How Fun Has Changed
Fun will never be same, but maybe it’s for the best
Throughout the years, the definition of fun has always been something that provides “amusement or enjoyment.” The definition may remain the same, but the interpretation has changed.
Approximately fifty years ago, people were having different kinds of fun. The decades I’d like to explore range from the 1970’s-1980’s. A time before gadgets, technology and instant communication.
Back when a “movie star” was a movie star. Presently, everyone is a star because everyone can be seen anywhere, anytime. In retrospect, there are types of fun that today’s generation will never experience. I mention this because the past is a gateway to the future. Lest not forget or doomed to repeat.
Let’s begin.
1. Automobiles/motorcycles
In the past, seatbelts were optional. There was no law requiring you to wear them. Granted it is a smart and reasonable law, but there was a sense of freedom knowing that it wasn’t mandatory.
This leads to bench seats. Bench seats allowed the passenger to enter your body space, allowing you to place your arm around her, while guiding the vehicle with one hand. Oh, what a feeling. Pure bliss. Gone.
Today’s generation sits divided (albeit safer). Potentially holding hands at best. Not the same sensation. Also, there were the days of two, five, twelve persons piling into the bed of a truck, unharnessed, flying down the interstate shouting through the wind and waving at cars. On colder days, today’s youth will never know the challenge of clamoring around the back sliding window, hoping to receive heat emitting from the cab. Only the strongest were rewarded. Perfect Darwinism.
Also, there were no “smog checks” to hinder you from modifying your engine to consume more fuel and go faster.
Pure Freedom. Motorcycles. Although it’s a safe, reasonable law now (thanks to Gary Busey) there was no helmet law back then. On a hot summer day, armed with only sunglasses, a babe on the back, there was no sensation like the warm wind running through your hair. No more. Also there were only motorcycles. No electric bikes or scooters which require no helmet, yet can actually be very dangerous. Motorcycles at least had the power to avoid accidents by acceleration and required a license.
2. The Park
There was a time when a “public park” meant anyone could use the park during operating hours.
Today you need a reservation for sports facilities and sections are often closed. Today everything is organized and controlled. Today’s youth can’t experience the adventure of going to a park, baseball glove dangling from your handlebars, waiting for someone to exit, so you can be summoned to play. Joining in and doing well then leaving, was a satisfactory day. You were the “man with no name.” You played and conquered. Not today. Too regulated and too many constrictions spoiling the socialization of youth.
3. Dance Clubs
They used to be everywhere. Thanks to “Saturday Night Fever” and “Soul Train” people stepped out to dance.
You couldn’t text someone to meet you there. You met strangers and what better way to get close to someone than to “shake, rattle and roll” with the opposite sex.
Afterwards, you conversed. Dancing was real fun. Movement expression. Granted, people still dance today, but alone in front of a camera. Where’s the socialization? Back then, that was the internet. Fun was on the dance floor.
4. Phones
We had phones, but they weren’t cellular. It was sitting on a desk or mounted on a wall. If you wanted to be fancy, you attached an extra long cord, so you could walk and talk freely around your abode.
Also, phones didn’t require charging. Keeping your phone charged was similar to the responsibility of a crying baby. You answered and hung up. That was it. Your brain was free to think, see, and create.
Today’s generation doesn’t know the liberating feeling of calling someone, hearing 10 rings, then hanging up. They weren’t home. You’d attempt later, and you went on with your day.
Later there were “answering machines,” but calls could be “screened” and maybe you’d return the call. No obligation. You call someone today and they answer wherever they are. It appears that every communication is crucial. You can text or leave a message. You can no longer say, “I didn’t receive your call.” Another diminished freedom.
Technology is beneficial for emergencies and medicine, but too often I hear young people say, “I can’t live without my phone.” This is sad.
Your phone (now a camera and information center) has become an addiction. Addictions 50 years ago consisted of tobacco and alcohol. Although unhealthier, people socialized directly with each other. There were laughs and interesting conversations that weren’t filtered through a gadget.
Today’s fun consists of ordering a craft-brewery apricot ale, playing with a gadget, then calling it a night. I suppose that’s fun.
I’m not saying technology isn’t necessary, but it shouldn’t control every facet of your life. Use your phone less. From time to time, take a breather, and look up.
Immerse yourself in your surroundings. Bask in the natural world.
People are still the greatest show on Earth. Be human. Be free. Live.
Today’s fun is healthier and safer.
Past generations experienced these types of fun so that future generations wouldn’t have to. Hopefully, we made it better for the next generation, who in turn will make it even better for the next.
There will always be fun. The types and forms may change, but one thing is certain. Be sure to have fun along the way.
