Another Day in the Country: Obsolete and out-of-date
By PAT WICK
© Another Day in the Country
Being a woman of a certain age, I can't get used to paying attention to dates stamped on food telling me when I'm supposed to throw something away. "Look," I mumble to myself, "I figured out my own system — called the sniff test — long ago, and it worked for years before the government got involved."
The other day someone said to me, "You'd better throw out that whipping cream, it's a week past the date." I was horrified. "You've got to be kidding," I retorted, "it's not even sour and I can think of a dozen things to do with it after that!" "But it's out of date." I don't think so!
My father lost his tie bar and my sister went into a Penney store in Oregon to see if she could find a replacement. Walking up to the 20-year-old clerk in menswear, she asked, "Could you show me your tie bars?" The girl looked blank, "What?" "A tie bar," Jessica enunciated the words, "you know, one of those gold bars that hold your tie in place?" The girl confessed, "I have no idea what you are talking about — I've never seen one. Maybe in jewelry?"
So Jessica made the trek to the Jewelry Department with the same query. "We haven't carried those for ages," said the man behind the counter. "You could try Goodwill. I was there the other day and they had a big selection." Now, tell me, are tie bars really obsolete? Or, is this just city stuff? Surely you can buy them in the country.
The TV antenna kept shorting out at my parents' house and Jessica took the plug to the hardware guy. "I've got one of these at home, too," he said, "but we don't have replacement parts — you've got to get a new one. Dad looked at Mom and said, "Well, Martha, I guess we're obsolete, too."
This weekend, we drove in to Taco Bell to get a vegetarian's delight: Tostados. The voice on the machine said, "I'm sorry, we don't make those any more." What? No Tostados? We've eaten them for 30 years with great relish and we're not ready for them to go. "Call corporate and complain," said the young attendant, trying to be sympathetic. I guess, I can understand obsolescence happening to my 87-year-old parents, but not ME, for Pete's sake.
I realize that you never really stop and contemplate that the era you are most familiar with will become out-of-date, that the things you grew up with will be termed antiques. However, there's a generation always pushing forward from behind and they have different ideas and a whole new set of interests. Eventually they will domineer the market with their taste.
As I cruise the grocery store, the fast food stop or the shopping mall, I'm reminded that times are changing. Go car shopping and I'm horrified at the prices, remembering when I bought a brand new Chevy for $3,500 and now it's 10 times that amount. I find myself wondering what's next? I'm semi-literate on a computer, I can buy things on-line, and pay some bills on-line but there's a lot of technology I just don't like. What will I need to learn to accept beside M&M's that are purple and pink?
I'm beginning to feel like I'm on the Endangered Species List. When I was growing up, I devoured books and grew up knowing the names of flowers and birds. When I go to school with daffodils and tulips in my hand for the children to draw, they look at me with bewilderment when I ask them the name of the flower. These kids know about video games, cell phones, and MTV and have memorized all the words to hit tunes long before they memorized their multiplication tables. I, in turn, couldn't tell you the names of very many current recording artists, let alone know all the words to songs much beyond Zippity Do Dah.
OK, I confess. We came out here to Kansas to hide from the fast pace of technology. And yet we're dependent upon e-mail to even get the column into the newspaper. I just wanted another day in the country with its attendant simplicity so that I could somehow side step all the issues in the city. I wanted to know my neighbors, have personal service, and see family owned farms. Bottom line, I want things to be like they used to be. Ever heard that before? Oh, dear, I'm dated!
