This past week, my friend Surya posted a very funny yet true clip on his blog that gets you thinking about what we have today and how little we really seem to appreciate it.

You seriously need to watch this:



So it got me thinking about how much things have changed since I was in school. I don't even have to go back too far - say to when I graduated from College in 1980. (Yup - I'm THAT old :) )

So back then, we had no cell phones, no Blackberries, no CD's, VCR's were new, most people still had phones that were screwed to the wall, and the internet was barely there.

So here we are in 2009 - "Everything is so amazing, and nobody is happy."
Flashback to 1980 - "Things were not too amazing, and people were happier."
Flashback even further to say 1973 - "Things were not really amazing, and people were much happier."

In the interest of not boring you, I think I'll end up breaking my 'flashback' blog into several episodes. (Think LOST).

So flashback to 1973 (Cue the LOST Whoosh sound...) - I was living on the West Island of Montreal and starting High School. We had a very long 1969 Chrysler New Yorker with lots of new electric options - Power Windows, Door Locks, Antenna, a foot button that changed the radio station etc. That was our 'Blackberry' of 1973.

I started making short films then. I recently converted one of my first films and uploaded it to the internet. We forget what life was like back then, until we watch a film and see that black dial desk phone and typewriter. In the Police office - the Captain's desk has NO computer, but lots of files. Look at your desk today. Shut off your computer and Blackberry. Can you work? Don't know what to do?

How soon we forget how business used to run with no PC's or Laptops, or Blackberry's or Cell Phones.

Our house had one phone. Wall mounted. Standard Issue. Dial. Probably white, later to be Harvest Gold or some 70's Green. Long cord so Mom could talk while she cooked. No call waiting. No answering machine. Nobody home or on the phone? Call back later or get off your butt, cross the street and ring the doorbell.

One TV. Black and White. (Finally got color in 1975.) Get up to turn it on. Get up to change the channel. Get up to turn the volume up or down. Get up to slap it when the Vertical hold started going wonky. No Cable or Satellite. Only Rabbit Ears. (Click if you are confused.) Channel 12 (CFCF - CTV), Channel 6 - (CBMT - CBC), and the American channels out of NY, Maine or Vermont or somewhere just close enough that on a good day you got a pretty clear picture, with periodic snow flurries. Channel 3 - WCAX (CBS) Vermont, Channel 5 - WPTZ (NBC) - Plattsburgh NY, North Pole, NY, Burlington, VT and Channel 8 - WMTW (ABC) - Poland Spring ME, but actually transmitting from Mount Washington, NH. Missed the show? Too bad. (No VCR or PVR or TiVO)

Not a lot of amazing stuff (other than the 1969 Chrysler New Yorker). Certainly no computer in the house and no internet or text messaging.

(All the teens reading this say in unison - "So what did you do????")

Well when I think back, we were never really bored and we were much happier. How is that possible? Well, we rode our bikes EVERYWHERE. We went to the park in the summer to play games and discover things. We built snow forts in the winter and went toboganning. We made smoke bombs with a chemistry set and burned magnesium. We strung two cans and a string together and ran it across the road between my house and my friend Bruce's house.

We built go-carts and raced them down the street. We read books and comics - Superman, Superboy were my faves. We listened to the radio. We hiked in the natural areas that were not built up and found rocks and toads and all kinds of cool stuff. I found a rock I thought was a meteorite and still have it. (Maybe it is.)

We watched freight trains and counted the cars and dreamed of hopping one to California. We always found something to do that usually cost nothing and was a lot of fun. Time moved pretty slowly in the summer, but we were rarely bored.

We forget what it was like, and that is too bad. Our kids don't even know what it was like back then, and that is even sadder.

Maybe things were not so 'amazing' back then, but we sure were happier and appreciated what we DID have.

Stay tuned for more 'flashbacks.' I'm starting to like this.....

Thanks Surya.