Opus 2015-64: Ode to Old: The good old days

Some question whether they were really that good. 

Memory plays tricks on us in many ways but works just fine in others.  Some things were better when I was a child.  We had a lot more variety and choices in life.  We did not know the concept of one-size-fits-all.  Even that has been changed to one-size-fits-most.

Remember when you bought a shirt and you had to have your neck measured because they came in half inch increments.  If you wanted long sleeves, you needed to know how long your arms were.  Now in most stores you have a choice of S, M, L and XL.  In better stores they will have tall sizes.  Specific sizes are still available in the expensive store but even they carry many styles in the limited choices.

Remember shoes that fit.  When I go to the sporting goods store they seem to have one width:  M.  Since I used to measure at 4E, that doesn’t do well for me.

How about notebook paper?  I still have notebooks that I can’t find paper for any more.  You used to have a multitude of sizes and numbers of holes.  It was exciting just filling your notebook.  Now it seems to be 8 ½  by 11 for all needs.

I teach 8th grade.  I remember when I was at that level.  I had a choice of four foreign languages, five different industrial arts and a full program of interscholastic sports.  We had choices and we were scheduled for our choices without the use of computers.  I had a semester of art and a semester of music.  Now we have none of those but we do have study hall and office practice.

There is one area that things have really improved:  Yearbooks.  When I was in middle school they were paper bound and all black and white.  Now they are hard bound, glossy and full color.  This is called progress by educators.

homo unius libri