Losing our traditions

The pic is a Paris-scene from the 50s coaster passed down to me on the death of an aunt a few years ago. I also got the family silver, which despite family legend that we once owned half of Arizona but gambled it away, turns out to be a sparkly set of knives, forks and spoons. It's of course way too maudlin for me to think of passing it on further, but these kinds of things are generally more historical than new. I'm not sure for example that I'll be passing down the family docking station or 3D printer (no, we don't have one, but have you seen one? I guess if I wanted more coasters I can print some).

I thought recently of a childhood visit to my gran. Of sitting on the old couch and my head resting on the antimacassars. I'll confess then -I have never bought an antimacassar, let alone a coaster. These things and more are probably more old-fashioned and a bit superfluous these days but then today I had a conversation with a colleague. He told me that his kids, aged six and eight, have never used a bar of soap. It was an open goal for a gag about the area of Glasgow they live, but he explained that they have soap dispensers and gels and such.

And it extends to other areas too. When I opened a student bank account with the TSB, one of the rewards was an Altered Images flexi-disc. If you're old enough to know what a flexi-disc is, try explaining the concept to someone who isn't. Not so much a tradition, but I never thought I'd be buying music on my phone and listening to it on said device. I spent much of my student grant (yes, exactly) on vinyl records. Loved that kind of process - flicking through lps and singles and parting with cash to a human being and leaving with a product in a bag.

I guess we stick with the traditions that are worth sticking to and holding dear. Clearly I'm romantic about a past but that past wasn't all wine and roses. It would have been of course had that ancestor not blown the riches, but that is for another blip.