For this week's post, I challenged myself to think of things that I literally cannot live without that my grandparents did not have any access whatsoever to when they were my age. At first, of course, technology came to mind. I'm sure that's what would come to anyone's mind when thinking of days past. But there are a lot of very common things that have existed or I've had access to my entire life, that my grandparents simply did without. Did they know they didn't have it? Of course not! Just like when my own grandkids talk about how they didn't know how I existed with the lack of convenience they think I had.
Before starting this blog post, I had a really fun conversation with my grandparents- one that included a lot of incredulous remarks from me such as "How did you get anything done?" or "How did you survive?" Haha! I am narrowing this list down to the 10 things that are most essential in my every day life, and my goal is to just have fun with this!
1. Appliances- In my college days, I used the microwave for every meal because, let's face it... who didn't? About the only thing I consumed daily in college that I did not microwave was beer (or "jungle juice" that we got at frat parties). My grandpa told me that they purchased their first microwave in the 1970's, and it was HUGE. So I asked "How did you heat stuff up?" (what an idiot.) Turns out, boiling some water or putting something on the stove does about the same thing! (I knew that, it just seems so much less convenient! What about Hot Pockets? Haha!)
2. Hair Styling Products- This one never dawned on me. On the days when I do decide to straighten or curl my hair, I plug the straightener or curling iron in, and about a minute later, I start styling. Back in the day, you had to strike the curling iron on the stove to get it hot enough to curl your hair (and how long would that take?)
3. Power Steering/Automatic Transmission- And this one is the main reason for this post, as I am currently without wheels, because my car is in the shop, due to a pretty severe power steering fluid leak, a leak that means that I can get a pretty good arm workout by making a right turn. While power steering was becoming more common around the time that my grandparents were in their 30s, it wasn't common. They said they purchased their first car in the late 50s that had power steering fluid, and it was an "up and coming" thing. Manual transmissions were about all that existed then as well.
4. COFFEE- This is another one that really surprised me (I mean, I took for granted.) They didn't have coffee pots? Nope. You put the pot on the stove and poured the water into the coffee. This is another one I already knew, but hadn't really let sink in in a good while.
5. (This one is my favorite) Cell phones, texting- There was a time in the past when, if you were running late to meet someone, you might not be able to tell them, because they may have already left their house, and you had also already left yours, and you'd just have to hope that they waited wherever you were meeting long enough to be graced by your presence! I know a lot of friends I might not have anymore if that were the case!
6. Car Seats- Oh my word. I think about the 5 minutes I spend every Monday strapping Julia's 5-point harness carseat into the backseat of my car. I put my knee in and pull on the seatbelt to make sure it doesn't budge AT ALL. And when I buckle her in, I check more than once to make sure that everything has snapped, and that the chest clips are directly aligned with her armpits (because that's what the internet tells us to do... more on that later.) Mamaw told me that when Steve was a baby, he was in a carseat, but a strap just went around the back of the seat. That was it. And when the kids were toddlers, they'd just put them in the middle and hold on to them! No seat belts! And now, we see a child without a booster, and PANIC! It's crazy!
7. Televisions- Papaw reminisced on his first television, purchased in the 1940s. It was 9 inches, and about 10 of them sat around to watch it. Next time I host a Colts party, I would encourage my dear friends to think of this before complaining about my little 32 inch flatscreen. :)
8. Mail- Forget email. Every single piece of communication that was not done in person or by phone had to be done by what we now call "snail mail." And I can guarantee with the nature of the other items in this post, it wasn't a process as easy as walking into the post office, having them scan the address you were shipping to, telling you a total and estimated date of delivery, and you swiping your credit card and being on your merry way. No, I don't guess it was like that at all.
9. Air Conditioning- Papaw described this one to me as a health benefit. Nowadays, air conditioning isn't negotiable- not in cars, not in homes, not in places of business. But back then? Movie theaters would attract potential patrons by advertising that it was 10 degrees cooler inside the theater than it was outside. So, on a 100 degree day, I could pop in for a film in a crisp, cool 90 degree theater! How refreshing!
10. Power Tools- Another one I hadn't thought of. I basically carried my power drill in my purse during those first few weeks of home ownership. My house was built in 1939, so the walls are plaster, so the ole "hammer and nail" procedure isn't really appropriate. I can't imagine having to actually turn the crank to drill a hole in the wall. When I asked Papaw about this, he simply said "We just didn't put much on the walls!"
So, that is the end of my list. This post was necessary for me today, as sometimes I feel like I am truly inconvenienced by this or that, when in all reality, these are things that are, for all intents and purposes, "new." People survived without microwaves, and Keurigs, and iphones, drills, Gmail, and air conditioners. And, finally, people survived without Google. How the hell did people survive without Google?
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