for him.

Kat

5-13-11, 7:58am

Nice thread!

I live in the Midwest and genuinely believe that the vast majority of people are good. We have wonderful neighbors and a ton of farmboys who will step in to help anybody at anytime. Over the past few months, I have seen multiple people being rescued by strangers after their cars broke down. I also saw a huge fella get out of an equally huge truck to come to the assistance of a young woman who was getting yelled out by (presumably) her boyfriend. I know that with women's rights and the feminist movement and all that, not everyone would appreciate this. But I would if it were me, and I rather like knowing that chivalry is not dead here.

Something else that comes to mind is the better diagnostic criteria and treatment for mental illness. Sure, we're not quite "there" yet, but these improvements have brought about more awareness and acceptance--something that was not present "back in the day."

JaneV2.0

5-13-11, 12:20pm

Big, shiny libraries stuffed full of multi-media choices from old forties' radio programs to Blu-ray DVDs and e-books. All kinds of video in multiple languages. Books full of high-quality color illustrations on every conceivable subject, magazines on subjects from archaeology to cooking to current events to travel to arts and crafts. None of these were around when I was young. Well, except for the radio programs. We listened to them on giant console free-standing radios with monaural sound. Now we have stereo MP-3 players we can carry in a pocket and instant access from Bach to Gaga. Bliss.

Mrs-M

1-16-13, 1:41am

Originally posted by Square Peg.
Dyson vaccuums
Not having to wear girdles or hair pinsThese made me laugh! Not in the sense of being absurd or anything, but rather, in the true sense.

Originally posted by Herbgeek.
Indoor smoking bans (I once worked in an office when people were allowed to smoke at their desk and it was awful).Ditto!

Mrs-M

1-16-13, 10:47am

Originally posted by JaneV2.0.
cubic zirconia...
LOL!

And for all the moms unwilling to carry on with tradition... dunking dirty diapers up and down in the toilet, Pampers!

Rosemary

1-16-13, 11:35am

antibiotics - overused today, but have greatly impacted human life span
women in more career paths. As recently as 1970, some public universities were still male-only aside from nursing and teaching.
ease of traveling around the world allows more cultural learning and exchange.

treehugger

1-16-13, 12:43pm

Funny to come in here and see myself quoted when I never even saw this (two-year-old) thread originally, so definitely don't remember posting that. It sounds like me, though. :) And it's appropriate to bring it back up now since we have had so many threads recently about how much better things were in the "good old days." It's nice to have a balance, IMO, of appreciating the good and noticing the bad.

Anyway, everyone posted so many good things about life *today* already that I don't think I have much to add. The biggest for me are advances in health care (birth control!) and career and social and life opportunities/choices for women and minorities.

What today also has going for it? It's all we got. Might as well make the best of it. ;)

Kara

gimmethesimplelife

1-16-13, 12:55pm

Good thread! It is so easy to get bogged down in what is going on wrong and not look at the good.

I love the fact that some people are able to find niches that work for them online and have geographic flexibility and can ditch the office and the politics there due to technology! That to me is absolutely wonderful.

I also like that more and more people are becoming open to alternative treatments to Western Medicine.

I like that we in the US have reelected an African American President, and that we continue to become more and more diverse.

I am glad that the Supreme Court in the US will be taking up gay marriage - whatever the outcome, at least the issue is being addressed. And I like that whatever the outcome, it will go viral pronto - the court of world opinion will weigh in on this one.

I like that injustice can sometimes be videotaped and go online in a heartbeat.....This puts a lot more power into the hands of everyday people. Gotta love the Internet for that!

Rob

Gardenarian

1-16-13, 2:40pm

I'm really happy that homeschooling has gone mainstream and people no longer think that we are freaks/child abusers/horrible parents for taking our kids out of the rat race! (I know that school is a good fit for many people - I celebrate the ability to choose!)

Dentistry has sure come a long way, just in my lifetime!

I'm really glad that my daughter has the chance to grow up with all sorts of different people - from varied ethnic backgrounds, with disabilities, gay/lesbian, different religious beliefs.

gimmethesimplelife

1-16-13, 2:47pm

Mrs-M

1-16-13, 9:12pm

gimmethesimplelife

1-16-13, 9:15pm

Mrs-M

1-16-13, 9:34pm

Rob. My thoughts on the public school system, today, stem from the most basic of concerns, to the most advanced. It's all so amuck, to a point where I feel kids are getting lost in the shuffle, lost in the turmoil, and I have no faith left in public school safety. The entire dynamics of schooling (as a whole) has changed exponentially, as compared to when DH and I, were attending.

And, yes, I would suspect that the Canadian public school system is going through the very same trials and tribulations as the public school system in America.

While I would never label myself a "bubble parent", this is one area where I could easily adopt a bubble parent style mentality, in order to assure the well being, security, and betterment of my children.

Kestra

1-16-13, 10:45pm

I second home-schooling, too. Problem with our family, we have one too many kids, and I can't help but think what a nightmare it would be to take on such a challenge, but I've lost faith in the public school system (long ago), and I don't (at all) like knowing what average kids are subjected to/exposed to nowadays in schools.

I'm in Canada too, and will never have kids, but know 100% that I would homeschool if I had them, unless there was a specific reason that child would be better served by a public school. Like Mrs-M, my concerns are varied, from safety, to what kids are exposed to from their peers, to the educational system, to the lack of exposure to people of different ages. I strongly believe that it is the parent's job to raise kids that they chose to bring into this world. With, the obvious exceptions, it seems that in most dual income families, one person is working just to provide "toys" that don't actually enhance life in any real way.

Mrs-M

1-16-13, 11:10pm

I'm with you, Kestra.

As double-income families rose to the forefront, that's when I started noticing the deterioration of society as a whole, and children, young children, are the ones who suffer most, due to a lack of a responsible authoritarian figure in their midst (round the clock), and the problems so prevalent in our school system, today, reflect that deficit.

puglogic

1-16-13, 11:13pm

Wonderful thread. I seldom stop moving long enough to think about the good new days, and the specific things that are sooo much better than if I'd been born even a couple of decades sooner.

Today I worked in my pajamas and slippers until 11:00am (making money in the process), ordered books from interlibrary loan from halfway across the country for free, walked to yoga class, teleconferenced with four people in Colombia/Denmark/Argentina, hosted a small dog play date at my house, ate organic non-cured chicken/apple/gouda sausages, and took a stroll in my new winter boots - made especially for WOMEN who want to stomp around in the snow down to -25F (rather than trying to get men's outdoor gear that fit me).

None of that would've happened forty, fifty, or a hundred years ago. These are idyllic times in many ways!

Mighty Frugal

1-17-13, 1:12pm

I love that I can download a free guided meditation to my iPhone and meditate in the comfort of my home

I love that I can punch in an address on my GPS and never get lost again (I get lost going to the bathroom)

I love that I can PVR interesting shows to watch at my leisure

I love that I can connect with like minded people from around the world while sitting in my living room. some of my closest confidants are a group of moms from across Canada on a proboard site

I love that obscure trivia answers are a few key strokes away (what was the name of I Dream of Genie's master's best friend?..or...how much Vit. D do they now recommend?...or What happens if you fall into a black hole? )

I love that I'm turning my young kids on to the music I loved by youtubing them performing-ELO, John Denver, Beatles, Queen, RUSH, Floyd, Zeppelin, my kids pretty much only know retro music which I wonder is ok-my former friend said they are being deprived but I dislike the current stuff

I love those bleeper thingies at the shops that you scan the barcode and it reads the price for you before you head to the cashier

Mrs-M

1-17-13, 1:15pm

Originally posted by Mighty Frugal.
I love that I'm turning my young kids on to the music I loved by youtubing them performing-ELO, John Denver, Beatles, Queen, RUSH, Floyd, Zeppelin, my kids pretty much only know retro music which I wonder is ok-my former friend said they are being deprived but I dislike the current stuffI don't like the new stuff, either, Mighty Frugal.

Gregg

1-17-13, 1:36pm

I love that I'm turning my young kids on to the music I loved by youtubing them performing-ELO, John Denver, Beatles, Queen, RUSH, Floyd, Zeppelin, my kids pretty much only know retro music which I wonder is ok-my former friend said they are being deprived but I dislike the current stuff

Sticking with just the music theme, I love Spotify. So much music so easy to get to (and more every day).

Like you Mighty Frugal, I love that my kids are into some of the music from when I was their age.

I love the chance to get into their music and that they constantly send me links to new songs they think I will like. IMO, there is a LOT of great music being released these days!

treehugger

1-17-13, 1:42pm

I love the chance to get into their music and that they constantly send me links to new songs they think I will like. IMO, there is a LOT of great music being released these days!

Agreed! Great new and old music to be enjoyed. I was just teasing my older brother the other day about becoming "one of those old guys" who only listens to the music of their youth. The ironic thing is that he helped form much of my musical taste by exposing me to punk and New Wave in the 80s when my peers were listening to Mariah Carey and New Kids on the Block. But now, he only listens to those old same bands instead of learning about new stuff, too. So, I will have to return the favor he did for me so many years ago. :) Bring on The Killers, Mumford and Sons, Imagine Dragons, Regina Spektor, Death Cab for Cutie, Band of Horses, Neko Case, Flogging Molly! But, keep the Stones, and Joy Division, the Pogues, and 60's soul and Motown in the rotation, too. Definitely never been a better time to share music. I love the Pandora app on my phone for finding new things.

Viva la musica!

Kara

ApatheticNoMore

1-17-13, 1:53pm

Oh I'm liking some of the new music these days, it has a very child-like spirit (as opposed to the aweful music from a few years ago where every song was whiny, every song was a @#$#ing pathetic whine, P.A.T.H.E.T.I.C. (and whiny not angry like punk - punk I'm alright with). Oh I hated that whiny period, and could gladly have said back then "the music is no good these days". But no more. I like old stuff too (anything pre-90s, I also didn't like the 90's grunge thing much, even if that grunge cr@p is supposed to be my generation). Always love 70s music.

Mighty Frugal

1-17-13, 2:53pm

See here's the problem. All the 'new music' I hear today is in my gym-it's ALL boy and girl bands. My friend told me 'One Direction' the newest boy band is touted as the new Beatles. Really? Them? Really?

I stopped enjoying new music in the 90s early 00s. About the time I started having babies. Back then when I drove in my car I needed peace so it was always tuned to classical station. nowadays it's either the retro station or all news! I wish I knew of a good station here that played the good stuff, but everyone is either great oldies or ick.

My favourite bands are RUSH, Queen, Floyd, Zeppelin, My dh also got me into NIN, Coldplay, Radiohead, Beasty Boys

So, what would I like today?

treehugger

1-17-13, 3:01pm

So, what would I like today?

I can't make recommendations for you since we don't have similar tastes, but Pandora can! :) Create a (free) account, then add in the bands you know you like. Pandora will start playing those bands plus others that are musically similar. You can vote yes or no on each song and that expands your play list. I have found all kinds of new music that I like this way.

Kara

Mighty Frugal

1-17-13, 3:44pm

I can't make recommendations for you since we don't have similar tastes, but Pandora can! :) Create a (free) account, then add in the bands you know you like. Pandora will start playing those bands plus others that are musically similar. You can vote yes or no on each song and that expands your play list. I have found all kinds of new music that I like this way.

Kara

Thanks! I'll do that. I recently became the owner of an iphone 5 and am having loads of fun downloading free apps!

treehugger

1-17-13, 3:48pm

oh! If you have a smartphone, even better. I have used Pandora via computer for years, but I recently got a smartphone, too, and now I listen to music on it with Pandora much more often than I listen to my MP3s. Enjoy your custom radio station! And yes, the app is free).

Kara

ToomuchStuff

1-17-13, 4:02pm

Mighty Frugal

Besides, Pandora, LastFm and the like, I found that SOME retro stations, mix in music that is more current and in the style of older music, but where I am more apt to here music that I might like (as opposed to rap, missing the c, or the new "pop" music, which I don't see as popular), is some of the college stations. They tend to vary their music during different shows or hours. They also play music from known artists, that you don't hear everyday (not just their hits from the charts).