The funny disease.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

There was one?

It really singes my summer squash when people use the phrase, "Back in the day." First of all, it assumes there was a day, and trust me, there wasn't. Every era has its trade-offs. Sure, in the 1890’s you have quiet and fresh air and plenty of wide-open spaces, but indoor plumbing is something of a luxury, and if you needed antibiotics, you would be entirely out of luck.

The human brain is constructed so that we block out the bad things and the good stuff sticks like flies on flypaper. We suppress the distasteful and wretched inconvenient little harsh realities (like bubonic plague) when we wax poetic about the past.

When people under 30 use the phrase I always think, “How the Hell would they know?” When people over 30 use the phrase it sounds stilted and vaguely creepy. It always makes me want to say, “Gee willikers, Mr. Cleaver! Back then, was everything really so swell?”

7 Comments:

Blogger Fuff said...

Most people I know, myself included, always remember being told at school that they were the worst year ever, if that makes any sense.

5/24/2006 5:31 AM

 
Blogger The Phosgene Kid said...

Back in the day, women shut the hell up and we liked it that way!!!

Just kidding...

5/24/2006 11:31 AM

 
Blogger The Phosgene Kid said...

I'd rather use "in my pants" than Back in the day, I think

5/25/2006 2:31 PM

 
Blogger Sarah Letnes said...

Fuff--Hey, I remember that, too. I think grads also always hear that they're graduating into the worst job market ever, too. It's a conspiracy.

Phos--We don't really want to hear about your pants.

5/25/2006 6:31 PM

 
Blogger Timmy said...

People always seem to be under the impression that we live in a society that's in perpetual moral decay. Before everyone starts extolling the virtues of the good ol' days (American autos, blue laws, women who were willing to cook, cleaner air, etc.), we also need to consider that there was a down-side (racial injustices, a lower standard of living, poorer life-expectancy, a world without ESPN, etc.).

5/26/2006 12:31 PM

 
Blogger Cheshire Cat said...

Okay, Sarah, this is downright eerie now.

I've thought and wondered the same things about the whole 'back in the day' issue, including the bit about the younguns, the tradeoffs, no antibiotics and toilets. I didn't think about the bubonic plague though.

5/27/2006 12:13 AM

 
Blogger Sarah Letnes said...

Timmy--What was good about blue laws?

Tea--Maybe you were thinking really loud.

5/30/2006 6:46 PM

 

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