In My Day.......................

I was thinking back about some of the posts I have written and I think that some of my readers must think I'm some sort of curmudgeon of sorts. You know the kind of geezer who sits on his porch, shakes his stick at the young lads and every statement he makes begins with; " In my day........"

This is because most of the following themes that reoccur in my posts on a regular basis while.

1. Contemporary Music Is Crap - I have expressed this sentiment so many times that most people must think that I sit at home listening to my Sanyo casette player listening to music that was released before Kenyans even knew what a cd player was while high speed dubbing a tape for the cute girl next door.

2. Relationships Of This Generation Are Crap - Don't get me wrong our parents generation didn't have a walk in the park but the reason many of them are hitting the 20 year mark and longer is that they knew it wasn't easy and even if they didn't society made them stick together so they made it work. While on the other hand look at us? At the first sign of trouble, people get with the stepping; divorce papers and all. When my folks hooked up, my mum used to walk to town on most days to work since they weren't doing all that well while my dad went to law school as they lived in their one room digs, needless to say with her support he eventually came to the good. Those stories are few and far in between nowadays everyone wants to hook up with the complete article be it male or female, no time to wait for potential. What about courting? People just don't take the time to woo and be wooed anymore, gone are the days of yore when letters were exchanged alongside eagerly awaited moments spent together; try that nowadays and the person you are wooing will have someone on the side as they wait for you that is if they don't lose interest first.

3. People Can't Parent To Save Their Lives - Once again I will issue my disclaimer, parenthood isn't a walk in the park but even so, it is no excuse for the mess parents of our generation have created. I look at the way children act nowadays and I want to find their mothers and fathers and slap them silly. Nowadays too many parents are trying to be their kids' friends instead of parents, remember the good old days when we all had a healthy fear of our parents? Nowadays most kids don't respect let alone fear their parents. It's all this new age touchy feely stuff I tell you!

4. They Just Don't Make Friends Like They Used To - Many of the people of my parent's generation have pal's whom they go back 10 - 20 years back with. I have two and I know some people have more but it is so hard to make good reliable friends nowadays. I guess it has something do with the age of individualism we are living in.

5. People Just Don't Have The Values They Used To - Does anyone remember how a long time back you could leave the doors to your house open during the day? How you could let your kids / small brothers and sisters play with any of the kids outside without getting scared of something happening? How if you lost something if someone found it they would actually try and find you? Well that was then and this is now. You can't just trust anyone nowadays!

6. They Just Don't Make Stuff Like They Used To - When Supa Orange Snack disappeared off the shelves I knew we were in trouble. Yes I'm talking about junk food. When the Cadbury's factory in Kenya was closed or productions scaled down ( I know it was one of the two), they began importing our regular brands from Egypt and I cried myself to sleep after I took a bite of

7. When Did We Let Such Things Seem Ordinary - This one is related to point number 5 as it is about values. But remember when people had "morals" please note the brackets because I know people still used to do nasty stuff way back when but at least they used to keep it under wraps. Read M's latest post about how people air their dirty linen in public and you will know what I'm talking about. Also I did find it shocking that before I left Kenya the fact that so many of the night spots used to have hos in them, I remember a time to hook up with a ho; you either went to some dingy pubs or F1/F2. But now go to Choices, Pavements, Carnivore and wherever else you'll find them. The fact that there all over means that people don't mind picking them up in the open irregardless what people think. Or if you don't get out at night, have you seen how people dress nowadays? I remember way back when wearing a mini anywhere outside an evening function or the privacy of your own home was blasphemous but in Kenya I used to see so many girls dressing like they are on the way to the club, and this was 8 am. Don't get me wrong guys are far from perfect, nowadays too many young dudes wear rap couture (jeans big enough to house a family of midgets) instead of trying to cultivate their own personal style.
Frankly I have no problem with freedom and all the good that it brings but I do think that at times we take it waaaaaaaaaaay too far!

8. Money Doesn't Go As Far As It Used To - Kenyan money is hardly worth the money it is printed on anymore. Remember the days when 100/= was alot of money? The days when fries cost 5/= a pack? Despite all the advances Kenya has made economically, the Kenyan shilling just isn't as strong as it used to be in terms of inflation. Yes I know some Narcolyte will come out of the woodwork yodelling about how the goverment has made the economy grow by 5% every year and such but it still doesn't explain why more and more everyday items are out of reach for ordinary Kenyans. Anyway that's my opinion, I'm not going to budge or discuss economics.

Anyway I feel I've said enough. I'll be honest and say that there are alot of good things that have happened over the past few years ie internet access, political freedom, increased capitalist influence in Kenyan business. But for every one thing we gain we seem to lose another. So I'm not grouchy about what we've gained but I'm grouchy about what we've lost and are losing. Let's appreciate the good times while they last, I'm off to nap now..........