Page 34 - Fashion issue

When Did Things Change?

By Glenda Batzer

I really don't want to admit that I am not a kid anymore. But it is Rule #4: All adults were addressed as Mr. or Mrs. and under no
true. circumstances would you address ANY adult by his or her first
name. Nor would you address a woman older than you as “Miss” or
Maybe I should give you some background information first. I was “Sweetie” or “Hon”.
a child during the 1960's. I am the oldest girl in a family of eight
children. Life felt so very different in my small secluded mid-west- Living with these rules did seem a bit like a dictatorship and to
ern town as compared to life in a city even in the 1960's. some extent it was, and my Mother was the ruling Dictator. But we
My family was a hard-working modest family just like so many oth- were never in a position to question her authority or to try to “buck”
ers. We were a cookie cutter suburban American Family at the tail the system. My world was predictable. This made me feel secure
end of the baby boom following World War II or at least that was and happy.
my interpretation.
So, with that I ask you “Where was I when all of this changed”?
The best thing about my childhood was that the rules were clear
and concise. You knew how to behave and you knew what was In the 1960's, the pace of life was slow and steady. Men and
expected of you. Our house was filled with rules. Some examples women dressed up to be seen in public. Women put on pantyhose
of these rules were as follows; and pearls to go to the grocery store. Men wore hats and suits to
work. Society was so proper and civilized.
Rule #1: We were required to be up at 6:00 AM even on weekends
to do chores. Fast forward to 2012. No one cares how they behave in public.
Rule #2: Saturday nights were spent practicing penmanship drills. Men and Women don't even care how they are seen in public. I
Rule #3: Children were meant to be seen and not heard. saw a couple the other day in full pajamas at the grocery store
! Really ! I was shocked and embar-
rassed for them. Everyone is in a rush to
go somewhere, I am just not sure where.
The pace of life hovers around warp
speed. The news is filled with natural
disasters, fighting and our government
flashing displays of bad behavior.
34 I admit I have taken you on a joy ride
thru part of my childhood and here is the
reason I even bring any of this up.

I would like to reinstate a rule listed
above from my childhood that I used as
an example as Rule #4. I hate when
someone younger than me calls me
“Miss”. Or “Sweetie” or “Hon”. To this
day I address my parents friends as Mr.
or Mrs. Even though I have known them
for decades, I would never call them
by their first names out of RESPECT.
Even in the workplace, you have much
younger bosses just because they are
from a different generation and they
have several degrees after their names.
I don't begrudge them, I just don't know
when mature adults such as myself were
bumped from the bus. I feel that as a
grown-up I have done the time and have
subsequently earned the right to be ad-
dressed and listened to as an Elder. I am
disappointed that younger people today
show no respect for their elders or may-
be they never knew they were supposed
to be respectful. I look at it as a lost art
that needs to be reinstated in 2012.

So today I am reminding everyone to
slow down their pace of life, learn to
appreciate and respect your elders and
overall just “BREATHE”.