The Old Days & the New Days

I have just caught up on Robson Green's programmes about the North. Cracking viewing and caused me to think do we live in a better society?

The old days still had problems and issues but seemed far safer - as a kid you felt you could disappear from breakfast to dinner without any fears. You could walk around at any age and pass the time of day with polite people saying hello and holding doors open etc.

Increased technology has done away with close knit working communities and it is a dog eat dog world - I have to say one I am not enamoured with. Mobile communication does away with face to face dialogue and people do seem generally ruder (cue the usual comments). I would like to read people's thoughts on this subject.

 

I think it is just as safe now as it was before, the difference is that the media report things more now and things get much more widespread coverage. The fact that child murders such as April Jones and Holly and Jessica cause so much shock shows just how rare these things still are so is the fear from parents justified or is it due to a false perception? Also with mobile phones these days isn't it actually safer to be out of sight more? When I was younger if I didn't go home by the time my mum wanted me to 'check in' she'd get worried and there'd be no way of checking I was ok. Now it would be a quick phone call and she'd know straight away that I hadn't been abducted and was merely being 'naughty' by not going home.

I also find that the general public are very polite these days just as they always have been. It is very rare for someone to let a door close in my face and generally speaking that would be because they haven't noticed me there. I also find that pretty much everybody I pass while out politely say 'hello', 'alright' or 'morning' (or whatever time it is) or at least smile or nod their head. Again this is the same as it's always been isn't it?

 

Technology has its pro's and con's. Just look at this place, can be very useful and informative at times.

 

Yeah, until you show up

 

Well I'm 58 and I've always treated folk with disdain....

 

Then it becomes useful, informative and witty?

 

Perhaps

But a lot of problems in the past were ignored, covered up, with little or no help given to victims. Be they battered & abused wives, children or whoever. Nowadays, people feel more confident to report abuse, be it current or historical. As kids, we were never truly aware of any danger, but that doesn't mean the danger didn't exist.
We have brought our children up along the same lines as ourselves. To be polite, courteous and respectful to others, treating people as you would prefer to be treat. For the vast majority of time, it's reciprocated.

 

Technology is changing things but not only that.I lived in a block of flats for a number of years and one of the old 'uns there talked about the old days - as far back as 1977 - when everyone in the flats knew each other and got together to celebrate the Queen's jubilee in the communal gardens. Now most of the flats are rented out, so seen as an investment rather than a home, and the people who live there come from all countries of the world and generally keep themselves to themselves.

Add to that the gradual demise of industries employing large numbers of people in particular areas, people increasingly moving from the area where they were born and raised to find work elsewhere, the erosion of the local pub as a gathering place...yep, there are loads of things that make Britain more fragmented and less community-spirited than it used to be. Like you I probably have a sense of loss about certain things but at the same time there are many ways in which life is better now and sometimes nostalgia can make us forget that.

 

Re: Perhaps

 

Re: Perhaps

Oh, push off! You're always bullying me! Pick on someone your own size!
True, though.

 

Nostalgia aint what it used to be.