It is Amazing!

Just saw this You Tube video called "Everything is Amazing, Nobody is Happy"
It's very funny, but also brings up a good point. We roll our eyes when our parents (grandparents) say things like "when I was a kid..." And now I find myself saying the same thing with my children, except that it wasn't so long ago that we did these unthinkable things. "When I was a kid, we didn't have cell phones or microwaves." "When I was kid, I had to program my own computer games." Can it possibly be true!? Sesame Street was first aired the year I was born (and man walked on the moon). Which one is more impressive to a kid? Rocket ships are nothing new, but Elmo... Oh, but we didn't have Elmo, when I was a kid. (Thank goodness). I would gladly trade 95% of the hundreds of kids programs we have today, to get Kermit the Frog back on Sesame Street. sigh.

We have SO many amazing inventions, new technology, but honestly, how much of it do we really need? Does it really make life easier? When I was a kid, our parents didn't bring their jobs on vacation with us. There are hundreds of ways to reach out and touch someone - and yet we are all so lonely. When I was a kid, I remember playing hide-and-seek under the pine trees with the neighborhood kids until the fireflies came out. I remember my mom bringing treats in to our classroom, just because, and she hadn't been fingerprinted! Shocking. I remember when PB&J was standard food for all kids and not considered "illegal" in the lunchroom or a ticket to the ER. Oh the good old days. Funny how the grandparents thought we were all spoiled and didn't appreciate any of the amazing things we had (like the telephone and school buses...)

It could be that these "scary economic times" happen as a system of checks and balances to help us see what we have. Take down the big "super-sized everything", and give the small "hey, I have a great idea" people space to grow. This way, perhaps, all the jaded, younger people, get a chance to see what they can come up with when they aren't inundated with all the technology of past generations. So maybe there is a positive way to look at this... mess. It's a way of clearing space - Spring Cleaning. Forcing us to be creative, use our brains - "what would I do today, if someone hadn't already done it all for me?"