Time Flies

Yes, time flies, and times they are a changin'.

I was having a discussion last night about how things have changed just in the last ten years or so--and that led to a discussion about how things were when I was a kid.

Watching a movie: A man is walking down a busy rural road, and a woman stops to offer him a ride. Can you imagine that happening today? If someone sticks their thumb out, most people roll up their windows and accelerate past them, and pretend that they don't feel guilty for pre-judging the hitcher. Granted, even ten years ago, hitching was dangerous--either for the hitcher, or the driver. Thirty years ago, when I did most of my own hitching, I had a couple of scary experiences with drivers. But I (and others like me) continued to hitch. Today, it's easier to just walk. Trying to hitch will either prove frustrating, get you run down, or if you do get picked up, might just end with you rotting in a remote ditch somewhere.

Locking the doors of your house used to be reserved for times when you were going to be gone for several hours or overnight. In this day and age, however, many people double-lock their doors when they're home--and if they go anywhere besides the nearest convenience store, it's double locks and the security system for their house.

Do the above sound like paranoia? Maybe. But it is paranoia based upon personal experience, as well as what can be gleaned from the news.

And whatever you do, don't call the police. As yesterday's news tells us, even they can't be trusted. When a sheriff's deputy goes into jealous rage and kills six people at a house party, God forbid that we call upon that department for something serious.

It's probably best that you just forget the "good old days." Telling your kids about it justs frustrates and angers them; and remembering those days with nostalgia just makes you less satisfied with your own daily life.

Lock your doors, load your guns, and don't leave your house unless you have to--the Huns are at the gate, and it's ready to give way.

And so it goes...