Ah, the things of yesteryear. Landline phones—I guess we are dinosaurs, because we still have one. We also have a cell, but we only use it on certain occasions, and I prefer to still keep a landline phone for personal reasons. We have a package deal, so it’s pretty cheap for the service. Other items going by the wayside for most people are video stores, newspapers, mom-and-pop stores, and many other things. We actually still have a newspaper subscription too, even though I normally get most of the news online. Online news doesn’t always show everything, though, and the coupons that come in the Sunday newspaper really make it worth the purchase. There is something sweet and comforting about these now old-fashioned things, and have them going by the wayside feels sad.
It always seems to me nowadays that “new and improved” means “cheap and non-lasting.” We had subscribed a few years ago to a weekly magazine we really liked, only to have it turn into a cookie-cutter tabloid format, with half the information it used to have. It wasn’t the same thing. It’s like when they come out with a remake of a TV show, or turned into a movie—to me, without the original cast and characters, it’s not the same. I don’t care if they are one hundred years old, I still want them. I guess since I am over forty I am just a sentimental fool, remembering cooking way before the microwave became mainstream, even before VCRs came out. (We still have a VCR by the way and use it, another dinosaur admission, LOL.) I would not mind at all still browsing in a video store—really—for VCR or DVD movies. I remember before my husband I had disposable income and no kids, we would enjoy going to video stores on weekends and scour the whole store, looking for rare and interesting movies to buy or rent. There is nothing wrong with paying a flat fee for movies to rent, but there are also pitfalls to that. They don’t always have the hands-on selection that video stores had, and the direct-to-computer format is not something everyone wants.
What about those mom-and-pop stores? When I walked into one of them, whether it was a TG&Y or Woolworth’s or whatever, the smell was always wonderful. It smelled like candy, paper, and new toys. You weren’t bumping shoulders with someone to get the latest deal, you took in the atmosphere like a fine experience. I have very good memories of these stores as a child. And the old-fashioned department stores were the same. Though I rarely bought anything in these since we didn’t have much money, I enjoyed looking at the window decorations and loved the new-clothes smell inside the store.
And books. I love just taking a regular book and reading it. It’s quite practical, and isn’t dependent on any reading device. I doubt books will go out of style for this reason; I think there are a lot of people who want books to stay as they are (me included).
The thing is, a lot of things that are going by the wayside don’t have to. With enough support and demand, we can keep things things—if not weak—viable and necessary. It might be a matter of just stopping in a struggling neighborhood store once in awhile instead of a supermart, it could mean keeping a weekend newspaper subscription, and if you happen to have any video store still open, visit it to support it. I promise, it won’t make that much difference in your budget.
I’m not sure why I care about this so much, maybe I am just trying to keep the past alive. I do know, though, that new and improved is not always better.
