Saturday, September 30, 2017

They lived life fully

In light of recent events due to the passing of my uncle, I got to thinkin' a little deeper about my father and the Thomas Uncles. My mind began to wander about their lives and the times they grew up in and the trials they lived through.

Many people in the current and recently named younger generations are often called snobbish, entitled and many other names leaning toward being ungrateful for what they have in life. Now, it is hoped that one generation builds upon what is handed to them and is able to take that and add to it and thus, hand it off to those that follow. The complaint against the current version, the Millennials from other folk is they do not seem to be grateful for what ever they have.

The Millennials are heirs to a society where everything they want is instantly available to them without much effort on their parts. As well, anything wrong with the world is aptly blamed on someone and they are apt to readily point the finger. One thing I do tend to believe is there is a tilt to this generation that many of these qualities reside more in those who dwell in the urban landscape where even many of the poorer elements have more available to them through the use of a phone than any previous generation.

Take away their phones and how would many in this generation react to a world where they had little or no conveniences. My Father and his brothers grew up in a world where:
  • There was no modern refrigeration. If you ever wondered where the term 'icebox' came from it was truly descriptive of what it was
  • Air conditioning did not enter the modern home until well into the 1960's.
  • Television did not move into the home until the 1950's. Then, it was a very small set that carried only a black and white image. In the 1960's there were three national broadcast companies. That's it.
  • Public air travel was only available to those who had some degree of wealth. The average person would never have been able to afford air travel.
  • Radio was the predominant form of electronic entertainment well into the 1950's.
  • The average family had one automobile, if they had one at all. 

By the time this all came to pass and the modern world began to look vaguely like the modern world we now recognize, the Thomas Uncles were already raising their children, sending them off to high school and some to college.

To an extent this generation is correct that there are problems. What they fail to recognize is there have always been problems. What you do is take what you have and do the best you can with it. If that happens, you won't hear any complaints from me. My Father and my Uncles lived life to the fullest with conditions that many now would describe as primitive.

If they could do what they did under those circumstances, what can you do with what's now handed to you?



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