The Good Old Days?

The good old days?

Recently a friend of mine from high school posted on Face Book about how today's generation struggles to read an anolog clock. Sheepishly, I had to admit that I had missed the boat on insisting that my daughter become proficient in this particular skill.

Digital seemed to work just fine for her, and life went on. My friend's point was that as parents we should make sure that our kids know how to tell time both ways. I whole-heartedly agreed with him, until I read another comment in response to his posting. 

Another friend of his pointed out that among other things he didn't know how to "hitch up a mule, prime a pump or read a sexton." His reasoning, of course, was that in 2018 he had no need to do so. What was required even fifty years ago is no longer needed, and although knowing how to do it might be more of a novelty, will it actually affect day to day life?

For the majority of my life I wore a wrist watch, an anolog watch at that, often times embellished with of all things Roman numerals. Today I wear a Fit Bit, and most of the time I check my phone to see what time it is. I can adjust my thermostat using an app, and can talk to the person ringing my doorbell while grocery shopping. 

I never want to discount the good old days, because I think we can always glean from our past, but I wonder if we need to be more discriminating about what we keep, and what we choose to let go?  Challenging ourselves to keep up with current technology might be something to aspire to as we age. 

For me, though, I still choose to have an anolog clock in my kitchen, because I like the visual it gives me when needing to know how much time I have before I have to leave. I don't have a problem with it still being taught in schools, but it might be left up to each individual as to whether they use it or not.