Monday, December 15, 2008

I Can't Believe People Used To.....

One of the joys of watching old movies or early television is noticing how conventional wisdom continues to evolve. We see examples of people who smoke with impunity, drive without the first thought of using even rudimentary seat belts and engage in other behaviors we now find so obvious as to almost deny logic. We can take pity on a time that embraced state-sponsored racism and didn't know the cathartic joys of emo/screamo techno electronica as being as hopelessly inconvenient as an absence of indoor plumbing.

So what will future generations say about the peculiarities of how we blindly live our life as a culture? Finish this sentence from the vantage point of an average person 100 years from now:

"I can't believe people used to....."

My first answer is: "eat meat". I also recently heard a reply as "turn on a faucet and get tap water", which sent chills through me and actually prompted this post. I'd love other thoughts for what the future will say about us.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

...Let other people have their fun for them.

Clint said...

My immediate thought was "I can't believe that people used to discriminate against homosexuals." I have often said to Faith that when Greyson grows up he will be asking the same question I asked my mom when I was a teen - "Why did you guys think black people where different and why did they not have the same rights?" I could never wrap my mind around it. I think my son's question will be the same, just about people who are gay. Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Raise their own children.... (That's even scarier than "drink water from the tap.") I don't know where the thought came from, but it was my first reaction to your question.