The quiet 70's with NO CELL PHONES!

[Amy]

Try to remember the kind of September when grass was green and oh so mellow....remember those years as children when we couldn't imagine having anything more advanced than walkie-talkies? How I miss those days now with every fiber of my being. I knew if I Googled I would find a site just like this. Ha! Googled! What was GOOGLE in 1972 when I was six years old wearing a mustard colored Danskin leotard with brown-striped polyester bell-bottoms, barefoot, and a twiggy hair-cut because my mother was too strung out on valium to deal with my hair? What on earth was "Google" I ask? What on earth was a computer for that matter? Aaaah, at 38 years old, I seem to want only to be back in the 70's with my brothers listening to John Lennon, Stevie Wonder, Zeppelin, Joni Mitchell, STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS!!!!! Remember that album? As a kid I used to listen to it do much I can't believe I didn't break the record. My family and friends did not exist online - no, they were real creatures at all times, looking at me, talking to me, getting into fights with me, lauging with me, eating with me. Remember pay phones? Yeah, you had to call someone from a pay phone if you were out of money and stuck on West 79th Street, or in Coney Island, or if you had to be late. LATE? Now you can be late all the time with cell phones!!! Back then, you just were late and that was it. You could not call your date at the restaurant and warn him in advance that you'd be late. So convenient isn't it. I HATE MY CELL PHONE. I hate the bustle, the noise, the fast pace. I want to be slowed down. I want Autumn again in my front yard, laying on the grass looking up at the sky and climbing trees, not talking on the cell phone or IM'ing some cousin. I want old Halloween back, when the street was full of the noise of only the pranksters and the fall branches whirling in the breeze. I want to walk down the streets of New York again and have people look at me like they used to instead of dialing a number in their own world. Why, I don't even want to be online, but I am. Oh, what does this mean??? We are doomed to be creatures of habit. Look at us, children of the 70's, online. We should be ashamed, but we are not. Big hugs to all of you out there and thank G-d you're here for me.

[Robin]

Hi Amy,
While I can appreciate your sentiment, it sounds like your gripe is more about city living vs suburban or rural living. Even though we have cell phones out here in suburbia, we also have lots of trees, grass and friendly neighbors who we chat with daily while walking the dog.

I'm not addicted to my cell, just use when I have to tell someone something, it's a great way to keep in touch with my kids and husband who are all over the place on a daily basis.

Everything in moderation!!!

[Rick]

Hey Amy,

I do indentify with much of that. I live in a Red State, so things aren't quite as hectic most of the time, and I make my living designing and maintaining wireless telephone networks, but I know what you mean.

I had to laugh at the part about being late-- I have a 17 year old who seems to think all he has to do is call, and POOF, his curfew time disappears. He's wrong, of course, as he continually has to find out, but that seems to be a common thing with a lot of parents. Not ME- I'm a mean ol' dude. ; )



Rick

[jane]

yes Amy....sentiment exactly.....i often wonder where the "simple" things went.....black jacks and fruit salad.....crackerjack.....junior showtime......remember mint cracknel.....mmmmm....where DID that go.....Bay City Rolling group that inspired us to wear plaid and 3 button waistbands....knitted jumpers with 3 stars emblazened across the front....sitting outside in the summer with your neighbours...knowing you were safe even if they were a little well what can i say...fond of the back of lorries ....yes i too miss those days Amy

[Michele]

The thing I think is funny about the old days without cell phones versus today, is the fact that people used to step into a phone booth and close the door for privacy when making a call. These days not many people seem concerned at all about airing their personal conversations for all to hear.

[Eyebee]

This is true. HELLO I AM ON THE TRAIN AND HAVE JUST CLOSED ON A 50K DEAL! kind of stuff... Poseurs...

Mind you I am online a great deal. I make a lving from it, as a web designer. I woudln't be without my cellphone, although I use it as a PDA as well as a phone - an electronic diary that I synch with the compuuer so I know where I'm going next. Well at least it's better than that 80's thing - the filofax!

I wouldbn't be without the cellphone - in fact I don't bother with a landline.

I only get the gadgets that interest me though, and that I find a real use for. Like a digital camera.... heck back in the 60's it cost me all my allowance to get ONE film processed. 8 pictures, black and white. Now I regularly go out to the beach and shot 50 -60 in an afternoon.

[andrew murray]

When I'm doing shopping, the mobile is useful to find out what mum wants. In '63 I used to talk for as long as I wanted for 4d. But then I used a shopping list. In '73 a phone call was useful to find out if my friends were home. Conversation was reserved for when we met. Mostly we sang songs of Leonard Cohen

[70s girl]

:)cell phones are the bomb there so high tech ;D

[Nigel]

hearing people bawling into their cellphones is an awful fact of 21st century life I agree. Too much communication these days and nothing much to say!!

The 70's was much quieter by and large: here in the UK there were only 3 tv channels and tv ended around 11.30 most nights. People were more resourceful, imaginative and creative back then and life was more interesting as a result - and people read a lot of paperbacks, you could buy them very cheaply at the local shops, lots of weird and wonderful titles!

I look back on 73 to 75 as my formative childhood years: what a delightful era to grow up in!

Nigel

[bushy]

I couldn't agree more with Amy. Last week I almost flushed my Nextel Blackberry Cellphone. I definitely think the technology is fantastic and has probably saved thousands of lives over the years, however it has broken down our privacy and personal boundaries.
Year's ago you would never think of calling someone at home on a weekend or evening unless it was very urgent, now especially with Blackberry's people don't think twice about it.

I do miss those days of just not being available. I mean what is so wrong about that. You just were not available for conversation, Period !! Now if you don't pick up your cell or return the call within a day, you are presumed either dead or laid up in the hospital.

All you people who insist on talking about nothing in public just for the sake of talking, guess what ?? It's annoying, rude and we couldn't care less what you are saying...

It's not so much a technology thing, it's what the technology has turned us into !!!

[nancynurse]

[glow=red,2,300]I too remember and long for a simpler and less tec. time of life. I would LOVE to go back to the 70's and relive it all again!!! We all have too much stuff nowdays! I can remember going to live with my aunt in 1971 (I was in the 6th grade) and only having enough belongings to fill one drawer!!! Sounds sad but those were the best times of my life. [/glow]

[tikibob]

Yeah, I know what you mean. Funny though, back in the 70's, the older generation wished it was a simpler time back than, too. I have to admit, technology can be a wonder thing, but I don't want to be bogged down with it. Personally, I don't have a cell phone nor would I want to get one except for car emergencies. Other than that, I don't care to be tied down to it nor would I want to lose my own personal time to myself by having people trying to intrude upon it all the time. I figure if it's important, they can leave a message on my phone machine and I'll get back to them as soon as I can, and if they don't, than I figure I will miss out on nothing. Technology is great, but I wouldn't want it to rule over me.