Half a Century of Change

A humorous look at the changes that have helped man, hampered him, or failed to materialise at all.

I can’t help but notice that a whole lot of you out there haven’t mentioned the dreaded date of birth on your profiles. Some of you have just declared your star sign, which, given that most of us here are reasonably observant, intelligent people, we could have guessed from the outspokenness, emotional turmoil, sheer wantonness, thoughtful contemplation or fence sitting apparent within your work anyway. Others have carefully omitted all reference to the dreaded date, but left clues within their introduction. Perhaps they’ve mentioned study that needs to be done before Steemit is opened. Or maybe they are showing slight absent mindedness, and have repeated themself repeated themself within those few paragraphs, and then said the same thing again. Or repeated it, even.

Anyway, for the sake of anyone who has either not read my profile, or remains an underachiever in basic mathematics, I shall confirm that I have now survived the rigours of this world for more than half a century. There have been those who have tried to prevent it from happening, but happen it has. And I know many of you out there share that accomplishment, however well you try to disguise the truth. This series of posts is largely here for your enjoyment, although I would hope those of you with less experience of life will also appreciate some of the thoughts within them; you might find something to help you understand your parents if they are going through that difficult stage of life that parents go through around the time their kids approach maturity.

So, those of you who have lived through the greater half of a century, is life as you once imagined it would be? Have all of your dreams come true? Or did you expect, by now, to be holidaying on the moon, swallowing your main meal with a sip of water, or retracting the wings of your car after landing it gently beside the already opening back door?

The nineteen hundred’s had been around for quite a long time, but still had a way to go, when we were small. How far away and special the year two thousand seemed to be! How much change we were seeing, in such a relatively short time! Perhaps we rode in our very first family car, or marvelled at the fact that the company’s computer had been reduced in size so much that it fitted into a single room!

And what did we anticipate the changing millennium would bring with it? Did any of us ever imagine that it would be socially acceptable to have sex before marriage or begin not just a new sentence, but a whole new paragraph, with the word “And” or even “But”? Notice how I use those two possibilities in the same sentence. Even way back then, the first option seemed to have far more chance of society’s eventual acceptance than the second. Strange that. And all these two-word strings of letters that now pass themselves off as sentences too. Unheard of. Why use two words when you could have utilised thirty-seven saying the same thing?

But life isn't perfect. This series of posts then, is not so much a collection of memories, but a collection of shattered dreams, disappointments, and sweet surprises. It’s not just about the things that have happened over a lifetime, it’s also about the things that did not happen. The things we still eagerly await. Like holidays on the moon, weather forecasts that are even remotely accurate and men that lower toilet seats. If you haven’t read my introduction, that last sentence lets you now know that I am English and female.

Images: Pixabay Creative Commons Library