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In the good old days.
We were born before television, before penicillin, polio shorts, frozen food, Xerox, plastic, contact lenses, videos, Frisbees and the Pill. We were before radar, credit cards, split atoms, laser beams and ball point pens; before dishwashers, tumble dryers, electronic blankets, air conditioners, drip-dry clothes… and before man walked on the moon.

We got married first and then lived together (how quaint can you be?). We thought fast food was what you ate in Lent, a Big Mac was an oversized raincoat and “crumpet” we had for tea. We existed before househusbands, computer dating, dual careers and when a “meaningful relationship” meant getting along with cousins, and sheltered accommodation was where you waited for a bus.

We were before day care centres, group homes and disposable nappies. We never heard of FM radio, tape decks, electronic typewriters, word processors, yogurt and young men wearing earrings.

For us”time-sharing” meant togetherness, a “chip” was a piece of wood or a fried potato, “hardware” meant nuts and bolts and “software” wasn’t a word.

Before 1940 “Made in Japan” meant junk, the term “making out” referred to how you did in your exams, “stud” was something fastened to a collar to a shirt and “going all the way” meant staying on a bus to the terminal.

Pizzas, McDonalds and instant coffee were unheard of. Cigarette smoking was fashionable, “grass” was mown, “coke” was kept in a coal-house, a “joint” was a piece of meat and “pot” was something you cooked in. “Rock-music” was a grandmother’s lullaby, “Eldora do” was an ice-cream, “a gay person” was the life and soul of the party and nothing more, while “aids” just meant beauty treatment or help for someone in trouble.

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