“In MY day, we….”

    For some reason this phrase evokes Thanksgivings as a kid when odd smelling grandparents and weird uncles came over for a big turkey dinner.  It wouldn’t be long before one of them would scowl and say, “In MY day, we…” with a variety of endings.  Perhaps they walked ten miles to school and back (barefoot) and thought I was a slacker because I was in a car pool.  Perhaps they only had one or two books, and it infuriated them that I turned the corner of a page down to mark my place in my paperback.  Or perhaps they thought my attempt to fling a pea off my spoon across the table into my sister’s big mouth would have brought on severe corporal punishment if they’d acted up at the table.

    Times have changed.  As we become the parents and then the grandparents (though I sincerely hope I do not smell odd), I can feel this phrase wanting to rise to my lips as I watch nephews, nieces, and grandchildren do the unthinkable.

    “In MY day, we didn’t take phone calls during dinner, not to mention checking your cell phone and texting every two seconds.”

    “In MY day, we had to go out in the cold weather and hang out in the back yard to sneak a joint instead of lighting up in the house.”

    “In MY day, we only had one television, and if Pop wanted to watch football, we didn’t get to watch An Affair to Remember.”

    How would you end that phrase, “In MY day, we…”?

     

    10 Responses

    2. I’m here. Okay, I’m a sluggard. Even so, your postings are read and a big boost. If you don’t quit, I won’t either. I shall post again soon. You’re a favorite!

    3. Hello, hello, hello…Is there anybody out there? Nod if you can hear me. Is there anyone at home?

    4. In MY day, we didn’t lose our phones, they were attached to the wall.

    5. “In my day, we only had one channel,” said Nikita, banging his shoe on the side of the television.

      “In my day, you were lucky if emphysema was all you had,” wheezed Grandpa as he tapped the last Camel out of the pack.

      Removing the orange peel from his mouth, Vito said, “In my day, you shoot someone 27 times, they die.”

      “In my day,” said Uncle Bob, hardly acknowledging the apparent leak in his colostomy bag, “old people had the decency to die young.”

      “In my day,” said God, “I didn’t ask people to be good, I just started over.”

      “Six-million dollars,” said Steve Austin, astronaut, a man barely alive, “bought a hell of a lot more back in my day.”

      “Ya know,” said Harry jokingly, “in my day, we didn’t just talk about the atom bomb.”

      “In my day,” said Aunt Mariam, “the arrival of ‘Ladies’ Week’ meant we couldn’t jump rope, go horseback riding, or even swim.”

      “In my day,” said Grandma, slathering the turkey in Crisco, “we were lucky to have partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. During the war, most people had to make do with Brylcreem.”

      “Back in those days,” said Mary-Ann, pulling her shorts down a bit, “it was hardly unusual for a three-hour tour to run a bit long.”

      “In that time in which I was young,” said Courtney at the Microsoft help desk, “we would first check to be sure the computer was plugged in.”

    6. …and we had no idea that our world could change, because it seemed that civilization had advanced to the point where love ruled the planet, and we would never go backwards from there.