This generation of kids...

[Fletch]

Of course nowadays you at least can get someone to listen to you.

 

[jamespowers]

Of course nowadays you at least can get someone to listen to you.

And laugh.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Or they'll post HAHAHAH U SUK under your comment.

As far as medical advances go, when people say "nowadays you can live to be 100!" I always feel terrified. There is nothing I want less.

 

[Tiller]

99% of people who claim that they miss the good old days, are talking about the sense of community, politeness, a general feeling of belonging, and maybe a few cultural aspects such as music for example.

There is a sad and small group that wouldn't mind living in the days of no racial equality at all (so long as their race was the dominate on at the time of course). They are in the minority though, I think when most people talking about living in the past they are talking about the best aspects of it, people rarely think about it beyond an emotional reaction.

People who say they'd love to have lived in the old west, are thinking of the stories of the romantic cowboy out on the range with no responsibilities beyond his cattle. Of course they aren't thinking about the possibility that your entire family could starve to death if you didn't prepare for winter, or the fact that "the law" could be hundreds of miles away, and your local doctor is really a man who failed after one semester of dentistry training. Nor are they thinking of the simple fact that their is a high chance that at least some of your children are going to die before they reach maturity.

I will say this about the old west though, it was more diverse then people believe it was. Many recently freed blacks went west, and their was always a larger Hispanic population then people think about, and of course their was the fact that many Chinese immigrants were working for the railroad at the time, well others were opening shops. Then there are the Indian tribes, the diverse European immigrants, the diverse religious backgrounds... The old west really was a wild place even without us romanticizing it.

 

[jamespowers]

Or they'll post HAHAHAH U SUK under your comment.

As far as medical advances go, when people say "nowadays you can live to be 100!" I always feel terrified. There is nothing I want less.

:rofl: You know a friend of mine's Aunt who is well up into her eighties now told her nephew never to allow the doctors to put a pacemaker in him as they did her. She said: "It just makes you live longer." lol lol

 

[LizzieMaine]

In all seriousness, though, I doubt very much civilization fifty years from now will exist in a form I'd be in any way comfortable in -- so what conceivable reason could I have for wanting to be here for it? I have an aunt who just turned 92 and when someone said to her "Gee, I hope I live as long as you," she slammed her coffee cup down and yelled "What the hell for???"

 

[jamespowers]

In all seriousness, though, I doubt very much civilization fifty years from now will exist in a form I'd be in any way comfortable in -- so what conceivable reason could I have for wanting to be here for it? I have an aunt who just turned 92 and when someone said to her "Gee, I hope I live as long as you," she slammed her coffee cup down and yelled "What the hell for???"

She reminds me of my grandmother when she was in her 90s.
I just want to live long enough to outlive all my enemies and make some new ones.

 

[Pompidou]

On the other end of the spectrum, pushing towards immortality as much as science, technology and my financial situation allows has always been on my agenda. I'll never sign a DNR form. Life as a vegetable beats death to me. Cryogenics is an end of life option that I really hope is reasonable by the time I need it. In the event I have to be stored away for 100 years till they finally find a cure for whatever the problem proves to be, that'd be just fine with me. I can't fathom a world without me in it, and I don't plan on letting that happen without a fight.

 

[John in Covina]

DNR hits home with me because my mom was suffering with a decline in abilities in a long term "non recovery" after surgery.

 

[Fletch]

And laugh.

Why do I think you might be the one doing the laughing? No reason really, it's just an impression I get, somehow.

 

[jamespowers]

Why do I think you might be the one doing the laughing? No reason really, it's just an impression I get, somehow.

lol lol lol Now you are making me laugh. lol lol No, it was just that the usual thing you get when you complain anywhere around where I live. You just don't get anywhere. Now if you yell and scream and threaten to sue......

 

[LizzieMaine]

The thing is, nowadays very, very, very few people *listen*, *care* to listen, or know *how* to listen. At best, they wait until you stop talking, which is not the same thing.

 

[John in Covina]

I posted this in another thread and I think it might be applicable here.

There is a lot of interesting comments that point to some of the sociological questions as to the who and why people are doing things.

In the past we had kids that wanted to be like their parents and would work at being just like dad or girls wanting to be just like mom. however there was always some that rebelled and pushed at going their own way. This is part of human nature too so it is part of the mix but in the past the place of the parent was given a lot of re-enforcement in the community so a portion that wanted to rebel did not.

At some point, we see a shift in the power of the parent and the power of the child or teen. I am thinking that it has to do with a shift where people begin to indulge the children. After WWII we see an explosion of goods like toys and clothes marketed to kids and teens. Some of you may recall seeing some type of argument between child or teen and parent over an item or clothing. I think that the marketing appeal to kids and teens is one of the wedges that was driven between parents and their children and helped along the split and rebellion.

As a result many parents today simply don't act or dress grown up and echo the teens and twenty somethings look to try to be hip in their children;s eyes to try to stem a divide over clothes and dress.

Now it may be the nature of rebelling but this may actual push some to chose dressing up as an act of individuality and rebellion?

 

[rue]

The thing is, nowadays very, very, very few people *listen*, *care* to listen, or know *how* to listen. At best, they wait until you stop talking, which is not the same thing.

I've noticed that. It's like they didn't hear a word you said and rush to say what they want to right when you're finished talking. It's very annoying.
Hardly anyone says excuse me, when they're interrupting a conversation anymore either.

 

[jamespowers]

The thing is, nowadays very, very, very few people *listen*, *care* to listen, or know *how* to listen. At best, they wait until you stop talking, which is not the same thing.

Being a good listener is not being taught in schools to our children. I know for sure---at least out here. I am surprised they can even run a class like that! Listening is something I think goes hand in hand with learning. If you don't listen then you won't hear what is being taught or even glean a good idea from a conversation. I had a discussion with a friend of mine concerning existentialism a week or so ago over scotch and a good cigar. I think I might have learned something if I exist.

 

[Feraud]

Agreed. I am stuck with co-workers that simply want a one way conversation and go blank in the face when they are not speaking or view conversation as a competition they need to "one up" the other person.

 

[John in Covina]

The thing is, nowadays very, very, very few people *listen*, *care* to listen, or know *how* to listen. At best, they wait until you stop talking, which is not the same thing.

What seems to happen most is that there are 2 opposing views and at most people review what was said or written and craft a response as to why their side is right and the other side is wrong.

 

[LizzieMaine]

It's part of the Cult of the Individual. MY opinion/issues/needs are ever so much more important than anything you might have to say.

 

[jamespowers]

It's part of the Cult of the Individual. MY opinion/issues/needs are ever so much more important than anything you might have to say.

I want to laugh at this but it is so true that I just can't.:eusa_doh:

 

[John in Covina]

I've noticed that. It's like they didn't hear a word you said and rush to say what they want to right when you're finished talking. It's very annoying. Hardly anyone says excuse me, when they're interrupting a conversation anymore either.

This makes me think of what happens when some one gets a call on their cell phone. A few people may say excuse me i have to take this call, but so many people put up the hand, like a traffic cop, and grab the call. I actually walked over to talk to you but that is more important. I find it odd at how important calls are over living people in ones presence.