1. Technological mobility and the ability to connect with each other has gone through the roof. As a kid growing up in North Conway, NH back in the late 70's-80's I don't remember a single cell phone, ipad, nextel walkie talkie, bluetooth or computer let alone a laptop in my home. We had good ol' fashioned encyclopeadia sets, library books and a rotary, then pushbutton phone on the kitchen wall beside the side entry door. It had a 6', stretched to the max and knotted, coil cable that never did retract back into its original condition. We didn't even have another phone in the house and certainly didn't have a portable. We also remembered each others phone numbers. 10, 20 maybe 30 of them we could all remember. Not now, I push "add to contacts" on my cell phone and whamo, number saved without any brainpower used whatsoever!
2. The style of cars these days leaves a lot to the imagination. It used to be that everybody knew the look of a car's front grill or destinctive rear fins. Conical lights or even the beauty of a side profile at dusk could allow one to recognize iconic, legendary car models from one another. Now, a Mazda looks like a Ford (Ford owns them by the way), A Subaru looks like a GM (GM owns them by the way), Mitsubishi looks like a Dodge (Dodge owns them by the way), and even a Jaguar looks like a Ford (Ford owns them along with Range Rover too). I understand the efficiency of mass production with different badging, but this is really getting out of hand. There are a few new players on the market with KIA, Hyundai and Scion but they all look alike and haven't inspired me to get all goofy when they go by like a 50's car would. Let's just compare a few and you'll see what I mean. First up, the Mazda Protege. Now think hard as to what it even looks like, now think of a 57' Chevy Bel Air. Now we're talkin'! Up next, is a Ford Fusion or a 32' Deuce Coupe. Which one pops? Third up, is a Subaru Legacy against a 49' Mercury led sled. Come on now folks. What about a 63' Corvette Convertable, Ford Thunderbirds, and Cadillacs of the 50's and even the iconic Model T's and A's of the 10's, 20's and 30's...Oh, and the Deusenbergs holy cow I almost forgot about them! I haven't even jumped to the 60's and 70's with the muscle cars of the day. The point is made and I feel better getting it out in the open once and for all.
3. The snow of the day was much heavier, more dense and certainly more frequent for longer periods of time back then as opposed to now! I can remember sledding off the roof of my garage on a regular basis and my folks didn't seem to mind. Why? Because there was 4-5' of snow on the ground so the drop from a 9' roof was negligable and what would we land in.....4-5' of dense, won't break your legs, snow! We are responsible for the climate change that has taken this enjoyable outdoor pleasure away from the kids of today. Here is a pic of the house that I grew up in along with one of me sledding off the roof of the garage. Enjoy, because you'll probably never see it done again in your lifetime or anyone elses for that matter.
