While I was on vacation I had the opportunity to meet some new folds. It seems when you are a single on a golf course and you call for a tee time and you tell them you will play with anyone and your handicap is respectable you get to meet many new people of many different playing levels. One of the rounds I played was at a course I enjoy playing and it was with two very interesting golfers. They were not bad players but were by no means in risk of breaking 100 for the round. What fascinated me was the discussion that began on about the 3 rd hole and ensued until about the 16 th hole. It was all around one of the topics we do not like to discuss too much in the church.
It began with the normal conversation of how much more it cost to drive to Myrtle Beach this year. Both of these golfers were from Virginia and they were in the majority of folk who do not appreciate the higher price we are paying at the pumps. Almost immediately the conversation returned to the ties of their youth when gas was cheaper. They were holding forth in grand manner about how much better things were in the “good old days”. These of course were the days when they were in high school or maybe college. These were the days of much cheaper gas and almost everything else.
I heard this conversation about how things used to be so much better when they were young and finally had heard enough. I changed the topic a little by asking them if either of them would prefer to turn their clubs in and play with the clubs of their youth. Would they prefer to play with clubs that did not have the head size of a small cannon ball? Would they prefer to be earning what they did in the “good old days”? They both said no they much prefer being able to hit the ball further which one commented that back then they had a chance of finding their errant shot but now they were so far gone it was hopeless. We laughed and play continued through 18 without a mention of the “good old days” again.
It seems interesting on how we take what we have now and return to certain aspects of the days of old. We do not want it all but selected parts. We want running water in the house but not the water bill. We want the ease of electric lights but not the higher prices. We like being able to reach to our hips and answer a phone but not the loss of privacy. So often we remember select portions of the “good old days” and easily forget or dismiss others.
This seems to be true no matter what our ages are. One thing I failed to mention was that both of the golfers I played with that day were in their early 40's or late 30's. It seems for them the good old days were in the 1990's or so. Funny how the “good old days” are not that old to some.
See you in church
Alan
from May 2008 edition of The Dryden "Good News" Letter