Active Now

CosmicWunderkind
Element 99
Discussion » Statements » Rosie's Corner » How many of you have LiBRARY CARDS or have been in a BOOK STORE recently? Are these things extinct? What else have you never experienced?
RosieG

How many of you have LiBRARY CARDS or have been in a BOOK STORE recently? Are these things extinct? What else have you never experienced?

Ever been to a potluck party? Ever attended a COMMUNITY SING ALONG? When was the last time you went to a picnic or a block party or a Tupperware party?

All of those experiences REQUIRE THAT HUMAN BEING INTERACT WITH ONE ANOTHER.

How much have your electronic thingies replaced human face-to-face experiences? How much better/worse off are you now than you were in the long ago...assuming you are old enough to even know what the he** I'm talking about?

Posted - August 11, 2019
Tags : None

Responses


  • 10750
    There was a time when you could walk outside on a summer's morning and hear children playing. Kids would be out trying to outdo their friends on their bicycles.  The park swings, slides, and merry-go-round were always full.  Some parents actually ate their lunch in the park with their kids during their lunch hour from work.  Weekends saw tablecloths spread out on the grass as families had picnics.  When people passed, they'd smile and say hello - even to complete strangers.

    Now there is only silence.  The parks sit empty, save for a few homeless people.  The swings and other equipment long removed; deemed too "dangerous".  the few people who do venture by either have their faces glued to their phones, or they have music cranked so loud in their ears that they are oblivious to the rest of the world.  

    The result?  People are afraid of each other.  Neighbors don't know neighbors.  Everyone is into themself.  Depression is now at epidemic proportions.  Suicide rates are skyrocketing.  The number one ailment is loneliness.

    (Incidentally, I haven't attended a tupperware party since I was 5.  I had to attend because my mom hosted it.)
      August 11, 2019 10:12 AM MDT
    1

  • 113301
    All of those long-ago things were everyday typical ordinaryShuhak. We never thought twice about any of them. That was how life used to be. We used to have a lot more fun I think. Your very sad and poetic description is factual. I don't think you got one thing wrong. I think everything now is precisely as you describe. It isn't so much that I want to go back to those days but that I would have dearly loved to bring some of those things along with us as we continue on our path of "progress". Did we really to have to lose ALL of them to make room for what is now? I'm gonna ask. Anyway I'm glad I got to experience them. I'm sad that so many will never have a clue to what I referred. Only you? I dunno. Maybe. Thank you for your thoughtful and spot-on reply and Happy Monday! :)
      August 12, 2019 1:48 AM MDT
    1

  • 19937
    The last time I was in a library had to be more than 15 years ago when I went with my friend so he could return a book she borrowed.  As for a bookstore, that's been a long while, too.  I don't use an e-reader, still enjoy turning the pages of a book, but I buy my paperbacks either from Amazon or at BJ's Wholesale.  
      August 12, 2019 6:58 AM MDT
    1

  • 113301
    Exactly! Buying on the internet drove box stores out of business. Years ago in Riverside there was huge bookstore. It had a coffee bar where you could buy coffee and a pastry. There were comfy chairs were you could sit and read for hours if you wished. Many tables piled high with books. Everywhere you looked. Human beings reading them touching them investigating them. After which you lined up by the register and paid for your treasures which you then took home and enjoyed. Does anyone anywhere do that any more? In the olden days if you wanted to research something yo'd go to the library and use their Reference Books which you could only use there. You could not check them out and take them home. Why do that now? We have Google. I don't know if textbooks are still required in school. You can get anything on the internet. SIGH. We call it "progress". I'm just as guilty as the next guy/gal. Any question I have I go to GOOGLE. It can be at any hour of the day or night. Google never closes. Thank you for your reply L and Happy Tuesday! :) I love the convenience of today but I miss the good old days too. Do you? This post was edited by RosieG at August 13, 2019 5:22 AM MDT
      August 13, 2019 3:18 AM MDT
    1

  • 19937
    I miss some things about the good old days, but I try to remember that we always move forward and have to accept some of the new technology even if we don't really want to.  My parents got us a set of the Books of Knowledge, so we didn't have to go to the library for research and it's so much easier to look things up on line these days.  That I like.  
      August 13, 2019 5:24 AM MDT
    1

  • 113301
    So did mine L! Grolier Society printed it. I think we'd get a yearly update book if I recall. Then when my son was going to school I got him the Encylopedia Brittanica. Those were the days my friend. We thought they'd never end! Thank you for your reply! :)
      August 13, 2019 7:17 AM MDT
    1

  • 19937
    You're right only my parents were too cheap to get the updates!  Somehow, I managed to get through school. :)
      August 13, 2019 9:02 PM MDT
    1

  • 113301
    I remember long hours at the library. I always LOVED being surrounded by books L. I used to haunt libraries and bookstores! That was then. Now? I have Google! Thank you for your reply! :)
      August 14, 2019 5:39 AM MDT
    1