Good old folks!

Sometimes when watching the news, I wonder what my father and my grandfather would think if they saw the same newscast. Usually I imagine they would fall off the sofa laughing!

My grandfather was born in 1862 (died in 1937), my father was born in 1893 (died in 1968). No need to explain that these men survived drought and floods, heat and cold, times of prosperity and times of financial hardship; they saw recessions, depressions, booms and busts and numerous wars.

Yesterday a news report covered the hot July weather that is sweeping the nation. One reporter told the sad story of hardship suffered by someone who had no air conditioning.

My grandfather, who had never heard of air conditioning, would have seemed puzzled and asked "Had no what?"

My father (who, late in his life had a window air conditioning unit) would have explained that air conditioning is a machine that makes your house cooler. Both men would have laughed.

We have become a nation of ninnies who agonize over the loss of some modern convenience which our ancestors did very well without for their entire lives.

Were those times the good old days? Of course not. But those were the good old people. They certainly appreciated the benefits of modern conveniences, but they saw those things as conveniences... not essentials for life.