We called our plumber to investigate our mysterious basement sink woes. He snooped for a bit and said, “I’m surprised you haven't heard the sink gurgling when you run your dishwasher.” To which I replied, “We only run our dishwasher at bedtime, you know, when the utility rates are the lowest.” He looked me in the eyes and we chuckled, knowing some of what we both learned as children no longer applies in today’s world. My life is chock full of these sort of Baby Boomer contradictions.
Never, ever, get into a car with a stranger. Yet today, with the click of an app, I not only hand over my current location, destination and cell phone number to utter strangers, but I jump into their car as well. I might as well just tie a bow around my neck for goodness sake. So these days, BEFORE I get into any hired car I always follow this safety process:
1. Confirm car’s actual license plate matches with app.
2. Ask the driver who they are picking up?
3. Confirm destination
And then since lessons from my youth die hard, once I have followed those safety rules and exchanged niceties I politely make a short phone call. It goes something like this; “Hey, so I’ve just left and GPS says on 95N I will be arriving to you in 12 minutes. Yup, cannot wait to celebrate your graduation from the Police Academy.” Now, I sit back, make small talk with the driver knowing we are both aware I am meeting someone very strong with sleuthing skills and shoots a gun too.
My last driver politely waited for my “conversation” to end and said, “ You know, drivers are in more danger than passengers! We go though a thorough screening process, passengers don’t.” (I knew they listened!)
Never sit too close to the television screen. As a child I was told it would damage my eyesight forever. However, now I hold my cell phone right up in my face. And might I add, way longer than a thirty-minute episode of The Brady Bunch.
Only endorse a check in front of the bank teller at the bank. Now I sit at my kitchen counter signing checks, taking a couple pics and poof… they magically appear in my account! Just like Mike Teavee transported through the television in “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”!
Beware of strangers you meet on computers. When computers were introduced it was drilled into my head the people on the internet could very possibly be dangerous. Yet, my wedding docket lately is filled with happy, safe people who’ve swiped left or right. Who am I to judge whether meeting someone you don’t know on the internet is any safer than face to face?
Growing up seat belt laws weren't enforced, just recommended. So kids often slid across slippery leather seats like an amusement park ride. If your mom had to unexpectedly stop short her arm immediately released into your chest! Unless you were driving in a station wagon. Then kids sat in the “way back” around a pullout table or hung out the window. Yes, you read that right! If it were a long road trip kids rolled out their sleeping bags and slept back there too. These days some cars won’t even switch into gear without seat belts fastened.
As a young child smoking wasn't encouraged or discouraged. Second-hand smoke wasn't even on our radar. Same sort of philosophy applied for kids wearing helmets to ride bicycles and roller-skates. I am not bashing these lessons, just recognizing how very much our world has changed since I was a child.
Moral: Sometimes, you just don’t know what you don’t know.
in all seriousness,
A little thing you should know: Baby Boomers could be referred to as Ad Council babies too! Stop me if these are seared into your memory as well.
Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires. In 1947 Smokey the Bear Forest Fire Prevention ad campaign helped educate and reduce the number of acres lost annually to wildfire.
Keep America Clean. This anti-pollution ad campaign first aired on Earth Day in 1971 with a Native American crying as he walked alongside a stream littered with trash.
Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk. This slogan launched in 1983 and began the lifesaving trend of the Designate Driver aka DD.