Cormorant and Geese

A peaceful morning at Spring Lake…balm for the soul, although I suspect if we were to look beneath the surface, we would find all kinds of desperate dramas being played out. 

An English friend sent me  something "for those born before 1940" which I share with you today. I know many of you were born long after 1940, but can still appreciate how fast things are still changing, sometimes faster than our ability either as individuals or as a culture, can keep up. 

WE ARE SURVIVORS
We were born before television, before penicillin, polio shots, frozen foods, Xerox, contact lenses, videos,and The Pill. We were before radar, credit cards, split atoms, laser beams and ballpoint pens, before dishwashers, tumble dryers, electric blankets, air conditioners, drip-dry clothes…and before man walked on the moon.

We got married first and then lived together. We thought "fast food" was what you ate in Lent, a "Big Mac" was an oversized raincoat and "crumpet" we had for tea. We existed before house husbands, computer dating and "sheltered accommodation" was where you waited for a bus.

We were before day care centers, group homes and disposable nappies. We never heard of FM radio, tape decks, artificial hearts, word processors, or young men wearing earrings. For us, "time sharing" meant togetherness, a "chip" was a piece of wood or fried potato, "hardware" meant nuts and bolts and "software wasn't a word.

Before 1940 the term "making out" referred to how you did on your exams, "stud" was something that fastened a collar to a shirt and "going all the way" meant staying on a double decker bus to the terminus. In our day, cigarette smoking was "fashionable" , "grass" was mown, "coke" was kept in the coal house, a "joint" was a piece of meat you ate on Sundays and "pot"  was something you cooked in. "Rock Music" was a fond mother's lullaby, "Eldorado" was an ice-cream, a "gay person" was the life and soul of the party, while "aids" just meant a beauty treatment or help for someone in trouble.

We who were born before 1940 must be a hardy bunch when you think of the way in which the world has changed and the adjustments we have had to make. No wonder there is a generation gap today…BUT by the grace of God we have survived!