Past and present

I'm not generally nostalgic for some overall period in my past. But I do look back at the past in a divided fashion, partly remembering things I'd like to return to but also remembering things I absolutely wouldn't want to return to.

Things I'd like to return to:

• When you could just talk to someone about a problem and sort it out, without having to go online and negotiate some complicated website.
• Jobs filled on a more casual basis and not needing lengthy application forms.
• Property prices being affordable. And rental fees not being extortionate.
• Plenty of council homes for people who needed a home.
• Having most of what you needed within walking distance of your home. No hard-to-reach shopping centres and little need of cars.
• Food that was nutritious and healthy, and less ultra-processed food.

Things I definitely wouldn't like to return to:

• Rampant misogyny which was usually shrugged off as harmless banter or "just the way things are".
• Phone boxes and exorbitant long-distance calls.
• Widespread discrimination against single mothers.
• Pervasive homophobia.
• Laborious searches for information, before Google arrived.
• Washing by hand, before washing machines were invented.

I guess most people have the same sort of divided memories.