Photo:  © D. Paul Graham, “Snow on Zenith”, Starland District, Savannah 2021

“Monday 5 Things”™ ….. Remember When?…..

Having a few libations with friends this weekend on the island in a bar profoundly called “The Bar Bar”, we ended up talking about all the changes in technology that we’ve seen in our lifetime. We discussed the good, the bad, and the ugly of how we use technology, as well as the good, the bad and ugly ways in which technology seemingly uses us. At a point in the conversation someone said, “well, just remember when”. This morning’s M5T again remembers when.

1. Of being ‘bold and delicious’

Remember when your mom actually thought Tang was a good way for you to start the day? It must have been good. Florence Henderson endorsed it. Remember when you actually loved the taste of Tang? Remember when no one cared that the powder was actually 94% sugar? It must have been good. The astronauts drank it in space, didn’t they?

2. Of bikes and pedals

Remember when you thought you looked sooooo cool cruising around the neighborhood with your Huffy Dragster or Raleigh Chopper that had a multicolored banana seat? Bonus points if your bike had handlebar streamers and spoke covers. Remember when your addiction to driving at speed began when you had a rare 3 speed gear shifter on your bikes cross bar? Remember when you had three pedals in your car, and everyone learned how to drive a manual shift?

3. Of human remotes and streetlights

Remember the white dot in the center of the TV as you waited for the screen to warm up before you could watch the 2 channels, in black and white? Remember when you were the remote for your dad? Remember when, that unless Batman, Hockey Night in Canada, or the Wonderful World of Disney was on, all you really wanted to do was stay outside just a little longer and play with your friends? Remember when neighborhood moms yelled for us to come back in the house as soon as the streetlights came on?

4. Of curly cords

Remember when you actually had to “dial” a phone number? You didn’t realize your first yoga moves were learned from untangling yourself from the mile-long curly telephone cord that you stretched into the next zip code in an attempt to avoid having your parents or your siblings over-hearing your hours-long conversation with the person you thought you would love for ever. When your dad said, “get off the damn phone”, remember when your conversations would end with, “ok you hang up first”, adding yet another hour to the conversation?

5. Of dreams and veracity

Remember the dreams you had as a kid? Remember how creative you could be just hanging out with friends? Remember when your ‘friends’ were people you actually saw in person? Remember when you used to respect politicians? Remember when you couldn’t wait to watch, and you believed, what Walter Cronkite said on the CBS news every night? Remember when you used to watch CBS? Do you remember where you put your wallet and car keys last night as you scramble to get out the door on this Monday morning?

And that’s the way it was, and is, this Monday October 16^th, 2023.

© 2023 D. Paul Graham, all rights reserved.

For over 11 years, D. Paul Graham has published “Monday 5 Things” ™, also known to readers as M5T.

You can reach Paul by email at dpg@imagegraham.com