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This story is by Joyce Gibson, and has been added to the site with their permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions. The story was collected by Joyce Gibson, transcribed by Elizabeth Lamont and added to the site by Bruce Logan.
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We were born before TV, penicillin, polio shots, frozen foods, Zerox, contact lenses, videos and the pill. We were before radar, credit cards, split atoms, laser beams and ballpoint pens, before dishwashers, tumble driers, electric 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 house husbands, computer dating 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, artificial hearts, word processors, or young men wearing earrings. For us “time sharing” meant togetherness, a “chip” was a piece of wood or 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 that fastened a collar to a shirt and “going all the way” meant staying on a double decker bus to the terminus. In our day, cigarette smoking was fashionable, “grass” was mown, “coke” was kept n the coalhouse, a “joint” was a piece of mean you ate on Sundays and “pot” was something you cooked it in. “Rock music” was a fond mother’s lullaby, a “gay person” was the life and soul of the party, while “aids” just meant beauty treatment or help for someone in trouble.

We who were born before 1940 must be a hardy bunch when you think of the way in which the world has changed and the adjustments we have had to make. No wonder there is a generation gap today — but — by the Grace of God, we have survived!

(Paraphrased from Mr. Bridge’s Tea Towel)

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