More time - why don't we seem to have it?
09-10-2017, 09:08 AM
#21
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 622
From all that I can see, materialism and money, have replaced the days of family, friends, and a more relaxed lifestyle.
My own mother was always a stay-at-home mom, yet she treated her position in the household as a fulltime job. Cooking, laundry, baby/childcare, shopping, cleaning, she tackled it all according to her family unit description, as did every other mother and woman I knew back in the day.
Today, double income households have replaced the once stay-at-home mom fixture so many of us grew up to know. Do also that today's generation, even the tail-end generation before it have become somewhat lazy. General mentality today (as far as I can see is), if it can be done for you, hire it out, and if you can't afford it, finance it, hence the double income factor so prominently noticeable today, and the laziness factor carries over into today's young and growing generation.
DH approached two sets of neighbours year before last to seek some help in digging fence posts. The job came with a guaranteed hourly rate, yet not one pre-teen or teen accepted, because today, mommy and daddy often foot the bill, so there's no need to take-on outside work.
Thirty, forty, or more years ago, people lived a more laidback lifestyle. Few people I remember had recreational properties, and the single family car was the norm, and I can count on one hand how many families I knew of that had a powerboat to their name, so people found alternative ways to entertain themselves, and we were better off for it IMO.
Family units were much closer, there was more love, and children were raised properly and didn't run wild. Fast-forward to today. Meet the Joneses. Mr and Mrs Jones on the right, Mr and Mrs Jones on the left, Mr and Mrs Jones to the back, and Mr and Mrs Jones to the front, and all are in competition with one another. SUV's, boats, cars, campers, trailers, miscellaneous other craft and vehicles, and homes financed to the hilt to help shore-up the big put-on and show everyone is so keen on displaying nowadays. I refer to it as it as the look at me generation
In fact, DH and I were just talking about this very thing the other morning, and we both mentioned how we seldom see anyone out enjoying their yards anymore, and how few people are seen doing the more simple things in life such as gardening. Instead, everyone seems to be on a perpetual 24 hour, 7 day a week schedule where they're scratching to keep extra hours, which of course comes at the expense of the once stable and thriving family unit so many of us enjoyed as young and growing children.
Kids are shuffled off to daycare to be raised by complete and total strangers (don't even get me started on that one), and fast-food restaurants are bursting at the seems with families looking for a quick fix and remedy for mealtime, because everyone is run ragged by their need to keep up with the Joneses, they don't have the time or energy anymore to pull together proper balanced meals for the family.
My husband calls it, all show and no go, and he's right. Nobody fixes anything anymore, and if it's not disposable, no one is interested, and when something get's a little soiled or worn, it's out with the old and in with the new, forget about waste.
Additionally, people made time for each other back in the day, and, for the things they loved and cherished, because it was important, and homemakers knew how to dedicate and schedule their time. A sense of pride existed. I honestly think the vast majority don't care anymore.
I often catch myself saying the likes of, if only I could roll the clock back, I'd go back to such and such a time/era, and then someone usually speaks up and says, oh, but... and then they state their take on the matter, but all in all, people were more well-adjusted a few decades ago, and structure and properness existed. Women weren't interested in smoking cigars, drinking beer, and competing with the male figure, they were content being women, and boy were they ever good at it!
Furthering my take on the matter, society has lost class. Years ago, though it still exists today, people prided themselves with looking good, dressing nice, and presenting themselves in a courteous and professional way, hence the ironing and pressing and proper laundering that old-time homemakers practiced and knew.
Today, everything is wash and wear, so the old timey iron we all grew up with and used, has in many regards, gone by wayside, but I still press shirts and pants regularly for DH and myself, and I enjoy it, too.
Yep, I'd cash-in this stinky, rotten, dirty world we live in today for a taste of the 60's and 70's again in a heartbeat! Family picnics, family parties, holiday gatherings, entertaining, a time when kids could be kids, a time when mouth-watering delight wafted from the open window screens of people's homes throughout the summer, a time when everyone had a row of cloth diapers pinned-up on their clotheslines, a time when the innocent laughing of children happily playing outdoors could be heard from morning until night, a time when people took pride in themselves, a time when neighbour helped neighbour, and I could go on and on and on...
The way I see it is, with each new generation that rises, we slide further and further away from all that is important.
My own mother was always a stay-at-home mom, yet she treated her position in the household as a fulltime job. Cooking, laundry, baby/childcare, shopping, cleaning, she tackled it all according to her family unit description, as did every other mother and woman I knew back in the day.
Today, double income households have replaced the once stay-at-home mom fixture so many of us grew up to know. Do also that today's generation, even the tail-end generation before it have become somewhat lazy. General mentality today (as far as I can see is), if it can be done for you, hire it out, and if you can't afford it, finance it, hence the double income factor so prominently noticeable today, and the laziness factor carries over into today's young and growing generation.
DH approached two sets of neighbours year before last to seek some help in digging fence posts. The job came with a guaranteed hourly rate, yet not one pre-teen or teen accepted, because today, mommy and daddy often foot the bill, so there's no need to take-on outside work.
Thirty, forty, or more years ago, people lived a more laidback lifestyle. Few people I remember had recreational properties, and the single family car was the norm, and I can count on one hand how many families I knew of that had a powerboat to their name, so people found alternative ways to entertain themselves, and we were better off for it IMO.
Family units were much closer, there was more love, and children were raised properly and didn't run wild. Fast-forward to today. Meet the Joneses. Mr and Mrs Jones on the right, Mr and Mrs Jones on the left, Mr and Mrs Jones to the back, and Mr and Mrs Jones to the front, and all are in competition with one another. SUV's, boats, cars, campers, trailers, miscellaneous other craft and vehicles, and homes financed to the hilt to help shore-up the big put-on and show everyone is so keen on displaying nowadays. I refer to it as it as the look at me generation
In fact, DH and I were just talking about this very thing the other morning, and we both mentioned how we seldom see anyone out enjoying their yards anymore, and how few people are seen doing the more simple things in life such as gardening. Instead, everyone seems to be on a perpetual 24 hour, 7 day a week schedule where they're scratching to keep extra hours, which of course comes at the expense of the once stable and thriving family unit so many of us enjoyed as young and growing children.
Kids are shuffled off to daycare to be raised by complete and total strangers (don't even get me started on that one), and fast-food restaurants are bursting at the seems with families looking for a quick fix and remedy for mealtime, because everyone is run ragged by their need to keep up with the Joneses, they don't have the time or energy anymore to pull together proper balanced meals for the family.
My husband calls it, all show and no go, and he's right. Nobody fixes anything anymore, and if it's not disposable, no one is interested, and when something get's a little soiled or worn, it's out with the old and in with the new, forget about waste.
Additionally, people made time for each other back in the day, and, for the things they loved and cherished, because it was important, and homemakers knew how to dedicate and schedule their time. A sense of pride existed. I honestly think the vast majority don't care anymore.
I often catch myself saying the likes of, if only I could roll the clock back, I'd go back to such and such a time/era, and then someone usually speaks up and says, oh, but... and then they state their take on the matter, but all in all, people were more well-adjusted a few decades ago, and structure and properness existed. Women weren't interested in smoking cigars, drinking beer, and competing with the male figure, they were content being women, and boy were they ever good at it!
Furthering my take on the matter, society has lost class. Years ago, though it still exists today, people prided themselves with looking good, dressing nice, and presenting themselves in a courteous and professional way, hence the ironing and pressing and proper laundering that old-time homemakers practiced and knew.
Today, everything is wash and wear, so the old timey iron we all grew up with and used, has in many regards, gone by wayside, but I still press shirts and pants regularly for DH and myself, and I enjoy it, too.
Yep, I'd cash-in this stinky, rotten, dirty world we live in today for a taste of the 60's and 70's again in a heartbeat! Family picnics, family parties, holiday gatherings, entertaining, a time when kids could be kids, a time when mouth-watering delight wafted from the open window screens of people's homes throughout the summer, a time when everyone had a row of cloth diapers pinned-up on their clotheslines, a time when the innocent laughing of children happily playing outdoors could be heard from morning until night, a time when people took pride in themselves, a time when neighbour helped neighbour, and I could go on and on and on...
The way I see it is, with each new generation that rises, we slide further and further away from all that is important.
09-10-2017, 01:22 PM
#22
Power Poster
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Central Ohio
Posts: 15,165
Whoa, Endora!!! You've made a lot of sweeping generalizations here!!!
While you've made a few valid points, a lot of what I read I do not see, hear, or experience.
Every generation talks about how great it was compared to today. In twenty years people will be saying the same thing. And twenty years ago etc etc.
You stated "there's less love", really? I don't see it that way at all. Maybe true in your world but not mine.
It's up to each of us to do the best we can. That's all I have to say in response to your post.
Sorry, but I live in a very different world. I don't find it stinky, rotten, or dirty.
While you've made a few valid points, a lot of what I read I do not see, hear, or experience.
Every generation talks about how great it was compared to today. In twenty years people will be saying the same thing. And twenty years ago etc etc.
You stated "there's less love", really? I don't see it that way at all. Maybe true in your world but not mine.
It's up to each of us to do the best we can. That's all I have to say in response to your post.
Sorry, but I live in a very different world. I don't find it stinky, rotten, or dirty.
09-12-2017, 08:58 AM
#23
Super Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Beautiful Briery Mountain in WV
Posts: 2,551
We're getting away from the original question but this all makes me think.
There was a book published in the 1960's titled The Good Old Days, They Were Rotten. We remember the bright spots in the past and push the rest into a corner. Wash on the line? Yeah, the romance of cinders from the steam engines spotting the linens cleaned by wringer washer and rinsed in tubs and wringered again. Gathering heavy work clothes frozen stiff and hard in February and hung on lines in the kitchen to finish drying. And most of a day to iron for a big family. An hour for lunch at school to walk home, eat and return. Families still living close to factories and other jobs because transportation cost time and money and most did not have a car, as yet.
The odious job of taking care of the garbage without plastic bags--trying to wrap wet stuff in newspapers or brown bags and depositing in galvanized cans and be sure to put some bricks on the lid to discourage neighborhood pets allowed to roam at large. Remember the odor after it fermented a week and the poor garbage men who had to tote and empty the nasty cans and then take it to an open dump. What a blessing providing sport for marksmen: go to the dump to shoot rats.
Another great thing about the good old days: not having read stories about abused women. Oh, they were there but no one made much ado. Civil rights? Keep the (fill in the group of choice) in their place. One of the blinding moments of revelation when I saw a newscast of a state governor refusing to let a little girl just my age enter a public school. I didn't see or understand race thing.
Children who played with neighbor children were probably safer than today but mothers cautioned about public restrooms and places like the vicinity of taverns and bus stations and railroad tracks and bums.
I do not recall either of my parents having much leisure time, just being glad to sit down after supper dishes, outside in good weather, go to a school ball game or to take us to a movie on the weekend. After we got a car we were taken for 'a ride' or to a lake or municipal park to swim or play. Excursions to county/state fair, neighborhood street fairs, historic sites were a weekend event. Mother even drove us to the river to ride the car ferry across and back and to a local creek to enjoy a paddle. We were all in the Scouts and the boys played in athletics but these activities were not a burden.
I think we have less time now because of distances. Old time neighborhoods are broken up and families live far-and-wide. Popping in for a cup of coffee and a friendly chat was a delightful, if very short, break in the day. Sitting down with a neighbor on the porch in the evening was great. Extended families gathering for a Sunday diner.....I don't have time because I have "maņana" syndrome and far less energy than ten years ago and a family member with failing vision, hearing and mobility.
There was a book published in the 1960's titled The Good Old Days, They Were Rotten. We remember the bright spots in the past and push the rest into a corner. Wash on the line? Yeah, the romance of cinders from the steam engines spotting the linens cleaned by wringer washer and rinsed in tubs and wringered again. Gathering heavy work clothes frozen stiff and hard in February and hung on lines in the kitchen to finish drying. And most of a day to iron for a big family. An hour for lunch at school to walk home, eat and return. Families still living close to factories and other jobs because transportation cost time and money and most did not have a car, as yet.
The odious job of taking care of the garbage without plastic bags--trying to wrap wet stuff in newspapers or brown bags and depositing in galvanized cans and be sure to put some bricks on the lid to discourage neighborhood pets allowed to roam at large. Remember the odor after it fermented a week and the poor garbage men who had to tote and empty the nasty cans and then take it to an open dump. What a blessing providing sport for marksmen: go to the dump to shoot rats.
Another great thing about the good old days: not having read stories about abused women. Oh, they were there but no one made much ado. Civil rights? Keep the (fill in the group of choice) in their place. One of the blinding moments of revelation when I saw a newscast of a state governor refusing to let a little girl just my age enter a public school. I didn't see or understand race thing.
Children who played with neighbor children were probably safer than today but mothers cautioned about public restrooms and places like the vicinity of taverns and bus stations and railroad tracks and bums.
I do not recall either of my parents having much leisure time, just being glad to sit down after supper dishes, outside in good weather, go to a school ball game or to take us to a movie on the weekend. After we got a car we were taken for 'a ride' or to a lake or municipal park to swim or play. Excursions to county/state fair, neighborhood street fairs, historic sites were a weekend event. Mother even drove us to the river to ride the car ferry across and back and to a local creek to enjoy a paddle. We were all in the Scouts and the boys played in athletics but these activities were not a burden.
I think we have less time now because of distances. Old time neighborhoods are broken up and families live far-and-wide. Popping in for a cup of coffee and a friendly chat was a delightful, if very short, break in the day. Sitting down with a neighbor on the porch in the evening was great. Extended families gathering for a Sunday diner.....I don't have time because I have "maņana" syndrome and far less energy than ten years ago and a family member with failing vision, hearing and mobility.
Last edited by Greenheron; 09-12-2017 at 09:01 AM.
09-12-2017, 10:03 AM
#24
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: Kansas
Posts: 4,433
Originally Posted by SusieQOH
Whoa, Endora!!! You've made a lot of sweeping generalizations here!!!
While you've made a few valid points, a lot of what I read I do not see, hear, or experience.
Every generation talks about how great it was compared to today. In twenty years people will be saying the same thing. And twenty years ago etc etc.
You stated "there's less love", really? I don't see it that way at all. Maybe true in your world but not mine.
It's up to each of us to do the best we can. That's all I have to say in response to your post.
Sorry, but I live in a very different world. I don't find it stinky, rotten, or dirty.
While you've made a few valid points, a lot of what I read I do not see, hear, or experience.
Every generation talks about how great it was compared to today. In twenty years people will be saying the same thing. And twenty years ago etc etc.
You stated "there's less love", really? I don't see it that way at all. Maybe true in your world but not mine.
It's up to each of us to do the best we can. That's all I have to say in response to your post.
Sorry, but I live in a very different world. I don't find it stinky, rotten, or dirty.
09-12-2017, 10:08 AM
#25
Power Poster
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2008
Location: MN
Posts: 24,390
Many of the things we take for granted were not created - or readily available - 100 years ago.
Electricity - indoor plumbing - automobiles - vaccinations -
Is the past "better"? Is the present "better"? Will the future be "better?"
Now, as then, a lot depends on one's financial means and social status -
"Class" as in "being a class act" is not guaranteed - or prevented - by having or not having money or social status.
Electricity - indoor plumbing - automobiles - vaccinations -
Is the past "better"? Is the present "better"? Will the future be "better?"
Now, as then, a lot depends on one's financial means and social status -
"Class" as in "being a class act" is not guaranteed - or prevented - by having or not having money or social status.
12-01-2017, 11:46 AM
#27
Member
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Posts: 26
We don't have more time because we are expected to be doing twice the work that we used to do in half the time, I am in my sixties and still work in an office. I work on 4, yes, 4 computer monitors. One is for the switchboard. The other 3 are for email, word processing, excel, our in house system, etc. I wear a headset for the switchboard but also have a landline for internal calls. I also need to use the work cell phone to call employees off site. When I started working when I was 18 years old all I had was one phone and a typewriter. Please don't tell me in my role as a receptionist that all this tech stuff has made it easier for me, it has not! Otherwise in my home life, I have all the time I need as (not by choice) we do not have children, hence no grandchildren.
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