If there is one thing I have heard over and over since the Covid Crisis started is “Everything has changed” Well actually for us older folk some of it seems familiar or like opening a closet full of memories. In that vein let me share some meandering thoughts.

Some of these adaptations we are collectively doing were the way things were done decades ago. Grocery stores having staff fill orders and the customer picking them up. There are the deli’s and eateries doing curbside pickup. Years ago in metro areas there were workmen that ordered their lunch the day before hand and picked it up on the way to work.

We see a return to people looking in on each other and young folks checking up on aging parents and grandparents. In the course of conversation I learned something I had not considered before. From time to time I mention we need to revive the community service clubs. Well I got a new perspective as to why it doesn’t happen. Perhaps we missed a very important part of the equation. I was recently told the old service clubs have the image of being an old folks pastime.

Think about it, if we as a society want young people to be involved we have to engage them with a purpose that is of interest to them. It is not about changing the deeds performed it’s about how we deliver the services performed in a changing world. That should not be hard to imagine after all when we were young the call to service was attractive to be part of something. Perhaps we have stressed the service needs and duty to be performed without stressing the fun portion of belonging and being part of something bigger than ourselves.

Years ago I was a Kinsman, we engaged in any number of community projects. At the same time we never took ourselves too seriously.

Now apply the same community and commercial services that are taking place around us by necessity that I think will transform how we do things. More people will work from home. More consumers will shop online and local brick and mortar stores will feature knowledgeable service staff. The environmental issues will improve because of the changes taking place in society through science and technology. It will be a case of not so much what we do but how we do it and how we adapt our attitudes toward change.
Here is a simple change it’s the environmentally friendly dryer. Yes the old cloths line is making a comeback. Mind you here on the farm it’s been a fixture for decades. Another old practice has returned. Families growing their own garden and canning preserves and recycling products for reuse.

Funny thing is recycling is a prime example of change. For many it is new. Thinking back it was part of Social Credits agenda in BC going back to the mid 1980s. Even before that there were recycling campaigns during WWII. People recycled rubber and pots and pans.

Even in our own family, members have returned to board games and entertain themselves.. Some are actually reading books and re discovering music they never heard before.

In short we are witnessing a mixture of change some with a view to new ideas and in other cases perhaps some in the younger generation are discovering who we were decades ago.

When forethought, necessity, and ingenuity come together, perhaps some adversity and sacrifice is not all bad. It is how we deal with adversity that shapes the outcome of how well we managed our predicament. Then again, some of the changes the young folk see as new are the things we never taught them and they remain secrets in the stories we never told them.

Then again it would be hard for them to understand living in a world where radio was the link to the world. Some parts of the country didn’t have electricity until the nineteen sixties or some still had an outhouse in the yard as there was no indoor plumbing well into the late forties and fifties.

Part of my message is this. The world has either slowed down or paused for a moment in time and as seniors we can take a little time to tell them about societies past so they can better shape their future. It should also be remembered not all change is something new, it’s merely the past revisited.

Young people are eager to learn about our world – as it was –  we just have to tell the story.

 

 

 

Fred Steele