I am alarmed at how fast this world has changed in the last 70
years. I am wondering about the direction we are heading, and what
will be 70 years from now. I hope they I will have a chance to
admire it from above.
Dear Editor,
I am alarmed at how fast this world has changed in the last 70 years. I am wondering about the direction we are heading, and what will be 70 years from now. I hope they I will have a chance to admire it from above.
Where I grew up, 70 years ago, a bike was rare. Nobody had a wristwatch. We relied on the sun to tell us the time of day. There were a couple of taxis, two buses, and a two mule wagons. Most of these ran empty because people couldn’t afford to buy a ticket. For an island of 28,000 people, walking was the most common way of getting around. Money was very scarce, but there was love. People would have had a hard time trying to live on their own. You would help your neighbor and your neighbor would help you. You traded what you didn’t need for what you did need. Bare feet were a sign that you were healthy. Those who wore boots, had to struggle with mud and it was harder for them to get a bride. The girls were looking for the healthy ones. On the weekends, everybody would dress nicely to go to church or visit with neighbors or enjoy a party.
Cooking was done with wood on a grill, not a stove. Toilets were a hole outside and a pot under the bed for emergencies. There was no gas or electricity. Only in town were phones to be found. There were no airplanes and only a few small ships where we received some communication. Two newspapers existed but it would still take a month to know about something that happened on the other side of the world. Food was healthy, fresh out of the fields. Almost everybody raised their own vegetables. Almost everybody also raised a pig or beef if they could afford it. We had enough to live on but nothing was wasted. We had raw milk, glasses of wine, famous linguisa, etc., etc.
It’s good to have everything that we have now but I don’t know which one is healthier. Those days, women wore dresses about four inches below their knee. To see a woman’s leg four inches above the knee you had to be lucky with the wind to be in your favor. Now that I gave you the facts of what was then, I hope you can compare what we have now to what we had 70 years ago to what you believe will be 70 years from now. I believe by then, people will be walking around completely naked. I hope I gave you some images to entertain yourselves with. Sorry, only my opinion.
Amadeu Lima, Hollister
