Nostalgia, from the Greek, means a sense of pain, sadness or yearning
to return to times gone by. It's not just homesickness or recalling fond
memories, though it is often used in that sense. And although not everyone uses
it in this way, I tend to use it to embody an entire era, one in which I had
not even been born, rather than just memories contained within my own
life.
Sometimes I say I'm old-fashioned or conventional (more
in my taste than in my actual ideas and opinions--in that case, vintage might
be a more appropriate word), but mostly, or perhaps more accurately, I am
nostalgic. I watch old movies and old television shows, and new movies and
television shows that take place in that particular period of time, and I
wonder why we thought it was necessary to evolve certain aspects of that
culture into what we have today. Because today's culture is lacking some parts,
parts that should have persisted, from that era. This has nothing to do with
the technology overload or anything like that--I'm talking about our
communication, interaction and the overall way in which we present ourselves on
a day to day basis.
I'll admit, I may be whistling dixie, and you can chalk a
lot of this up to me having seen way too many episodes of
The Dick Van Dyke
Show and
Mad Men, but there's something I really love about the fact
that everything seemed so much more orderly and
comme il faut about
American life fifty or sixty years ago. These examples may have you scratching
your head, wondering how I could call Dick Van Dyke in any way orderly and
organized, or any of the characters' personal lives in
Mad Men normal
and as they should be, but there are things that exist in those shows that no
longer exist.
Today, everything is about comfort. We wear jeans to work
(or we do where I work), nobody carries a proper hat or an overcoat, we all
have sweatshirts and stocking hats when the weather calls for them, and we yell
down the hall rather than politely phone someone in their office (though in my
situation, not all of our phones are hooked up, so that one wouldn't be
possible anyway).
But it's not just what they wore. They had a certain way
of acting--a politesse, at least outwardly, that has all but disappeared from
the modern world. Some people might call it disingenuous, or phony, but it was
correct--tactful, polite, and appropriate. It was being respectful and treating
other people like they were people--not good or bad people, or well-liked
people or disliked people, just human beings. There are things you can say in
certain company, and there are things you absolutely
don't say in
certain company. People held umbrellas for strangers and walked them to
their cars. They held doors and elevators and didn't panic at the idea of
saying "hello, how are you," to someone they happened to be stuck
riding 10 floors up with.
Back then, you kept your thoughts or opinions to yourself
when it wasn't your place to speak up, and you addressed certain people with
respect whether you liked them or not. While some of this propriety has managed
to survive, at least in certain circles or for certain people, a lot of it has
disintegrated. Lots of people now say whatever they want whenever, wherever,
and to whomever they happen to be in the vicinity of.
While this may seem more real and honest--qualities which
have become more valuable over the years as politeness and respect have become
less valuable for whatever reason--I still feel like there is a line somewhere
that's being crossed. It's just that so many years have passed, and so many
people have stepped on that line, that we can't quite see where it is
anymore.
Call me sentimental, but i think it'd be nice if everyone
still wore suits and high heels and pencil skirts. The world would seem to me
more civilized, less cutthroat and ugly, as the news inevitably portrays it. On
the other hand, then I'd have to learn how to do my hair so it looked perfect
all day. Maybe sweatpants, cursing like a sailor, and instant messaging are not
so bad after all.
We're going back--back to the future,
man!
Are there some customs or mannerisms
you'd like to see make a comeback,
or do I just need to get over the
fact that I was born in the wrong part of the century?
Share in the comments.
PS: NaNoWriMo
starts in eight days. Have you picked your topic yet?
