Readers keep sending us cards and e-mails with thoughts and quotes they have been saving for us. A few tidbits that we collected recently include the following:
The nice thing about the future is that it always starts tomorrow.
Money will buy a fine dog, but only kindness will make him wag his tail.
How come it takes so little time for a child who is afraid of the dark to become a teenager who wants to stay out all night?
Business conventions are important because they demonstrate how many people a company can operate without.
Scratch a dog and you will find a permanent job.
Think about this: No one ever says, “It’s only a game,” when his team is winning.
Do you realize that in about 40 years, we will have thousands of little old ladies running around with tattoos?
No one has more driving ambition than the boy who wants to buy a car.
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Another reader from Hinton sent me a list of things that did not exist when he was born in 1940.
Not invented yet were television, Penicillin, polio shots, frozen foods, contact lenses, Frisbees, personal computers, and the birth control pill.
There were no credit cards, ball point pens, digital cameras, DVD’s, FAX machines, copy machines, panty hose, air conditioners, dish washers, GPS systems, microwave ovens, clothes dryers, air bags, anti-lock brakes, CD players, and iPod. Man, of course, had not walked on the moon and old Flash Gordon serials were the rage of the Friday night theaters.
Other differences included:
Almost every family had a father and a mother.
It was before computer dating, dual careers, daycare centers and group therapy.
Our lives were governed by the Ten Commandments, good judgment, and common sense.
We were taught the difference between right and wrong and to stand up and take responsibility for our actions. If the principal called you into his office, you stood up and took your punishment like a man.
Serving your country was a privilege; living in this country was a greater privilege.
Having a meaningful relationship meant getting along with your cousins.
Time-sharing mean time the family spent together in the evenings and weekends—not purchasing condominiums.
We never heard of FM radios, tape decks, CDs, electric typewriters, yogurt, or guys wearing earrings.
We listened to the President’s speeches and the Grand Ole Opry on our radios in the parlor (also called the front room).
If you saw anything with “made in Japan” on it, you knew it was junk.
The term “making out” referred to how you did on your school report card.
Pizza Hut, McDonald’s and instant coffee were unheard of.
We had five-and-dime stores where you could buy things for 5 and 10 cents.
Ice-cream cones, phone calls, rides on the streetcar, and a Pepsi were all a nickel.
And if you wanted to splurge, you spent your nickel on enough stamps to mail 1 letter and 2 postcards.
You could buy a new Chevy coupe for $2000, but who could afford one?
That was too bad, because gas was 20 cents a gallon.
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Even in the past 50 years, a lot has changed.
For example, in 1957 the divorce rate was 25 percent, whereas today it is 50 percent.
The number of drive-in theaters in the US 50 years ago was almost 5,000; today, there are fewer than 400.
Ninety-five percent of cars driven in the U.S. were made by U.S. automakers. The top three sellers were Ford, GM, and Chrysler. Today, fewer than 55 percent of the cars are from U.S. automakers and the top three sellers are led by Toyota.
Maybe the most dramatic change in the past 50 years is in our nation’s share of the global market: 67.5 percent of manufactured goods then compared with 17.7 percent today.
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We have all witnessed changes galore in recent years.
And yet, when I investigate the faces and hear the intelligent questions of the NEW generation of citizens, it makes me rest a little easier to know that these children will be in charge soon.
I am confident that all of us old fellows will be in good hands as will our nation’s future.
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Top o’ the Morning!