Interesting to ponder. It’s all relative, I suppose. My memory tends to deemphasize the negatives and emphasize the positives. I also think my best memories are from a time when I had less “adult” concerns (bills, responsibility, etc.). Thank goodness for good memories to help us keep things in perspective.

Many night my friends and I would spend in the local diner often times into the wee hours of the morning. Some of those friends are gone too soon (fifties). I miss them and the diners.

Life was definitely simpler back then, but we were kids and didn't have to deal with the problems that our parents or grandparents dealt with. We enjoyed going out and playing in the streets till dinner was ready. You looked forward to "The wonderful world of Disney " every Sunday night. You walked most everywhere, you loved when the good humor guy came riding by your house, and all the other good stuff everyone else mentioned. BUT, today, we have access to anything at our fingertips, we can get in touch with anyone using our phones, I can see and talk to loved ones from afar. The medical industry has advanced in leaps and bounds from yesteryear. Yes, you could get a hotdog for .25 cents, but our parents only made $40.00 a week. We had wars, epidemics, market crashes, etc. back then also. BUT the negative I can think of today is that this country is upside down. Right is wrong, and wrong is right and rewarded for it. The streets are more dangerous, and half the population has lost their moral compass.

We may have remained inside instead of playing outside, person to person with friends.

What I wonder (and this probably should be a new thread but, despite being told how to start one I get stuck) is how we will deal with the change in work. Many jobs have been eliminated and many, many more will soon be. AI can replace millions of current positions from Doctors to Screenwriters. Self driving cars will eliminate millions more. Will there be universal income? Will money become a thing of the past as in Star Trek? Many here see the positives in our current day and age, but there are many more millenials, gen xers and whatever comes next who are facing limited opportunities to enjoy the benefits we had. Home Ownership. Even owning a car is out off reach for many. Compare the average income, home price and new car from 1980 to today. The wealth gap, destruction of the middle class. Something has to happen.

Yes, Amazon is great and I use it, but try not to. They have destroyed so many businesses and peoples livelihoods. What happens when there are no more small business bor shopping centers and Amazon controls the market an charges what they want.?.

And get your oil checked, tires checked and windows cleaned.

I have proof the good old days were not at we remember. We had a box full of 16mm movies. I'm not sure. I think the camera belonged to my grandfather who passed when I was like 4. The movies were typical family picnic kind of stuff. I had never seen them as we never had a 16mm projector. I had them transferred to disc. I recall getting scolded for littering. I projected the streets were cleaner in the good old days. Reality, the pictures showed plenty of trash blowing about. Pictures on a teeter totter. A handle made out of pipe right at face level. George Carlin has a great skit that we exposed to dirt had far greater immunity than kids today. I remember Baker's Park on one side we would watch raw sewage dumped into the water. On the other side guys jumping off the cliff for quarters tossed by people on the circle line boats.
We were poor. We would collect soda bottles two cents for the small and a nickle for the large ones. The cheap ball-pensy pinkey was fifteen cents and the Spalding was a quarter. Pizza you could get a slice and a small soda for a quarter. That is, was five big empty sodas. i had a great childhood. Oh when we got a TV, I was like 7 ish, you actually hand to get up to change the channel.

History only goes forward. Mark Twain said something like we do not make any progress because we lose what was. Retail. Prices have dropped quite a bit for the consumer. List price? No one pays list price anymore. They used to. We are all on our computers. I remember riding my bike to the library. Using the dewie decimal system to find where the book was and then discovering someone had it out or whatever. Pocketbooks were ten cents. Hardcover books like $5.00.

Wow some many had a different reality. I was 9 or 10 before my parents could purchase a car. It was very used when they bought it. My parents rented and didn't buy a home until just before I started high school. Goal was to run from the city. Not as bad as now but there were better schools and less crime if you could find the money to RUN. Wealth gap? Wealth? For most people wealthy is anyone who has more than I do. Tax? Anyone who has more than I do should pay more taxes and they should subsidize me. Something has to happen? People on the public dole live far better than I did as a young kid. I was an overnight success. It only took me 49 years of hard work and savings. OPPORTUNITIES are everywhere. Some do not see them and step over them. For those who see opportunity and turn it into wealth. Others think that is wrong.

So if I'm in my 20's today, what will I miss when I'm 70? If I like hamburgers, I'll probably miss them as they may not be around anymore by then.