The "Olden Days"

The other day the topic of taping shows on a VCR came up and I had to explain to E what that was all about, and the woes that came with not getting it taped and then you just simply missed that episode, no way to go back and see it, unless your friend happened to tape it and you could borrow their copy.  There was nothing worse than coming home to check the VCR and seeing your recording had failed - mixed up the AM/PM, the show started late because of a sporting event or something so you missed the end, the tape setting was on SP (2 hours of recording time) instead of SLP (6 hours of recording time), no tape in the machine, and so many other failures! These kids have no clue about the utter disappointment one could feel.

And that got me thinking of some joys in life that are missing now.  A few of them below:

- Only hearing a great song every once in a while just because you happened to catch it on the radio, at a dance, or in a movie/TV show.  I don't mean the current hits that you probably owned on tape or CD, that you probably listened to on repeat, but those oldies or obscure songs that only showed up every once in awhile. One that I can think of is Under Pressure by David Bowie and Queen.  Now I can listen to it anytime I want, and it's still good, but it doesn't come with the same excitement that I managed to catch it somewhere randomly. 

- Going to the drug store to get your photos back from being developed and seeing what you managed to capture. We would rip into the envelope before we even left the store to devour the photos.  

- Finding movies on TV just by flipping around the dial. There were a few movies that I always stopped on, Shawshank Redemption or A Few Good Men.  I don't even think I have even really seen the beginning of those movies since I'm usually catching them after they've already started.  When I stay in US hotels and am watching regular cable, I find they still have those random movies playing so I'm always happy to tune in.

I saw a TikTok video the other day (reposted on Instagram because that's how old people like me watch TikTok) that said people of my generation have this serious nostalgia problem.  Our parents and grandparents definitely reminisce about certain things from their childhoods, but for some reason, the "elder millennials" really feel that nostalgia when we think back to how we grew up.