Living In The Year 2024...When Mankind Is Really Beginning To Thrive

    Dodging the giant pit of nostalgic longing is tough sometimes, and not just because the pit is the size of the Grand Canyon. Falling into wistful reveries that center on one's carefree youth is so easy that a caveman's even less advanced brother-in-law could do it. 

   Time has a way of dulling the edges of the sharp pangs of youthful indiscretion and misadventure that seemed to be permanently marring back then, and while the lack of concern for what was important then may make our younger self accuse the older self of cavalier indifference, the truth we all eventually learn is that most of what we endured then that was at one time thought to be soul-crushing and irreversibly ego-scarring (or at least that was what we believed it to be) turns out to be so much dust with little or no permanence to anyone for any reason.

   In short, what was, was, but no longer is, so leave it be.  

   All those people who told you it wouldn't matter in twenty years were somewhat correct.

   Of course, my generation, X if you must have an identifier, may be the last to be able to make that claim. The past few decades have seen the introduction of a tracking system that can store every single misstep you take or mistake you make - the good 'ol internet, aided and abetted by social media.

   So what you do now can matter in twenty years, especially if you seek a career that puts you in the public eye.

   In short, be careful what you say, for what was may still be, despite your desire to leave it in the past twenty years hence. 

   Thank Zeus cameras were not so prevalent back in my youth, and there was no social media (unless you were a celeb, and even then that was limited to gossip rags).

   Because, hard as it may be for some to believe, I was not always this majestic angelic presence.

   But I digress. The pitfalls of waxing nostalgic was the topic, and the point I was going to make was, don't fall into that trap. Chances are pretty good everything you think was better then wasn't actually even 10% as good as it is now (think back to how much a single 5 minute long-distance phone call cost back in the good 'ol days, or how long it took to get the 24 pictures you took (maybe in focus, maybe not) back from the Fotomat).

   Everything wasn't better back then, not for you, and not for anyone else. The world today may seem like a shite storm, but that's only because news coverage (read: coverage of the bad, not good, stuff that happens) is 24/7, worldwide, and in high definition - that is what makes it seem like the past was better. 

   Trust me, it isn't. Just Google mortality rates for everything that can be readily taken care of with over the counter remedies and you'll see what I mean.

   You can do that on your phone for as little as $20 a month these days.