Bob Haase’s Another Can Of Worms

Changes in our Lifetime

We never seem to think about it when we are younger, but as we get older it seems like we tend to think more about all the changes we have seen in our lives.  I can remember my parents and grandparents talking about things like the depression and how hard it was.  They also talked about how hard some of the winters were and all the snow they had back then.  There is even the old story about walking to school and having to walk up hill both ways!     

I don’t think we expected as much or wanted as much back then as we do now.  I thought it was great when we finally got something called a telephone and now how could we possibly live without our smart phones that we carry with us all the time.  I think everyone must have a cell phone because they are always going off in church’s, meetings, and other places because people must not know how to put them on silent or turn them off.

I can also remember getting gifts at Christmas time and how happy I was to get whatever the present was.  Today we seem to spend a lot more and we expect a lot more.  I cannot believe what some people spend at Christmas time or for birthdays and other events.   I think we tend to expect more and appreciate it less than we used to years ago. 

I think we take a lot of things for granted.  I think we sometimes take our freedom for granted and even our right to vote.  I say this because only 54 percent of the people voted in our last election here in Wisconsin.  We often talk about our right to free speech and yet we don’t exercise that right at election time by taking the time to vote.  Shame on anyone that could have voted but didn’t in the last election.  Many people have died to preserve that right for us and even though we have ceremonies to remember them…. I wonder if we truly realize the sacrifices they made for us.

I remember the good times and the bad times, but I think with all the material things we have today things were a lot easier when I was growing up.  We did not have as many drugs and people killing others in schools, in the workplace, or where we shop.  We had dictators like Hitler, but we did not have the terrorism like we have today on a worldwide basis.  People had problems and life was not always easy, but we didn’t seem to have the stresses that we face today. 

We did not need cops in our schools, or all the security measures we have in place today to try to keep us safe.  As kids we played outside without our parents watching and fearing that we might be kidnapped.  We did not play video games that were based on killing people and blowing things up…. we were busy playing marbles or hide and go seek.

I could be wrong… but I think most people were happier back then than they are today.   I know we can’t go back so we need to find ways to make our future better.  What can we do to change things so that we can look positively on the life our children and grandchildren are facing rather than worry about the things we think they might face?

Bob Haase is the host of “Outdoors Thursday” heard Thursday mornings at 9:10 a.m. on News-Talk 1450 KFIZ.