10 Things That Were Better "Way Back When"

Ten on Tuesday

For me, "way back when" goes from the middle 1950s to 1964, when we moved from New York to Maryland--those were "the good old days." My list of things that were better way back when:

1. The weather was better then. It was predictable and made sense. We had lots of snow in the winter, sometimes even before Thanksgiving, and we didn't have to worry from day to day how to dress for fickle temperatures. Winter was cold, spring was mild, summer was hot and autumn was cool.

2. Being a kid was better then. It was safe to ride my bike all over the neighborhood without worrying about getting run over by maniacs in cars or caught in the crossfire of rival drug dealers and all that. Yes, there were child molesters back then and I have a permanent imprint on my memory of a front page picture of a doll lying in the street--a doll dropped by a little girl kidnapped and later murdered. My parents made a big deal of showing it to me and scaring the hell out of me so that I would hide from any adult I didn't know. I used to play outside with friends until the sun went down--games like freeze tag, red rover, hide and seek, and pretend games--you know, where you use your imagination and don't have to depend on TVs and video games for plotlines.

3. Family life was better then. We all tended to live in the same towns as our grandparents, aunts and uncles and so there was a whole lot more emotional support to go around when times got rough. There is something really special about being close to your grandparents.

4. Fitness was better then. We weren't such couch potatoes as we are now. We weren't achored to our couches.

5. Neighbors were people you actually spent time with, having coffee klatches or backyard barbecues or block parties.

6. Morality was stronger. Teachers weren't prohibited from teaching right from wrong and parents always backed up the teachers when you got into trouble. There wasn't all this ambiguity about whether stealing is stealing, lying is lying, premarital sex and so on.

7. Job stability was, no doubt about it, much better back then.

8. Going to the beach was better because back then we didn't have dirty bay water and needles washing up along the shore

9. The environment in general was better because all the damage we'd done to the earth up to that point hadn't started making a big impact yet

10. Music was better. I guess I am just an old biddy now but I just can't stand some of today's music. But isn't that what people my age said about rock and roll back then? Heh.