Born in the wrong decade
Do you ever feel you were born in the wrong time period? Perhaps your interests and characteristics seem suited more for another decade? In which decade do you feel you would better fit: the Dust Bowl years, the Roaring Twenties, or maybe the long-haired 1970s? Or maybe it could be this entire century just isn’t working out. Am I alone in my nostalgia for a time I never experienced? Does anyone else feel chronologically cramped? And is there a way we can incorporate our old souls into our inevitable modern lives?
Let’s have fun…I want to pick a time I prefer.
I personally believe my personality belongs in the 1930s-1940s period. Men and women alike wore fashionable hats (bad hair days were thus simply non-existent.) Gentlemen watched their mouths around ladies; handshakes were equivalent to a person’s trust; the shine on American automobiles glimmered as beautifully as the bright side of the full moon. Billie Holliday, the Glenn Miller Band and Frank Sinatra crackled out of the sound boxes of the family radio, and a mug of hot black coffee was 25 cents. Ah yes, the Mayberry days.
If I could choose one thing to bring back from the good ole’ days, though I’ve only lived 20 of the past 80 years since the beginning of the 1930s, I would resurrect the acceptability of patriotism. I would revel in an America where having pride in one’s home country was…cool. Perhaps it wasn’t as cool as James Dean’s red, leather jacket, or for that case, Michael Jackson’s, but it wasn’t un-cool to love your country. Sadly, most in Hollywood refuse to even visit our veterans. What a contrast to the 1940s when Hollywood actors actually served their countries, actors such as Jimmy Stuart, Charlton Heston, Johnny Carson, Paul Newman, Buddy Ebson, John Wayne, Don Knotts, Eddie Albert (earned a Bronze Star) and so many more, including Audie Murphy, recipient of the Medal of Honor.
I wish I could have tasted the days when a true-blue American could hang up Old Glory without ridicule or hum “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” before being labeled a radical nationalist. It’s sad to listen to our own government tag patriotic Americans as violent extremists, radical hate-mongers or identifying us as akin to Timothy McVeigh. What happened to the days when a citizen didn’t need to fear displaying the personal pride of his country?
When did being American become shameful?
The argument stating the two world wars of the first half of the 19th century was the main contributor to the intense patriotism and unity felt in the United States at that time can certainly not be denied. Americans felt a tinge of that brotherly love in the days following Sept. 11, 2001. Let’s not let tragedy force us to fuse together. “We will never forget.” Remember those words? Americans declared them on Dec. 8, 1941 after the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor. We cried them again on Sep. 12, 2001. Let us also never forget Oct. 19, 1781, the day American Revolutionaries won for us liberty from England, and the promise of a new future full of freedom and opportunity. The day we forget it is the day we lose it.
Let’s bring back the golden years. Perhaps there will never be another Sinatra (Michael Buble does come close though), but it is possible to restore the sentiments of honesty, common sense and courage as American citizens.
Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative, Christian or not, there should be no reason to be sorry for being an American.
Though we may not live in the decade of fedoras and feathered hats, we can still strive to live in a society where gentlemen and ladies of good character are proud to say they live in a country founded on faith – instead of denying it. Wow…how the times have changed.
