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These are Dark Times
But sometimes the dark brings out the best in us
I’m sure 30 or 40 years from now most of you will be telling your grandchildren about the time that you had to ‘social distance’ — the time when the whole of the world was in lockdown and everyone wore scary masks, a time of daily death counts and daily briefings from the president… who communicated with a now-defunct thing called social media.
(You’ll have to try to describe that to your holographic communication device-addicted grandchildren much like my Grandmother tried explaining what it was like in school to write on small chalkboards.)
Jaw-dropping, eyes wide — because leaders could not possibly be so fumbling and inept and people would never be persuaded en masse to swallow such bad advice — the grandchildren will lap it up.
And then the moment you say:
“But actually, they were the best days of our childhood…”
They’ll decide that you’re just exaggerating and conclude it’s just the fantasy of an aging mind. Bless Granny… she does like to dwell in the past.
These times remind me so much of my teenage years growing up in the UK.
Okay, now I sound like my parents who are about to tell a nostalgic story from WWII. Whenever we had visitors to the house that was the sole topic of conversation.
Just like their teenage years in the war, however, my teenage years were extraordinary times. They almost always are. Perhaps they were the worst of times for many families. My siblings and I remember them, however, as the best of times.
Here’s what the media says happened, in italics. (I’ve added my comments in parentheses):
In the Britain of the 1970s, power cuts and lengthy blackouts became a fact of life. The country’s electricity network had long been vulnerable to mechanical failure or industrial action. In December 1970, hospitals were forced to function on batteries and candles during a ‘work-to-rule’ strike.
(True. After my mum had a first mastectomy, we could only find her in the ward with a torch. At the sight of blood in drip bags, my brother fainted, hit the floor and rolled under…
