Growing up in Ohio in the 40s and 50s, May was the month that school let out toward the end of the month. It was an agricultural climate then, and the kids had to get back to their farms to help with everything that had to do with the harvesting of crops. And there was a lot to do.
But not everyone fit into this category. Since Middletown was a steel town, a large part of the population worked at the Armco steel mill. This was hot, occasionally dangerous work, especially in the rolling mill with the extremely hot ovens for melting the steel slabs and rolling them into the proper sizes. My grandfather, Julius Svarda, died in that mill; I never found out the exact reason, but it couldn’t have been very pleasant.
But for us kids, being out for the summer was the greatest; summer being May, June, July and August. (Back to school was always the day after Labor Day in September.) What then? Well, we hit the swimming pools from after breakfast until time to get home for dinner, and became very brown with tanned skin and bleached hair from the chlorine. Otherwise there was always baseball somewhere and for me, various band practices or drills for marching in the fall.
These, of course, are my memories. Kids now have a very different lifestyle. Much more scheduled in with more activities indoors. But even the outdoor activities are scheduled tightly. Not nearly as much free time, if any, and if at all, they were closely supervised. This is what happens when the population practically everywhere gets dense. And, because of this density, there are large bunches of kids who are not scheduled in. There are basically two types of unscheduled youngsters wandering around loose with nothing useful to do.
- Poor: Both parents work, unsupervised, looking for ways to survive, so gravitate toward the dark side of life in order to gain importance and money.
- Rich: Both parents work, unsupervised, looking just for something to do that is personally satisfying. These kids have the advantage of too much time and too much money. So escape into pleasure becomes of prime importance. Drugs. And the next step into the drug world is getting hooked. Once this happens the downward spiral of their lives is determined.
What exactly does the above tell us about the society that we live in? Well, there are two basic ways to approach life in our present society. Scheduled, supervised, educated, able to think clearly, law-abiding, family oriented, full of life and love for others. Or…the “un” version of all of the preceding. But, the next big bump in the road has happened that affects both 1 and 2. The Internet. This brings everyone into contact potentially with everyone else, anywhere. The possibilities are endless, both good and bad and in-between. And the Genie is now out of the bottle. There is no returning to life as we once knew it.
Politically we are speaking of left and right, liberal and conservative, Republican and Democrat. But not anymore. We are speaking of global connections, instantly made. Ideas come from computers, laptops, ipads, and the ubiquitous iphone. As adults, we are having our own problems with this flood of electronics. But think for a moment about the next generation, and the next, and so on and on. Is it possible to train them for the unknowns that are coming? How do we try, where do we even start? I don’t know, but we at least have to try and find some answers that look to the future. Our governments, both state and federal should serve this purpose. We should definitely start by voting intelligently.
Our governmental officials, both state and federal should be there for the progress of America, the benefit of all American citizens, and faithfully upholding the Constitution and Bill of Rights. In other words for progress, not decay and obstruction for the sole purpose of gaining power. Our future generations deserve this. Let us please begin by thinking and voting intelligently.
God Bless America…!