My Observations and Fret

I recently returned from about a month vacation in Florida.  I definitely had to escape the cold weather coming down from the north to Texas. Anything below 50s is too cold for me! Two weeks of that time my wife and I spent with my best childhood friend, Ron and his wife who vacationing in Florida from Ohio. Loads of fun as we relived old times and shared the laughter of the shenanigans and situations we got ourselves in while we were in elementary and high school.  He hasn't changed much except less hair and more wrinkles. The sense of humor was still there and the smile and laughter I remember remained.

While just he and I  were hanging around together shooting pool or something we not only talked about politics, but how different growing up in the 50s and 60s was as compared to today. As we  looked around the resort where we were staying, most folks were not really socializing with one another but had their phones in their hands, surfing the net, texting and doing whatever you do on today's cell phones. The same thing in the restaurants we visited. Couples together having dinner each engaged on the phone instead in of one another.  I was a little shocked. The cellphone is now taking place of social conversation.

The same goes with today's teens and young adults. Numerous studies found that our young people are not developing the social skills necessary to adequately compete in today's world and that scores on aptitude tests have fallen over the past 5 years. Many psychologists have concluded it is the result of the technology age we live in.  The technology has made our lives better for the most part but it is now taking charge of us instead of vice versa and that is why I am dismayed.

Just yesterday while my daughter and my granddaughter were visiting I tried to engage a conversation with my granddaughter and she had her head buried in her I-Phone so it is on my home front as well.  These are  kids that are not engaged in what is going on around them but the social media the cellphone brings and that concerns me because they will lead our nation sometime in the future.

Of course our parents and grandparents had the same concern with we baby boomers that we would be upcoming leaders so am I fretting over nothing?

I am Carl Hoffman of The 60s Official Site.  Please visit the largest and most visited 60s site on the web.

What Happened to Christmas as I Remember It?

Christmas time is my favorite time of the year.  As we age we look more back in time and instead of forward.  I think the reason for this is that our memories of  fun events are etched more vividly in our memory bank when we were young. I recall living in Ohio during the 50s & 60s how we hoped and prayed for a White Christmas. It just did not seem like Christmas unless it snowed.  Maybe it was Bing Crosby song and movie "White Christmas" that made us wish for it.  I also remember the TV shows that had a Santa Claus that read letters from young boys and girls and on Christmas Eve you would see him pack his bag and turn out the lights to end that year's show.  You knew he was on his way that night to your house to bring the goodies.  Do you remember special Christmas programs during the season.  Never were the shows called holiday shows.  These special presentations added so much more to the excitement of the season.  You see a few of these programs now but not many.  Why?  I know but you figure it out. 

I recall the Christmas season was truly a great time of charity and love and I believe it still is with one exception.  The assault from minority section of the population is something we never experienced during the 1960s.  Christmas Day  is a federal holiday and has been since 1870 when President Ulysses D. Grant made it a legal holiday.

I recall how the expression Merry Christmas was given with no hesitation not too long ago.  I also remember how we celebrated the season in our schools with musical assemblies. Christmas decorations  including the Nativity scene  were seen throughout the city without a complaint.  Today it is norm to try to remove a special meaning of the celebration when it offends just a few persons. that over 90% of the U.S. population recognizes.   I believe in freedom of religion not freedom from.  

Controversy and criticism continues in the present-day, where some Christian and non-Christians have claimed that an affront to Christmas (dubbed a "war on Christmas" by some) is ongoing. In the United States there has been a tendency to replace the greeting Merry Christmas with Happy Holidays. Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union have initiated court cases to bar the display of images and other material referring to Christmas from public property, including schools. Such groups argue that government-funded displays of Christmas imagery and traditions violate the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which prohibits the establishment by Congress of a national religion. In 1984, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Lynch vs. Donnelly that a Christmas display (which included a Nativity scene) owned and displayed by the city of Pawtucket, Rhode Island did not violate the First Amendment but in November 2009, the Federal appeals court in Philadelphia endorsed a school district's ban on the singing of Christmas carols.  What a shame.  We sang them in our school as part of the Christmas program.  Today due to trying not to offend anybody, the Christmas vacation iss now called Winter Break in the public schools. 

In the private sphere also, it has been alleged that any specific mention of the term "Christmas" or its religious aspects was being increasingly censored, avoided, or discouraged by a number of advertisers and retailers. In response, the American Family Association and other groups have organized boycotts of individual retailers. In the United Kingdom there have been some minor controversies, one of the most famous being the temporary promotion of the Christmas period as Winterval by Birmingham City Council in 1998. There were also protests in November 2009 when the city of Dundee promoted its celebrations as the Winter Night Light festival, initially with no specific Christmas references.

 

The attack has also gone to cable TV on Comedy Central on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart who in most cases has no appeal to the baby boomers.  His appeal is for the younger generation who seem to admire him and look at his show as real news. It has become a pitiful situation when he sells what he shovels as news and comedy. 

 

I remember the smiles, the laughter, the wide eyes of amazement from the young children, beautiful decorations and more importantly  the real reason we celebrate Christmas,   My God help us never to forget what we are celebrating and help us defend the true meaning of Christmas and our right to celebrate it.  Merry Christmas to all even to non believers.

Do You Need A Fix?

If you love the great music from the 50s and 60s decade, then there is nothing like starting your day off with a oldies fix or boost.  On my site The 60s Official Site, I have added a daily 5-song medley of songs from the 50s and 60s decade to start your day off right.  Each day a new 5-song medley is posted for your listening enjoyment.  This great music is posted NLT 7:00 AM Easter Time Zone USA.  Enjoy and get your feet a tappin' and put a smile on your face as we look back at a more simpler time.  Here is the link so you can check it our for yourself :   http://www.the60sofficialsite.com/dailyoldiesfix/Daily-Oldies-Fix.html

Also, be sure to check out Soundtrack of the 60s as DJ Neal Stevens plays the hits you were listening to the current month of a year from the 60s decade.  You can hear this only on The 60s Official Site.

This Stranger Entered Our Home During the 50s

A few years after I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our small Ohio town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around from then on.

As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my young mind, he had a special niche. My parents were complementary instructors: Mom taught me good from evil, and Dad taught me to obey. But the stranger...he was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries and comedies.

If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the answers about the past, understood the present and even seemed able to predict the future! He took my family to the first major league ball game. He made me laugh, and he made me cry. The stranger never stopped talking, but Dad didn't seem to mind.

Sometimes, Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to the kitchen for peace and quiet. (I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to leave.)

Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the stranger never felt obligated to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our home... Not from us, our friends or any visitors. Our longtime visitor, however, got away with four-letter words that burned my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush. My Dad didn't permit the liberal use of alcohol. But the stranger encouraged us to try it on a regular basis. He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (much too freely!) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing.

I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked... And NEVER asked to leave.

More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family. He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first. Still, if you could walk into my parents' den today, you would still find him sitting over in his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures.
His name?.... .. ...
We just call him 'TV.'

He has a wife now....We call her 'Computer.'

Remember when life was a lot more simpler? Visit The 60s Official Site