Lifestyles change without effort. I remember as a young
child (late 50's) that dining out was reserved for special occasions. It
was a treat that I looked forward to with great anticipation. In current
times dining out has changed dramatically even for me. Today, it seems
dining out is a weekly routine, a reward of sorts for surviving a challenging
week. That's not a bad thing just a change to our lifestyle and
expectations. We have become a nation of foodies, we use food to
celebrate our life, even when cooking at home. It's been that way for a
long time but it's no longer reserved for certain holidays. I like this
new trend because it allows people to be more social, which is needed because
the digital age has taken some of that away.
Coffee has always been a part of our culture. My parents
always had a pot of coffee brewing in the house. It was never the fancy
coffee they drink today, but simply strong black coffee occasionally with a
little cream and sugar. Cappuccino, mocha latte or caramel macchiato were
not in the vocabulary that I knew but again I see this as a tasty improvement.
Back in the day, coffee was mainly drunk at home, work or when you were
lucky enough to go out for special meal. I don't ever remember coffee
shops like Starbucks. We had donut shops that served coffee but the
attraction there were the donuts not the coffee. I have coffee every
morning at home but I rarely buy coffee from a coffee shop however that might
be an age thing. When I do go to a coffee shop I will get a fancy cup of
coffee, my favorite is caramel macchiato. It's apparent that coffee shops
do well since they seem to be in abundance, which I expect is mainly supported
by the younger generation.
St. Louis, Missouri has always been a beer town with Anheuser
Busch being the beer of choice. There were many brand choices but not
flavor choices when I was younger. I was never a big fan of beer, I'm
more of a wine guy which at the time was odd since wine was not popular when I
was younger. I have now graduated from Annie Green Springs to a nice
Cabernet but I also discovered that I like the crafts beers that are being
produced today. Today there are as many flavors of beer as there is
coffee, in fact some contain coffee. These craft beers cater to the
younger people who are looking for a more distinct taste. I like these
new craft beers unlike some of my old buddies that only drink the amber beers
of the past.
When I was young drive-in movie theaters were popular but I
haven't seen one in a long time. There may be a few that still exist but
you will have to look long and hard to find one. Movies are still popular
but not drive-in movie theaters. As with anything one forgotten trend is replaced
by a new one. Recently, I have noticed luxury theaters opening around the
area. These theaters have lounge chairs with tables to set your wine,
craft beer and appetizer on while you recline in luxury watching the high
definition movie. The ticket prices are more expensive as you might
expect but it sounds like fun, at least for some special movie. There are
risks I see however one of which is falling asleep and missing the movie as
well as spilling your craft beer or Cabernet, which would be embarrassing.
The invention of telephone has changed our lives but smart phones
have amped up the change to a new level. We had phones in the 50's but
they were not only landlines but also 40 call lines or party lines. A 40
call line, for the younger folks not familiar with the term, is a telephone
package that allows you to make 40 calls in a month, yes that's not a typo, 40
calls a month. If you made over 40 phone calls you would be charged an
extra fee. A party line was not a phone you used to setup a party (that
would have been pretty cool) but a phone line you shared with other households
(strangers). If you picked up the phone
on a party line you might find someone already on the line and you had to wait
to make your call or ask him or her politely to hang up which never worked.
There was a # symbol on the phone but it
wasn’t called a hashtag and didn’t allow you to send a message to the land of twitter,
actually I’m not sure what it was for. I
have a smart phone now which I find very useful and would never want to go back
to the old landlines but sometimes I become too dependent on it and I’m 67 not
16.
I guess my point is lifestyles and trends
change, which are neither good nor bad, just what happens. I try to stay current with times but
sometimes I miss the past. I dine out,
drink fancy coffee, craft beer and use a smart phone but I still like to watch
old movies at home. So, I'd like to think of myself as an old
soul that is young at heart.
No comments:
Post a Comment