A Patriot Remembers
Reflecting on the ‘old normal’ Remembering a simpler time brings comfort to today
normally had only one TV, and if you were lucky, you may have had two radios. The news on TV was once a day at dinner time, then a second one came at 8 or 10 p.m. Walter Cronkite concluded his show with, “and that’s the way it is” and the date of the broadcast. Today we have a news channel that quotes “news you can trust.” Does it imply that some news you cannot trust? This reminds me of Johnny Carson’s show in the 1950s called “Who Do You Trust.”
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hese days we have new words, new concepts, “the new normal.” With 24hour news and opinions, you can’t be normal if you have not overdosed on how our daily life has emerged. As a writer who likes to remember and reminisce of times gone by, I believe we all can be perked up by nostalgia. I have a background in technology and know that is where the future lies. A young computer techie told me in the early 1990s that the computer world is driven by the 3M’s – the Medical, Military and Money industries. How true that seems to be some 30 years later. My geometry teacher in high school in the early ’60s told us that the future was in lasers and computers. A college economics teacher in the late ’60s said the day will come when you don’t need cash – everything will be on a plastic card. Now some people even buy Starbucks coffee with a credit card through their smart phone.
In the “old normal” milk was delivered to your home not in a truck but a horse-drawn cart.
tions. Remember when we had primarily only three, went milk delivered to our homes, off the air around 1 a.m. and not in a truck but horse-drawn concluded with the National carts. The same method was Anthem. Some of the used for our bread and old TV sitcoms and doughnuts. It was a westerns have been by business for some brought back and to sell vegetables, provide us a good collect old rags diversion. Many or your junk showed a growusing the same ing Home is Where You’ll Find Us nation of our horse-drawn triumphs and othmethod. Some of ers taught us lessons our streets still had of our poor judgment the old trolley tracks and and philosophy. The persome were made of cobblestone. spective we have now as adults Life You’ll became so muchUs better Find is different from our youth. We Thinking aboutHome the “old is Where when the Good Humor Man normal” will remind you of came around with the ice cream. all had our favorite shows and even remember the evening and a simpler time and clear your Our television stations, time they were on. A household head of today’s complica-
Frank DeSorbo
The sports world from 1950 to 1980 loaded us up with memories and icons. Some names were made for books and movies like Mantle, Mays, Robinson, Ali, Frazier, Marciano, Native Dancer, Secretariat, Affirmed, Namath and Lombardi. Do not feel offended if I left off your favorite player or team. As New Yorkers we had many hometown idols. Didn’t we all want to be a switch hitter like Mantle or make those basket catches like Mays? The years gone by were simple, and we knew they would change. Yet we recall that our visions were normal then and we can hope they are still today. The author is a Capital District resident and freelance writer and guest speaker. Contact him at fomservice.com.
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