Many years ago, I spent my first two high school years in a public school. That was the era of Doris Day, Frank Sinatra, Matt Monroe, Connie Francis and many more. The famous rocker then was the Beattles. "I never realized ...." was the song I remembered about them and especially "When I Saw Her Standing There."
That was when John F Kennedy became the First Catholic President of the USA. That was the year when I heard about "Danny Boy" and "Walk Away."
I couldn't tell much about the movies since we lived too far away from the cinemas. People in town would have had to take a ferry to get across to another city to watch movies. And movies in those days were shown in double programs, sometimes three.
Only few rich people were there and had telephones. For long distance communication, people relied on telegrams or radiograms for emergency times like death, and, social telegrams for social occasion like birthdays and weddings.
For any ordinary communication, the medium used was licking stamps on its back with a tasteless saliva affixed to the letter that would reach the recipient in a week, weeks, month or so for shorter distances and letters were delivered on foot by the postman.
If it is out of town, out of the city or out of the country, there was airmail, registered post and special delivery. It could take a week, weeks and months or so. All services done in a humble post office in town.
It was then that the so-called pen-pal writing became a fad among freshmen co-eds. It first started off as writing to friends within the country.
Soon the national English circulation started publishing International Penpal Column where letter writer enthusiasts would pick a name to write to. So there was an international communique exchange between many people from all walks of life here and abroad.
As time moved on, penpal writing came to a diminishing return and the media turned into Introduction Agencies. So International Friendship blossomed from there. Some agencies did it commercially and some did exercise fraudulent practices.
Then came the telephone lines. That was in my university days, where young people were crazy abusing the airwaves screaming "Call Me Up" then hang up and somebody would call you back. That was phone pal or friendship developed through the airwires using the telephone line.
Many years before that, the telephone service was operated through the central communication module manned by a single operator on duty.
All avenues were exhausted in search for friendship. From letter writing to face to face or made to order friendship have remarkably changed the society's dilemma in conquest of a true friend. Some worked out and some didn't. Some were lucky and some were unlucky,
Between my high school era and the present era, let's see... about 40 years apart since; what an amazing difference the technology does to our tool of communication today.
We have the computer age on top of the cellular phone or mobile phone age where people can browse a menu at anytime and ask for a friend and possibly order online.
"Hey, my name is 'Whatever', what is yours?"
The advent of yahoo have had revolutionalized this medium and chat rooms were created for people to chat all day and all night long. There is always somebody beyond the monitor on the other side of the world. All in one touch and go of the keyboard; press enter, backspace, shift and control and escape whatever function that suits at the time of its use.
This time the vogue in progress is what we call Internet Dating. Internet Romance some of which lead into Internet Infidelity and the society dances limbo rock overnight with families left shattered by.
Along with this facade of Internet activity lies the Internet hoaxing, spams, scams, Internet lying, Internet pornography, Internet Crime and all perversions unimaginable.
All for FRIENDSHIP sake. Anyone?
Comments:
by Deacon Steve on Jan 23, 2006
Very interesting and entertaining angel Leah. WOW, love those wings. All technologies have their downsides, but true friendship based on honesty and love of God and fellow humans, can overcome even the most negatives in the world. Thank you. We must be about the same age or close.
Reply by Dreamtime on Jan 23, 2006
Good morning Steve. I was deeply in the mood to write based on this idling away kind of friendship via the Internet and I thought how things evolved in so many ways as the time and era changes. Just imagine how it was during the Ice Period, Stone Period... fast forward to the Jet Age, Space Age and now.... Nuclear Age ...Internet Age (IT).... then our behavioral attitude gets corrupt and values of life decline ...
Like you said, "but true friendship based on honesty and love of God and fellow humans, can overcome even the most negatives in the world."
The conclusion is left much to be desired by kind readers like you. And thank you for your indepth perception.
by zodiacmate on Jan 23, 2006
i remember those days except for the movies coz i grew up in the city. i had my first pen pal i was in grade iv (10 y/o) with an american girl my age & we exchanged snail mails til we were teenagers. then more followed after that. i even had a penpal who's a cousin of ringo starr of "the beatles" (oh im a beatle fanatic!!!) i cried when i heard of john lennon's death. it was fun collecting stamps and coins from different parts of the world. but i was a loner eversince. just enjoy that kind of long distance friendship. and i think up to now, that's how i am. so the internet is really a great thing for me. making friends, falling in love, getting hurt, falling in love again. well at least im safe :lol: coz there were no physical touch.
thanks for the flashback ms leah. :D
Reply by Dreamtime on Jan 23, 2006
I wonder what it was like in your place Alice since we lived poles apart. I was down the south and you're up the north. But those days were pure bliss and fun days. Those days were the times when my eyes were opened and I began to observe changes of social values in different settings though we were both embedded with similar cultural values as a whole being in one cultural umbrella.
Yes, I am still collecting stamps, coins and notes until now. Sometimes I would joke that I have money for my collection but I don't have money to spend..... so to speak.... :)
The only regular penpal I am still keeping is my boss' exwife..whom I communicated for 23 years since I was single. She lives in England too! The oldest penpal I had, died 18 years ago. I lost her to a cancer and she lived in Colorado.
Thanks for your generous and kind comment. We do need flashbacks from time to time... amusing ones.
