I was contemplating about some things that have changed during my nearly eighty years. They seem common and are taken for granted but have really made life more enjoyable.
REMOTE CONTROLS. Most people don't remember when we didn't have this great tool. It was just too much trouble to get out of the chair, walk to the TV and manually change the channel. So what did we do? Many times just sit and watch something we really didn't want to see but were to lazy to get up and change the channel. (Hey, I should also mention the television itself. I didn't see my first TV show until I was in college in 1952.)
POWER STEERING. It wasn't easy to make turns in your car as it is today. Depending on the make and year of your car, the steering was laborious.How impressed we were when automobiles first came with steering that you could turn with just a finger.
GARBAGE DISPOSALS. Your garbage cans filled up much faster before disposals and the odor from your garbage was bad just before pickup day. This marvelous invention is clean, quick and sanitary.
ELECTRIC DISHWASHERS. My sister and I would take turns either washing or drying the dishes every day. It would be an arduous task and not easy. The dish water would frequently have to be changed. (especially if dinner was spaghetti or some other dish that was colorful, greasy and left residue in the sink.) We would line up song sheets from that weeks radio program, "Your Hit Parade" and sing songs to help us keep our minds off the task at hand.
REFRIGERATORS. When I was a young boy we had an "Ice Box." The iceman would come by three times a week and bring big blocks of Ice to put in the box. A large "drip Pan" was placed underneath the contraption to catch the melted water from the ice. One small advantage - the iceman would use his ice pick to fit the ice in the box and always give the small fry a hunk of ice to suck on.
GAS OR OIL STOVES AND FURNACES. I never went to bed in my life as a young boy without first bringing a bucket and two lumps of coal into the house. The kitchen and front room coal stoves had to be "banked" at night so that it would start early the next morning by shaking the grate and adding more coal. It was necessary to take out the ashes and clinkers to the garbage cans and the dust that would fly up would be dirty and difficult to keep out of your eyes and nose.
CELL PHONES. I said at one time that I never wanted a cell phone. I didn't want to be that assessable. The first "portable" "cordless" phone I saw was the size of a brick and had very limited range. Besides, who could I call? I didn't know anyone else who had one. Today? Well, I couldn't function without it. I use it for texting, answering email, using GPS system, taking pictures, posting on Facebook and Instagram and so many other functions. I NEED my mobile phone!!
.Well, this is just a small list off the top of my head. There are many more wondrous things that have simplified my life and given me much pleasure. Can you thing of any others/
I thought about this a lot while I was in Africa! They don't have any of these and I took advantage of all of these amazing things before I was in Africa. I also thought of restaurants a lot and how amazing the food has become in America. We have so many options at the tip of our fingers! And so much variety. I don't know if it is much of a "change" necessarily but I love the food here! Loved the post.
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