Our time.the best of times?

[i claudius]

As i come to the last part of my journey of life i look back at the time i grew up in, when i was young my friends and i would go out early in the morning and return home late without our parents thinking we had been abducted. Life was free and easy riding our bikes on the main road without any health and safty zelots in yellow jackets at every corner.we climbed trees .raided birds nests and were amazed when we saw a black man for the first time.then i got a good job after attending grammar school .went to Londonand mixed in with the "in crowd" having ball got married a few times .baught nice houses lost a few. Have a boy and a girl that are well looked after and have homes and good jobs. Now marriedand happy as a pig' in it.

It all was such a blast. Now kids seem to have so many rules and regs and life is not as easygoing as it was.they all seem to "must have" all the latest gear and live in a virtual world on their phones.

I really am glad i was born then and not now .how about you?

 

Sent from my SM-A720F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

 

[thaibeachlovers]

Given it's not really a Thai subject be better in the Farang Pub sub forum.

However, while I agree about being a kid ( I grew up then too ), the 1970s were my best years. Before PC became an issue, no problem getting work, travelled the world, life was simpler before computerisation, and happier for me than before or since.

However, it wasn't a great time for the Vietnamese or American conscripts.

Edited November 7, 2017 by thaibeachlovers

[bert bloggs]

This made me think , life was so much easier then , i got so tired of the modern ,PC world full of rules and regulations as i got older ,it was one of the main reasons we came back to Thailand .

[bermondburi]

Pre internet, early 90s raves, the birth of jungle, loads of Es and charlie, and most importantly being SINGLE!

 

I'll never do it any of it again unfortunately.

[NanLaew]

This is the second introspective/retrospective type thread on TV in the last day or so. Am I missing some news about North Korea or something?

 

 

Edited November 7, 2017 by NanLaew

[Ulysses G.]

Yes our childhoods were much less stressful than now. The kids all went out and played in summer from sun up to sun down. I really feel sorry for kids today.

[tonray]

13 hours ago, i claudius said:

when i was young my friends and i would go out early in the morning and return home late without our parents thinking we had been abducted.

My parents were too busy changing the locks to worry about me.

[Suradit69]

29 minutes ago, Ulysses G. said:

Yes our childhoods were much less stressful than now.

I'm sure many farang find their childhoods stressful now.

 

Lamenting the "wonderful" past and crappy present has always been a popular pastime of the elderly. Selective memory and incipient dementia make a fabulous palette from which to paint the "when I was a kid" picture.

 

 

Edited November 8, 2017 by Suradit69

[faraday]

Yup, it was so much simpler & in many ways, better.

 

I can well remember going on holiday with my m & d to Spain/Portugal & if you saw another Brit, it was a novelty.

 

Feminism, all that pc malarkey & greedy lawyers, have made a mess of so many things.

 

Today, drugs seem to be everywhere, ruining too many lives.

[klauskunkel]

reminds me of Supertramp:

When I was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful,
A miracle, oh it was beautiful, magical.
And all the birds in the trees, well they'd be singing so happily,
Joyfully, playfully watching me.

[faraday]

Anyone remember being able to buy the 2 cigarette pack of Park Drive?

Disgusting things!

[MaeJoMTB]

20 minutes ago, klauskunkel said:

reminds me of Supertramp:

When I was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful,
A miracle, oh it was beautiful, magical.
And all the birds in the trees, well they'd be singing so happily,
Joyfully, playfully watching me.

More Jethro Tull ..... Living in the Past.

 

 

It wasn't all that great,

large chunks of boredom were involved when I was a kid

limited access to sex when I was a lad

long hours working when I married (and still limited access to sex)

 

Now, I have limitless entertainment, every second of every day, can listen to almost any music from any part of the world past or present.

OK, so the future isn't looking so great for many kids in the west, but my son in Thailand has a far better time now, than I did when his age in the UK, and the prospect of a life of plenty.

 

As you get old, you tend to forget all the shit you endured when you were young.

Edited November 8, 2017 by MaeJoMTB

[faraday]

Ok, maybe it wasn't so great. However, there was less to worry about.

 

It wasn't so blindly competitive, & so damned obsessed with image as it is now.

 

[Suradit69]

Weird Al Jankovic sums it up nicely in song.

 

Quote

 

"When I Was Your Age"

Let me tell you sonny... let me tell you straight
You kids today ain't never had it tough
Always had everything handed to you on a silver plate
You lazy brats think nothing's good enough

Well, nobody ever drove me to school when it was ninety degrees below
We had to walk buck naked through forty miles of snow
Worked in the coal mines twenty two hours a day for just half a cent
Had to sell me internal organs just to pay the rent

 

When I was your age. When I was your age
When I was your age. When I was your age

 

Let me tell you something, you whiny little snot
There's something wrong with all you kids today
You just don't appreciate all the things you've got
We were hungry, broken and miserable and we liked it fine that way

There were seventy three of us living in a cardboard box
All I got for Christmas was a lousy bag of rocks
Every night for dinner, we had a big 'ol chunk of dirt
If we were really good, we didn't get dessert

 

When I was your age. When I was your age
When I was your age. When I was your age

 

Didn't have no telephone, didn't have no FAX machine
All we had was a couple cans and a crummy piece of string
Didn't have no swimming pool when I was just a lad
Our neighbor's septic tank was the closest thing we had
Didn't have no dental floss, had to use old rusty nails
Didn't have Nintendo, we just poured salt on snails
Didn't have no water bed, had to sleep on broken glass
Didn't have no lawnmower, we used our teeth to cut the grass

 

https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/weirdalyankovic/wheniwasyourage.html

[nobodysfriend]

19 minutes ago, faraday said:

Ok, maybe it wasn't so great. However, there was less to worry about.

 

It wasn't so blindly competitive, & so damned obsessed with image as it is now.

 

Well said - not all was great , but a lot was better than today , I was feeling free in the seventies , I did what I wanted - now everything is restricted and forbidden in the West , but here in Thailand , if you learn to adapt , it's a good life ... I don't ever want to go back , just read the news ...

Edited November 8, 2017 by nobodysfriend

[faraday]

That was just what is wuz like, Suradit.

 

Only harder.

 

[faraday]

Yup, & there's already been a frost. Snow next week allegedly!

 

[dotpoom]

I agree with most of what the OP writes. Could include most of the bad things we did as kids consisted of knocking on doors and running off.

   But it was also a time of children been mollested in Mother and baby homes, of the Magdeline laundry brutalities, where children ended up as slaves simply because they were born out of wedlock and were looked upon as children with no souls, literally slaves where many died from malnutrition in unmarked graves. And equivelwnt type homes in other countries.

  Where children were taken from unmarried Mothers and adopted out (or sold) by religious orders to people in foreign lands.

    NO SIR....it was not milk and honey for all the children of the land.

[Rimmer]

Moved to Farang Pub Forum

[toofarnorth]

2 hours ago, faraday said:

Anyone remember being able to buy the 2 cigarette pack of Park Drive?

Disgusting things!

No faraday but I do remember when Iwas at school around 1959 we could buy Dominoes @ 4 I think in a pack. The packs were the size of a domino and all had different numbered spots on .

[toofarnorth]

Ok , 3 songs remind me of moving out here to LoS  and the punch line.

Cat Stevens ..............' Look at me I am old but I'm happy '

Bob Dylan  ................' Times they are a changing '

Crosby S N and Y......' With two cats in the yard life used to be so hard now its easy '

 

Yes we have to cats right now out in the sun chasing grasshoppers.  I am more content than I have ever been @ 70.   Times have changed for the better.  Xmas on the way , a dozen friends coming here on Xmas day and one bringing a bottle of Port back from England , arrived last week. We will toast ' The sleeping Lady ' across the way . ( mountains in the distance , can't send a pic as can't put on tv ). Perfik .

[Enoon]

 

Into my heart an air that kills
From yon far country blows:
What are those blue remembered hills,
What spires, what farms are those?

 

That is the land of lost content,
I see it shining plain,
The happy highways where I went
And cannot come again

                                          A E Housman

 

 

 

[bazza73]

I tend to think I lived in a golden age; however, only realizing it now.

 

Item: When I first applied for a job, I had 7 job applications in and was offered 3 jobs from those.

 

Item: I worked in the first iron ore boom, bought a house in Melbourne and paid off the mortgage in 18 months.

 

Item: After joining the steel industry in 1976, I travelled the world as a sometime consultant and attended many scientific and technical conferences. All on the company credit card.

 

Of course, there were downsides, such as wasting six months of my life when the management consultants came in.

Or when the GFC halved the value of my fairly substantial assets. Friends of mine lost everything, so I was lucky.

 

IMHO my second golden age commenced when I moved to Thailand.

[akdraw]

I grew up in Alaska. Even with below zero temps we were out fishing, hunting, sledding and snowmobiling. Having so much fun that we wouldn't go inside till we had to, sometimes with minor frostbite. And summertime (all 9 days of it) was even better with almost 24 hours of sunlight. At 14 years old we would hitchhike with 12 gauge shotguns or 30.06 rifles to get to the bush. Wouldn't get a ride in this day and age.

From what I see most kids today are glued to games or smart phones with little time spent outdoors. Sad really.

I would have probably stayed indoors too if I had the cool games, or a PC with 24/7 porn. I am glad that was not an option for me, then. 

Be interesting to read the comments of the kids today answering the OP's question when they get to be our age.

 

 

Edited November 8, 2017 by akdraw
to add

[Thaidream]

Every life has ups and downs but I would agree that life was much simpler when I was growing up in Ohio. USA in the 50's and early 60's. Unfortunately, many of us were drafted into the  US Military and sent to Vietnam and many did not come back. I was lucky because I survived and had the opportunity to discover Thailand which at that time was so laid back and beautiful it felt like paradise.  I set my goal to retire in Thailand one day and made it. Unfortunately, everything that I disliked about the US and its lifestyle has come to Thailand.

 

Many Thais are stressed out for the same reason Westerners are- lack of money and lack of opportunity.  When I first came to Thailand- I would have never expected road rage but growing up in America I never saw it either.  You also knew who your banker was; your doctor was like a friend; and the economy was in  balance between the haves and have nots,  Today, the reverse is true- the wealthy control everything and the common person struggles to live.

 

In addition, the Western World has become coarser with a lack of decorum- the use of vulgarity is everywhere and there is a lack of common decency.  IMHO- Thailand needs to stop following the economic model of the West which I believe is an abject failure and follow a more self sustaining model of  existence.

 

Much of the good old days were better because people were less self centered and there were actual role models to emulate and schools taught ethics and adherence to a golden rule. In addition, parents actually backed up this type of education instead of challenging it in today's culture.

 

Today, there are few role models to follow whether in the West or in Thailand. Even the Clergy has shown they have been corrupted and the movie industry filled with disreputable people and drug addicts.  Sports have become a commercial business first and filled with self centered athletes who espouse hedonism instead of devotion to their team and its supporters. In addition, the common person can't even afford to see a sporting event and in some countries have to pay to watch an event on television.

 

At least in Thailand, we have a long standing culture that still adheres to some form of a cohesive society and adherence to at least nominal politeness.  It is definitely under assault but there is some hope that the Thai people will choose a simpler way of life than those in the West have chosen.  Many times- I believe the basic Thai philosophy of - Mai Pen Rai- is the best because it frees the mind of a lot of  unnecessary stress and worry or as they say in New York-  'forget about it'!

 

[timendres]

When I talk with young Thais, I always mention how lucky my generation (born the in 60's) is. Of course, I am from the US, so this applies in that context. We were blessed to experience post WWII society and the highest standard of living in the world. Pre-technology, we experienced the nuclear family era, with closer families and the concept of neighborhood. It was before the modularization of US commerce, so each town was unique with mom and pop establishments. Police had not yet been militarized, politics was more dynamic, and people were allowed to make mistakes and grow. It was a special time, and the parallels with the current Thailand is part of why I am here. We then got to experience the technological revolution, for all it's good and bad, and the transformation of the world. An incredible moment in history indeed, and we got to straddle those two distinctly different eras. Every era has it's wonder, if you know how to look.

[alex8912]

I loved growing up in the eighties the last real decade of more innocent type fun. No one had a computer in their house,  and no cell phones yet but a lot of gadgets started to come into our lives and the music!!! The best! 

[Brunolem]

5 hours ago, Suradit69 said:

 

Lamenting the "wonderful" past and crappy present has always been a popular pastime of the elderly. Selective memory and incipient dementia make a fabulous palette from which to paint the "when I was a kid" picture.

 

 

Actually, this is not true...at all!

My parents, along with their many brothers and sisters, were born in the early 1930s.

Reaching the end of their lives (many of them are still alive), they were, or are, certainly not "lamenting on their wonderful past".

What we have in common, us baby boomers, and them, is that we miss the 60s and 70s, when Western civilization was at its peak.

From the 80s on, and especially after 2000, it has all been downhill, and all those who were there in the 60s and 70s can feel it...hence the lamentations...nothing to do with selective memory and sickness...

[Berkshire]

I don't think "our time" was the best of times, at least not for me.  I worried too much about financial security and couldn't get laid as much.  Now it's all good.

 

Speaking of the "good ole days," I spoke to an African-American friend in the US about that years ago and he flatout said "It sure as heck wasn't that good for us!"

[thaibeachlovers]

5 hours ago, Suradit69 said:

I'm sure many farang find their childhoods stressful now.

 

Lamenting the "wonderful" past and crappy present has always been a popular pastime of the elderly. Selective memory and incipient dementia make a fabulous palette from which to paint the "when I was a kid" picture.

 

 

I think you would have a very hard time convincing me that life is better today than when I was growing up.

Then- good jobs were easy to get, no computerisation or mobile phones, decent series on tv instead of crappy reality shows, children had real friends, not pretend ones on social media, and they played outside, no PC stupidity, the world wasn't going to blow up because of global warming, society was far more equal, the 1% hadn't been heard of, I could fix my car myself.

Now- childhood ( and adult ) obesity is a massive problem, illegal drugs are a massive problem, terrorism is a massive problem, disease is becoming drug resistant and previously rare diseases are becoming common, money is the be all and end all, social media is a curse on society, faux celebrity is a curse on society, globalism is causing massive unemployment in western countries and near slavery in poor countries, mass tourism is destroying exotic destinations, cars are horrid look alike things without personality and impossible to fix ourselves, the poor are becoming poorer while the 1% grab everything.

 

I could go on and on, but you get the idea.