I Guess I’m Just Old Fashioned

One of the most difficult things about growing older is adapting to the new fangled ideas that people come up with.

I suppose it has always been that way, the idea that each new generation has different views on just about everything.  But I think that things are really different now than they were when I was a kid.  Although things were certainly different when I was a child most young people held the same values as their parents.

At least, until the massive social upheavals that occurred during the turbulent sixties.  In my lifetime I have watched basic morality turned on its head.   Back in the gold ole days of the Beatles and Bonanza, at least we had a common sense and agreement on things that were right and things that were wrong.  That is no longer the case.

Morality today is nothing more than an opinion.  As long as one can justify in his/her own mind WHY something is moral, that nagging conscience is more easily soothed and the sense of guilt that accompanies immoral behavior is more easily assuaged.   Sadly, like so many others my age, I have come to the realization that the idea of absolute right and wrong no longer exist.  Truth has become an opinion.

So, just to soothe my own soul I thought I might take the liberty to stumble back into the corners of my mind and uncover the pillars that kept most Americans anchored a couple of generations ago.

I’m so old I remember when elected officials were honest.

I’m so old I remember when couples got married if they had a child out of wedlock.

I’m so old I remember when we all had gun racks in the back windows of our pickup trucks.

I’m so old I remember when we drove those trucks to school.

I’m so old I remember when male Hollywood heartthrobs actually dated women.

I’m so old I remember when there were no school activities on Wednesday nights because that is when families went to church.

I’m so old I remember when there were actually intact families.

I’m so old I remember when our elected officials were held to a standard of honesty.

I’m so old I remember when it was the pastors who held the elected officials accountable.

I’m so old I remember when it was a shame for a 14 year old child to correct or disrespect an adult. 

I’m so old I remember when you actually knew your neighbors.

I’m so old I remember when your neighbors acted like another set of parents.

I’m so old I remember when “public” schools actually taught the values of the public.

I’m so old I remember when you had to love America to be elected to public office.

I’m so old I remember when boys were boys and girls were girls.

I’m so old I remember when pastors would never have permitted cross-dressers to read to children.

I’m so old I remember when bearded women were only seen at the freak show in the circus.

I’m so old I remember when a dollar was backed by gold.

I’m so old I remember when adults protected children and did not exploit them.

I’m so old I remember when education and indoctrination were different things.

I’m so old I remember when people actually hid certain behaviors in their closet.

I’m so old I remember when pornography was not considered protected speech.

I’m so old I remember when the name Jesus Christ was mentioned only as an object of praise.

I’m so old I remember when men protected children from predators.

I’m so old I remember when speaking the truth was considered loving.

I’m so old I remember when labor unions actually fought for the workers.

I’m so old I remember when teenagers were to be seen and not heard.

I’m so old I remember when climate change meant diving south in the winter.

I’m so old I remember when there was such a thing as common sense.

I’m so old I remember when conspiracy theories were not true.

I’m so old I remember when clouds were formed by nature and not airplanes.

I’m so old I remember when pedo networks were considered conspiracy theories.

I’m so old I remember when pastors taught congregations to fear God.

I’m so old I remember when an unborn baby’s life was more important than his/her mommy’s life.

I’m so old I remember when we were taught not to tolerate sinful behavior.

I’m so old I remember when pastors worked a full time job.

I’m so old I remember when science was based on facts and not emotions.

I’m so old I remember when it didn’t take a village to raise your kids.

I’m so old I remember when most of the things I just listed were not old fashioned.