Have you ever thought about how funny our human race is?
Throughout history, we humans have tended to think that we are progressing and that our ways are superior to those of the past, but we also tend to bewail the inferiority of the current generation of youth.
Before no-fault divorce, people seemed less afraid of getting married. They did it young. They did it often. Why weren’t they worried about getting stuck? You would think that nowadays, with our easy divorce laws, society would feel less need of live-in courtship to test potential spousal compatibility.
When marriage was a “till death” commitment, most weddings were simpler. Now that they could be said to mean less, they are often extravaganzas with an average cost of over $20,000. Odd, that.
There was a time when children were dressed like miniature adults. Then the Victorian concept of childhood changed this, and Victorian children wore children’s clothes. However, we have come full cycle.
Walk into any Baby Gap and note that babies are now expected to dress like adults, even to the point of impracticality. What does this say about our society?
People in the past probably drank more tea than we do, as a whole, but out of much smaller vessels.
Perhaps this was because we have modern plumbing and they didn't.
Being tanned was once a sign that one worked manual labor, and thus to be avoided by everyone aspiring to the middle and upper classes. In the absence of sunglasses and sunblock, bonnets were a helpful solution.
Then, when office jobs consumed the nation and only the leisured could afford to go on vacation and sunbathe, tans were in. Everyone wanted them.
Health concerns have reversed this. Tanning solons are now seen as cancer salons. Do people avoid them because they fear cancer, or because they fear looking like they belong to the ignorant masses instead of the trim, fit, healthy (and not too tanned) middle and upper classes?
We humans construct incomplete mythologies. I realize that this is an abrupt change of subject, but think about Tolkien’s elves for a moment. Since their life span is so much slower and longer than ours, what does that mean for family life? Do elf mothers need to be pregnant with each baby for years at a time?
Linking-up to Conversion Diary for 7 Quick Takes. Go see what everyone else has to say.