As I write this, it’s almost May. How can that be? The winter was so long we thought it would never end, but now my calendar has come alive and my mailbox is full of announcements of exciting events. The ads suggesting that I should probably buy some new clothes are enticing, as they are meant to be. I went to my closets to check what I’ll be wearing. To my surprise, I don’t have to buy a thing! In the first place, I don’t go to many of those wonderful events – my energy is too limited. In the second place, I’ve been there and done that. And in the third place, who looks at me? The men who used to are all dead, and if I smile, my friends are saying, “You’re looking good!” I translate that and say, “My new talent is a fine hand with makeup!”
The changes in my susceptibility to advertising represent all the changes that astound me when I am taken out and when I read the papers. I recently went to a program at the University of Kentucky, where I spent most of my life as an undergraduate, graduate student and faculty person. I had to look for the location on the Internet and on a map! The program was in the auditorium on Pavilion A, the lobby of which is absolutely gorgeous and is staffed by wonderful informative guides who cater to strangers like me. How could I be a stranger at UK?
Earlier that week, my nephew, Jeffrey Marks, was installed in the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame and I was invited. Do you think I knew where to go? It was on Manchester Street in a former distillery. Manchester Street is a transformed part of town.
I was one of the first of my generation to get comfortable with computers. Mine, which can do thousands of things (most of which I can’t do on my own), is now obsolete and those electronic gadgets replacing it are a total mystery to me. Not only that – when I admired the facility with which my nephew and his wife operate theirs, he told me that even he feels replaced by new generations of electronic availabilities. My daughter-in-law negotiated the purchase of a new car on the telephone, going between dealerships and using the relevant data on her smart phone! If Jeff feels obsolete, I feel like a dinosaur. Not only do I feel like one, I am one!
In my study group, a recent topic for review was the Gallic Wars. The discussion centered on the wonders of that time, the horrible political disputes and the fall of a civilization whose historical physical relics are still existent. How like our time, with its physical and scientific wonders and its terrible political dysfunction! We could see that politics caused the end of Roman civilization, and we wonder if we are on our way. Perhaps in centuries to come, people – if there are any left – will wonder what government failures brought about the end of our civilization, leaving only electronic and scientific relics to marvel about. cc
Harriett Rose is a native Lexingtonian, a retired psychologist, and an avid bridge and Scrabble player. She can be reached by email at harriett77@yahoo.com.