PERSPECTIVE CHANGES EVERYTHING: My daughter in law sent this a week or so back. Kinda puts things into perspective, don't cha think?
This so addresses my generation. I just hope the article can be read. You will probably have to enlarge it to read it, but read it some how. I may comment on it further in a later post. For now, think about it. And THAT'S THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK
FACT OR FICTION: When John F. Kennedy was killed in 1963, I was around. Married with children, actually. I lived in the area of the ditch bank at that time, and news wasn't instantaneous like it is now, still we heard about it not too long after the fact. Fast forward several years, and a movie about JFK was made in Hollywood and released. A friend of mine, a college teacher, took a group of students to see that movie. He is many years younger than me. He later ask me if I had seen the movie. At my reply that I had not, he said it was a good movie and that I should go. He didn't really understand when I said that I had lived through the JFK years and didn't need to go see Hollywood's version of it. Now, Meryl Streep is staring in a movie about Margaret Thatcher. Maybe it has the approval of the English people, but do I really need to go see a movie about someone I watched on TV and read about in the news. Especially Hollywood's dramatic version. There have been other movies about real people and events that have been Hollywood-ized that I have seen. I usually wasn't impressed. Especially if I was aware of the facts. When I went to a movie, ( I say that cause I haven't been to a movie in years ) I went for the escapism, to get away from the worldly things I am surrounded with every day. I miss the old days of movies and TV shows that provided good entertainment, and where I didn't have to be involved in the social issues of the day. Maybe if Hollywood would try to entertain and not try to be the solver of social ills, movies would be more enticing to members of my age group. Oh Wait, Hollywood is the cause of a lot of our social ills, and are having trouble healing itself. Well, That's the View From The Ditch Bank.
MODERN TECHNOLOGY; PFFFFT. Well, some of it, any way. A friend recently posted on her face book page something like this. " I have a computer desk top, a laptop, a smart phone, an I pod, an e mail account, a face book account. All of which keeps me entertained and connected to my friends. I wonder if that will be an accepted excuse for not studying the scriptures." That is not a direct quote of what she said, but just a general idea. My wife and I also have a computer. Even though neither of us has ever been in jail, we also have cell phones. Most of the time, they are turned off. We do not text or tweet. We can text, of we have to, but we don't use texting as a general rule. Shucks, we don't even turn our cell phones on, unless we leave the house, and happen to remember to take them with us and actually turn them on. Often when we do turn them on, we find that someone has sent us a text message that may be days old. I recently called a local pharmacy, well a pharmacy in the local area, but is part of a very large chain. the conversation went something like this. Welcome to Walgreen's. If you would like this, press 1 or that press 2 or something else press 3 etc. Finally arriving at the proper number I pressed it. Only to go through a similar spiel to finally press 0 to actually talk to someone. It took several minutes to get to a live person to spend 15 seconds to ask a question and receive an answer. Wouldn't it have been easier to just dial a number and have them pick up and say, Welcome to Walgreen's, how can I help you. May not help them, but it sure would help me.
Now, I am not against modern technology. I am using a computer to write this blog which can be read all over the world within a few seconds of my posting it. Course it won't be read all over the world, but the capability is there. I can take a digital picture and e mail it to family or friends instantly. There are many things that are good and are used by even me. But sometimes, it can be so frustrating. And it is good just to have a face to face conversation, shoot even a phone to phone conversation, without having to go through a lot of "press this number for". Sometime I think people and businesses complicate the most simple of things. Just cause they have the technology to do it with. And THAT'S THE VIEW FROM THE DITCH BANK.
P.S. HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY TODAY TO NEW MEXICO
