THE SURVIVORS
                             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We  were  born  before  television,  before penicillin, polio shots, frozen
foods,  Xerox,  contact  lenses,  videos, Frisbees and "the pill".  We were
before  radar,  credit  cards,  laser  beams  and  ballpoint  pens;  before
dish-washers,  tumble-dryers, electric blankets, air conditioners, drip dry
clothes - and before man walked on the Moon.
 
We  got  married  first  and  THEN lived together (how quaint can you be?).
Divorce  was  something that happened to Film Stars.  We were certainly not
before  the  differnce  between  the  sexes  were discovered; but were were
before  sex  changes.   We  made  do with what we had, and we were the last
generation  to  think  you  needed  a  husband to have a baby.  For us time
sharing meant togetherness, not Spanish holiday homes.
 
We  were  before  day-care centres, group homes and disposable nappies.  We
had  never  heard FM radio or cassettes; or knew of artificial hearts, word
processors,  yoghurt,  or  men  wearing  ear-rings.   We typed letters with
manual typewriters, did computations by hand, and used carbon paper to make
copies.   We  used  telephones  without buttons and 'fax' was something you
looked  up  in an encyclopaedia.  We did business with handshakes and trust
and somehow it all worked.
 
We  thought  fast  food was what you ate at Lent, a Big Mac was an oversize
raincoat,  and  crumpet we had with tea.  We existed before house-husbands,
gay  rights,  computer  dating  and  dual  careers,  and when 'a meaningful
relationship'  meant  getting  along  well with your cousins, and sheltered
accommodation was where you waited for a bus.
 
Before  1940, "Made in Japan" meant junk, the term "making out" referred to
how  you did your exams, a "stud" was something that fastened a collar to a
shirt, and "going all the way" meant staying on a double-decker to the 'bus
depot.   Pizzas, McDonalds, and instant coffee were unheard of.  In our day
cigarette smoking was fashionable, "grass" was mown, "coke" was kept in the
coal-hole,  a  "joint" was a piece of meat you had for Sunday dinner, "pot"
was  something  you  cooked  in, and cold turkey was what you had on Boxing
Day.
 
Rock  music  was a lullaby, Eldorado was ice cream and a gay person was the
life  and  soul  of  the party and nothing more, whilst AIDS were for those
with   hearing   difficulties.    We   played   with   Dinky   toys,   wore
liberty-bodices,  took  daily  doses  of cod liver oil, drank Ovaltine, ate
porridge, and listened to Dick Barton, the Goon Show, Workers' Playtime and
Housewives  Choice.   A  chip was a piece of wood or fried potato, hardware
meant  nuts  and  bolts  and 'software' wasn't a word.  In our time closets
were  for  clothes, not for "coming out of", bunnies were small rabbits and
dishes were for washing, not for receiving programmes from "out-of-space".
 
We  were  born when everything in Woolworths cost a penny, and for sixpence
you could take a tram ride, go to the cinema and buy an ice cream.
 
We  who  were  born before 1940 must be a hardy bunch when you think of the
ways  in  which  the  world  has changed and the adjustments we have had to
make.  No wonder we get confused and that today there is a generation gap.
             BUT ... by the grace of God ... we have survived!
 

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