At my advanced age, I've seen a lot of progress, both societally as well as with inventions. Granted, I haven't seen nearly as much progress as my Mother did, considering that she was born in 1931. But I have seen my share of progress.
Lately, I've been thinking about all the things that have come to pass since the time when I got too old to do anything about them. I've missed out on some fun.
For example, the sport of paintball. I used to run around the neighborhood with a fake Daniel Boone flintlock playing war. Putting aside the anachronism, I would envision killing nazis or Japs with my rifle, hiding behind bushes or trees and shooting it out with the bad guys. The concept of paintball just didn't exist. The closest thing we had was the game Capture the Flag...but that didn't involve shooting anyone.
Flavored potato chips didn't exist. Sure, there might have been barbecue-flavored chips, but not sour cream and chive, mezquite, jalapeno, cheddar, dill or whatever other flavor tickled your palate. Now, there's a surfeit of flavors available to anyone. And don't even mention Pringles.
When we were younger, when one got a soft drink, we had to make it last. There was no such thing as free refills. Nowadays, free refills are the norm. Thank you, Taco Bell, the company that made this happen. Fortunately, I was able to partake from this for a few years before I learned how bad soft drinks were for you. But I still benefit from free refills of iced tea -- unsweet iced tea. Not that dreck that is mistakenly called sweet tea.
I love to travel. I'm pretty good at navigating, and (most) foreign cultures intrigue me. Why, o' why, didn't The Amazing Race exist when I was still young enough to do it? Sure, I could do it now, but I'd lose to anyone able to run in a final sprint. I was never fleet of foot, but at least I could pick 'em up and put 'em down. I can barely hobble now. I've seen places on that show that I'd never see otherwise; I wonder what it would have been like to see them in person -- and on the show's dime.
Other things like cycling were around when I was younger, but I knew next to nothing about them. Until I lived in Spain and watched Greg LeMond get screwed over by Bernard Hinault in the Tour de France, I had no conception of competitive cycling. I don't know that I would have made a good cyclist, given my girth, but I would have enjoyed trying the sport.
Likewise, the Navy SEALs are now a very prominent, special forces group. They are, arguably, the most dangerous special forces unit in the world. Growing up, I knew nothing about them. As with cycling, I knew nothing about them growing up, but I might have tried to join them. I may not have been qualified enough to make it, but I might well have tried.
There are so many other things that have come to be that would have been nice to have when I was young enough to enjoy them. But now I'm depressed...
(c) 2023 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
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