I may not want to relive the nineteen sixties or my childhood or my most rewarding job, but I do think fondly of times when certain things were done better than they are now (or so I believe).
Like routinely talking to a human being on the phone rather than an automated voice that doesn't understand my problem and suggests I consult some online trouble-shooting page that also doesn't understand my problem.
Like using older buses that have plenty of seats rather than new buses with far fewer seats, requiring you to stand up for your entire journey.
Like visiting tourist destinations when they were still deserted and a pleasure to explore, unlike now when over-tourism has made many places a ghastly human traffic-jam you have to fight your way through.
Like tourist locations when people were happy just to linger and enjoy their surroundings without taking 101 selfies and getting in everyone's way.
So yes, I'm a sort of dabbler in nostalgia, most of the time not looking back but sometimes regretting how things have changed.
I hasten to add that lots of things have changed for the better, which is why I'm not habitually nostalgic. Who could be nostalgic for typewriters or cassettes or black and white TVs? Not many, I imagine.
I do actually own a typewriter!! I enjoy the weight of the letterforms it produces - a computer and laptop can't produce the same effect. I guess you have to be a connoisseur to understand and appreciate the nuance of it though!!
ReplyDeleteWe are all nostalgic for our own loves I guess!
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Ms Scarlet: I got rid of my last typewriter a very long time ago. I had no affection for it whatever. I was very happy when word processing arrived!
DeleteObviously I don't use it for everything - only on special occasions.
DeleteThey sell typed poems on Etsy - it is a thing!
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Ms Scarlet: I would have thought hand-written poems would be more of a draw than typed poems, but what do I know?
DeleteInfidel: Agreed, companies could retain the good things. Who actually likes automated phone responses? And yes, who actually revisits all those photos they took, and who genuinely relives the experience?
ReplyDeleteUnpaid labour at the self checkout lines with nary a human employee in sight. That's my beef of the week.
ReplyDeleteI threw all my groceries at the front yesterday and walked out as I couldn't balance on cane and do the work. Disgraceful treatment of customers.
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www: Our supermarkets still have staffed checkouts as well as self checkouts. Asda have said they aren't going to install any more self checkouts, as use of self checkouts has levelled off.
DeleteI miss talking to people on the phone. It's all text or social media. I've had a bit of nostalgia lately, mostly because I have had my aging placed front and center, which has put me down memory lane a bit. I won't use self checkout.
ReplyDeleteSandra: I thought people with mobile phones were talking to each other all the time, but maybe not. Self checkout is just another ruse to get customers to do all the work and cut the number of staff.
DeleteMore texting than talking, nick. At least in my experience.
DeleteStores here are getting rid of the self-checkouts. Too much theft. It's so easy to just not run some things through.
ReplyDeleteLinda
Linda: A chain of supermarkets in northern England decided to get rid of all their self checkouts as they spoilt the customer experience (or words to that effect). And Asda, as I say, isn't adding any more self checkouts.
DeleteWhen we ran gites in France, years ago, we noted how many parents took photographs of their kids gathering eggs, or helping to pick fruit, etc. but never thought of joining in, doing it together.
ReplyDeleteI would like to return to the days when your call to a company really did matter as opposed to the 'your call is important to us' lie.
ReplyDeleteFly: "Your call is important to us" really means "We couldn't care less and hopefully you'll put the phone down and bugger off"
DeleteI think I'm fairly nostalgic for things that were nice. I think about the good times a lot.
ReplyDeleteMary: Does that mean your own good times or good times in the outside world?
DeleteI won't do business with companies that do not have humans to speak to.
ReplyDeleteJoanne: Quite right too. Why should we have to wrestle with some automated spiel that doesn't address our problem?
DeleteWhen I was growing up we had an electric typewriter which I don't miss, word processing is so much better. But an old mechanical typewriter is a thing of beauty. The workmanship to produce them must have been painstaking and I appreciate that kind of thing.
ReplyDeleteKylie: Typewriters were certainly an example of great workmanship. Hard to appreciate the workmanship in a mobile phone when it's so small and you can't see what's inside it!
DeleteWhen I'd get one of those phone trees that says something like "If this then push that" I hit zero. That used to always get you a person because they assumed you were on a rotary dial phone. Haven't tried that recently so don't know if it still works.
ReplyDeleteLinda
Linda: I hadn't heard of that little trick. I must try it and see if it still works!
DeleteI'm generally happy with the changes; however, I do miss having human beings to help me when I call a company or organization.
ReplyDeleteColette: Human beings are more likely to understand an unusual problem - and solve it - than an automated voice following a limited script.
DeleteFlying was definitely better back before 9/11. It’s been downhill since, at least in the States.
ReplyDeleteBijoux: I agree. Flying has become a very unpleasant and laborious process.
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