Love that!

I remember we used to have holidays at my grandads place at Long Jetty (NSW) We would catch the steam train to Gosford and take a bus for the rest of the journey.  (still love trains!)

For a trip to the beach, mum would pack up huge sandwiches for us all (me, my sisters and cousins), the slices of bread were about an inch thick, the bread was so fresh, with a bit of fruit and water in a bottle all in a string bag and off we would go to the beach.  it was a long walk from his place to the beach but that was part of the fun!

We actually looked forward to all that hardship!!!!!     cheers   Capricorn

I remember staying at my uncle & aunt's on the south coast of NSW when the bread was delivered by a man with a cane basket. It was delicious and my 3 cousins and I sat down and ate the whole loaf with home made butter and local honey.  Another uncle nearby had a dairy farm and the milk was sprayed in your mouth straight from the udder.

Lynda

Gday...

I remember the corned beef of my Childhood, and I still think its terrible.

And the bread that we cut with a knife, still available, but no-one buys it

When the Children helped with the housework, still happens but perhaps not in yours.

And the men went to work not the wife. .. and were kept barefoot and pregnant and tied to the sink.

The cheese never needed a fridge, because we only bought enough to last the week.

And the bread was so crusty and hot, still available from any bakery

The Children were seldom unhappy, speak for yourself my childhood wasnt a particularly happy one

And the Wife was content with her lot. ... because she had no other choice very little opportunity - and who says she was.

I remember the milk from the bottle, and it going off if left sitting in the sun on the verandah

With the yummy cream on the top,

Our dinner came hot from the oven, still can depends on how you have chosen to live

And not from a freezer or shop. Only by your choice

The kids were a lot more contented, perhaps, but not all children

They didn't need money for kicks, our family didnt have spare money or pocket money very working class

Just a game with their friends in the road, yep can agree with that

And sometimes the Saturday flicks. A rarity and not until I was working with my own money

I remember the shop on the corner,  they disappeared because people stopped using them

Where biscuits for pennies were sold  that was the economy then wages were a pittance

Do you think I'm a bit too nostalgic? Yep

Or is it....I'm just getting Old?  The aging process is natural

Bathing was done in a wash tub, you can still do so if you want to

With plenty of rich foamy suds and with as many suds as you want

But the ironing seemed never ending this is still so in many homes

As Mum pressed everyone's 'duds'. Because it was seen as womens work not a mans

I remember the slap on my backside, yep still has a place but society changed that

And the taste of soap if I swore that is a standard that should be reintroduced

Anorexia and diets weren't heard of that we know of - media reporting has change what we are told - or know

And we hadn't much choice what we wore. You can still limit yourself to choice of clothing

Do you think that bruised our ego? No I think it made many strive for better things - it did me

Or our initiative was destroyed? It did for some children as they had no opportunity to achieve

We ate what was put on the table still can be like that it is your choice

And I think life was better enjoyed. Perhaps only in hindsight

Author, Unknown... 

PS and people can still live in a 8 square weatherboard home, drive a Holden FE (or ride a bicycle or walk), tow a ply board van, not own a mobile phone (let alone a smart phone), get rid of the laptop, forget the internet, get rid of that 240v/battery radio and go back to a valve radio or transistor radio, get those solar panels off the roof of the van etc etc etc.

Yep ... just being devils advocate.

Lets be realistic. Life is what YOU make of it. The degree of change is somewhat each of our hands albeit some are forced on us by progress.

Cheers from grumble-bum - John

There's something we really don't miss about the good old days, WORKING FIVE DAYS A WEEK!  

The Green Thing .....

In the line at the supermarket, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bag because
plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The woman apologised to her and explained, "We didn't have the
green thing back in my day."
The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. The former generation didn't care enough to save our
environment."

She was right, that generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, they returned their milk bottles, soft drink bottles and beer bottles to the shop. The shop sent them back
to the factory to be washed and sterilised and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. They were
recycled.

But they didn't have the green thing back in that customer's day.

In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. They
walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks

But she was right. They didn't have the green thing in her day.

Back then, they washed the baby's nappies because they didn't have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a
line, not in a 240 volt energy gobbling machine - wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me
-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that old lady is right; they didn't have the green thing back in her day.

Back then, they had one TV or radio in the house - not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a
handkerchief, not a screen the size of a cricket pitch. In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they
didn't have electric machines to do everything for you. When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they
used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. They didn't have air
conditioning or electric stoves with self cleaning ovens. They didn't have battery operated toys, computers, or
telephones. Back then, they didn't fire up an engine and burn fuel just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on
human power. They used hand operated clippers to trim the shrubs. They exercised by working so they didn't need
to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she's right; the green thing wasn't around back then.

They drank from a glass filled from the tap when they were thirsty instead of using a plastic bottle every time they
had a drink of water. They refilled their writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the
razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But they didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people walked or took the bus and kids rode their bikes to school or rode on the school bus instead of
turning their mums into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of
sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they didn't need a computerised gadget to receive a signal beamed from
satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful the old folks were just because they didn't have the
green thing back then?

Cheers

Joe

Magnarc wrote:

---

Thanks for the support Joe, I was beginning to wish I had not posted it. Good job the shooters only had blanks!

---

Gday...

 Gee, Phil  I guess you missed this bit "Yep ... just being devils advocate."

dev·il's advocate

Cheers - John