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My Profile
Retro-retrospection - 2008-10-06
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12:31 a.m. - 2004-07-11
The Last Good Time Got the 70’s on my mind. No big surprise, I was watching Saturday Night Fever just now. As I watched John Travolta strut I saw something with my grown-up eyes. Something which could only be seen now 25 years into the future. Firmly in the 21st century, even overshooting the name of the disco- the 2001 Odyssey, here in 2004 I sat and watched The Last Good Time. Of course I’m nostalgic for my youth, who isn’t sometimes? But that’s not my point. I’m not speaking of when I had MY last good time, I truly believe the Disco Inferno was the last time the majority of Americans had the chops to just cut loose. To party. To dance. To have guiltless tawdry, yet somehow innocent FUN. When did we as a nation become such uptight jerks? God, everything we do has to have a purpose. It has to be safe. It has to be environmentally sound, politically correct, and sealed for our protection. Every leisure activity has to improve you. Lower your cholesterol. Keep your bowels ticking along. Healthy heart. No trans-fats. BBQ gives you cancer, so let’s skip the backyard thing and head straight for the concert in the park. They’re playing a medley of classic composers, the kids can take notes, how educational! We are beseiged by idiotic dangers and battle endlessly to make the world one big no boo-boo zone. How will you survive alergy season? Gee, I used to think it was called spring. How foolish. Don’t I know there’s a war on? There’s pollen out there and by gum we’re not going to let it win! It’s really grim here these days. Even when stuff is supposed to be enjoyable it’s not. Why on Earth would anyone want to watch people stick their heads into buckets of maggots? Our ‘entertainment’ is punishment. Cruelty, bickering, betrayal, cheating, and a total dearth of sportsmanship are encouraged and rewarded. Why? Beats me. But this ugliness seems part and parcel of this ‘Nobody better be having a good time’ mindset. Forget about books, movies, games, music. If it makes you smile there’s a group out there that wants to ban it, boycott it, or sue it until it dies. Never has Life’s greatest pleasure ever been so degraded. People are hysterical over sex. A bare breast is a ‘national disgrace’. A crisis too. What will we tell the children? How about, “Hey Kid! See that? That’s a boobie.” Works for me. Even little kids aren’t allowed to just fart around anymore. Music lessons, league sports, clubs, dance, drama, cramming for their kindergarten placement assessment. Kids are just as locked into this constant treadmill of self-improvement as the adults are. And when they’re not scheduled they are padded, par-boiled and ‘protected’ from doing just about anything remotely fun. Honestly. Think about it. When’s the last time you didn’t feel bad about feeling good? I seldom post anyone’s words but my own here, but this was sent to me months ago. I’ve kept it in my mailbox all this time because it’s so very true. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 40's, 50's, 60's, or even maybe the early 70's probably shouldn't have survived. Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paint.We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets, and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets. (Not to mention the risks we took hitchhiking. As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a special treat.) We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. Horrors! We ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then rode down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the street lights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. No cell phones. Unthinkable! We did not have Playstations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, video tape movies, surround sound, personal cell phones, personal computers, or Internet chat rooms. We had friends! We went outside and found them. We played dodge ball, and sometimes, the ball would really hurt. We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. They were accidents. No one was to blame but us. Remember accidents? We had fights and punched each other and got black and blue and learned to get over it. We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate worms, and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes, nor did worms live inside us forever. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's home and knocked on the door, or rang the bell or just walked in and talked to them. Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team.Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Some students weren't as smart as others, so they failed a grade and were held back to repeat the same grade. Tests were not adjusted for any reason. Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law. Imagine that! This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever.The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all. Bless us all who have had the luck to grow up as kids! Before lawyers and government regulated our lives, for our own good. Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it? Or put on a tight white suit and dance your ass off. ~LA
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