The GOOD Old Days...? (W/ Special Guest, Trent)

Why do we use this term? "The good old days?" so damn often? As if the "old" days were the golden years as opposed to the dark dystopian times we live in now? WERE the days of yesterday as good as we remember them? Or is there more nuance to that mindset we all tend to have? Join Kyle, Jessica and special returning guest, Trent as we discuss...well...the good old days? Question mark? 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:27

Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the Seeing Sideways Podcast. We are the podcast that shares tools, resources, and relatable stories to help you navigate this maze or mess we call life. I'm here with my co-host Jessica.

SPEAKER_05 0:39

Hello.

SPEAKER_01 0:41

And special guest, returning special guest, Trent. Trent, how are you, my friend?

SPEAKER_04 0:47

I'm doing well. Thank you. Appreciate it.

SPEAKER_03 0:48

Hey Trent. Glad that you're back.

SPEAKER_04 0:50

I'm glad to be back. I'm always honored that you guys invite me back. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

Ah man, you've you're very insightful. You're just pleasant to talk to. And you have a nice voice, you know. And I mean that in that radio voice.

SPEAKER_05 1:03

It's a radio voice. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

Boy, I tell you, no, you do have a radio voice. I tell you, like, it's it's it's it's it's sexy even. I'm like, I'm almost like you you almost turned me on.

SPEAKER_03 1:13

And I'm not very hypnotizing. I'm just saying. Yeah, very hypnotizing.

SPEAKER_04 1:19

I think it'd be good for like a midnight blues broadcast.

SPEAKER_03 1:22

For sure.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

Yeah, right, right. You know, like back in the days, they had um I used to I used to listen to the like uh you know when radio was prominent. Quiet Storm. Um Yes, Jesse Tack and the Quiet Storm.

SPEAKER_03 1:36

He has a total quiet storm voice.

SPEAKER_04 1:38

I'm not I'm not familiar. What is that?

SPEAKER_03 1:40

Oh, you never you were never on the you never heard the quiet storm on the radio? Maybe it was more like a BT, but I mean you were that type of into that type of music too. So yeah, they just had like a late night, late night radio show, and it was the quiet storm.

SPEAKER_01 1:55

Yeah, and I don't know, Jess, because we're all in different parts of the country, but here uh we had the Quiet Storm with this guy named Lenny Green, and he had you know, uh he had a voice like trends, it was just deep and like this is the quiet storm. We're gonna play some the Vandross and some Shade and some, you know, whatever, like whatever love making, uh baby making media, baby making music, you know, RB, jazz. Like it was like that, it was a vibe, you know. Man, the days when radio, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 2:32

Yeah, that would be great. I would love it.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

But yeah, but think about that, Trey. That could be something in that in your future.

SPEAKER_03 2:39

He's heard it his whole life. He literally just did a meeting this week. Somebody said something about his like radio voice, and he's like, Yeah, that's not the first time I've heard that.

SPEAKER_04 2:47

Yeah, I've heard it. I have heard it my whole life. And I I can bore you real. I real quick story. I'm a uh and I'll try to keep it short because obviously, but that's nowhere we're not here to talk about me. But the uh um we have the I'm a I'm an I'm from Iowa and we have I'm an Iowa hawkeye, and we have what's called the voice of the hot guys. And oddly enough, this gentleman is named as Gary Dolphin, okay, which is a wonderful name to start with. But um, he I bartended with my way through college, and he came and sat at my bar one time, and so I took his order and he was like, geez, you know, this is a gentleman that's a professional, has been you know doing this radio broadcasting for I don't know if at this time it was like 35 years. I think he's retired now. But uh he was like, Has anyone told you that you could be announcer, you could you could be a sports announcer? He's like, You have a great voice. I was like, Hey, thanks, I'll take that. What would you like to drink? You know, that kind of thing. So yeah, I mean, it I I have heard that my whole life, and you know, maybe, maybe, maybe that'll be my retirement plan. Who knows?

SPEAKER_01 3:43

Yeah, you know what another thing, uh either that or um you could do audiobooks, you know, and I think that is uh I listen to audiobooks, I'm a big audiobook listener, and I've heard a lot of narrators that sound like you, and they it's just it just makes it very pleasant to listen to and you know put you to sleep sometimes, you know. And I mean I have no I have no idea how to break into the audiobook industry, but you know, these are just thoughts to uh consider. But but yes, what we are here to talk about is the no, I don't know how to segue into this, so we're just gonna say it. But uh Trent, uh not to put you on blast, but you are a little bit older than Jessica and I. And so uh we have been kind of reminiscing lately. We've been talking about the millennial crisis lately in our last few episodes, and how a lot of us millennials the burnout crisis, and how basically all how all us millennials do all we do is complain. I'm just kidding, that's not that's not wasn't rude, but we're not like that. Yeah, yeah, all we do is complain. Ah, nothing the price of eggs are too high, can't afford rent. Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. That's all we do is complain. No, um but we we did have we did have a uh how should I say nice deep dive into the kind of um you know the insight, you know, the kind of POV that millennials have as to how everything seems to be stacked against us. And I think what gets born out of that sometimes is I you know, when I talk to my friends and my peers, a lot of things we also say sometimes is oh, you know, Gen Xers had it better than us. And uh things were simpler back then, and things weren't as bad and and whatnot. So I want to dive into the notion of the good old days, right? That expression, the good old days. Things aren't what they used to be. Oh, the good old days, the good old days. I feel like we're always trying to revert back to the quote unquote good old days. So I felt like it would be cool to talk to you as someone who is from a you know kind of different generation than ours. Um I want to discuss that notion of the good old days. Are the is that just something that we say? Were the good old days actually good? Um, why do we say that? Uh what why are we so reminiscent of it? I don't know. It's uh I want to dive into that with you, Trend, if that makes sense. So, what is your notion on the good old days? And maybe you can dive into a little bit about how you came up and how you look back on them. So I just threw a lot at you. So how about it? The floor is yours, my friend.

SPEAKER_04 6:29

Well, you you're talking about like my childhood, as far as like, you know, because I I mean, look, you don't like you say you don't want to put me on blast. Yeah, I'm double, I'm 55. So the you know, I'm I'm born in if you will, 1971. So kind of spent growing up, you know, graduated high school in 89. So the 70s and 80s would be my would be, if you will, quote unquote, the good old days, if you will. So um, yeah, it's a it was um gosh, that you this is a really good subject because I always am telling, actually, believe it or not, I is I I've always wanted to write a book about my child, about all the stupid things I did with the kid with as a kid in my neighborhood. And yeah, kind of along the line line along the same lines of like the sandlot kind of thing, you know. But but um yeah, we did a lot of silly things, and you know, we had um it was different back then for sure.

SPEAKER_03 7:19

I mean, I nobody was there to record your stupidity and thank god for everybody to see. Yeah, I mean I mean, I mean still lie to your parents.

SPEAKER_04 7:29

Yeah, oh yeah, I used to, I mean, I I think my mom even says to this day, she's like, I don't even want to know, I don't even want to know half the things you guys I have a twin brother, so she's like we're big as thieves, we still are. But uh, she's like, I don't want to know half the thing. I she's like, I don't even want to know what you guys did. I don't want don't ever tell me because I just don't want to know, it'll probably put me in a grave. I'm like, yeah, it probably will, mom. So um, but yeah, I mean, you know, if you're watching like the if you're in that social media and like you always see some of those things, like for me, I I I I will doom scroll TikTok from time to time, and they'll have the Jet X thing talking about drinking from a water hose and you know the the feral generation. And there's some there's there's that that's not necessarily an exaggeration, you know. Um I don't understand it in in the regards of like the boomer generation, my parents generation being so um you know, I don't know, they were just they seemed busy, and and it was one of the first times where um like you know, I mean, there was such a thing as that latch key kid, and that was my brother and I. We we we grew up and I had to have, you know, I had a key that would was on a shoestring that went around my neck to be able to let myself in because my mom was working, you know, and uh okay. So we'd we'd get home and you know, and there wasn't I remember my neighbor first time ever getting cable that was novel, but prior to that it was just you had you had four four stations if you counted like PBS, for example, on a TV and um holy moly, and and you were out of luck, you know, if uh say, for example, if there was a presidential uh announcement because then he would be on every channel.

SPEAKER_02 9:02

Yeah, there were no options.

SPEAKER_04 9:03

There was no options, yeah. There were no options.

SPEAKER_01 9:05

So couldn't just uh you couldn't just ignore it or switch or switch them off, you know.

SPEAKER_02 9:09

Like I mean, you could, but like go see your you know, Netflix app or HBO Bax app and well that's going on, so let me go screen my show that they're interrupting.

SPEAKER_04 9:21

Yep, yeah. I mean, uh a lot of it has to do with, you know, when you talk about just to bring it back to like it was it, you know, a more simpler time. I would I would say it was um, you know, every generation has their their concerns and problems, but it's just that you know, I think with the advent of the internet, which is something that came up as I as I got became a young adult, uh with the advent of the internet, took place in more or less the early 90s. I mean, we but prior to that, you know, you it was more analog. So, you know, your your world, your universe was kind of just your neighborhood, and and you know, there was real you didn't really um you know, we we we just spent time with our friends and got into a lot of mischief and came up with a lot of games that people, you know, that you know, I mean, we played a lot of baseball, you know, or pickle, if you're familiar with that, you know, but depends on the seasons, but you know, we just we were we spent most of our time outdoors, you know. I mean, in fact, actually our parents, my mom would kick us out of the house and uh she literally would be like come in and you know, what like I said, latchkey kid, and we my my brother and I would sit down, look, we'd sit down and watch, you know, TV or I mean we didn't have a VCR back then, so you were just really kind of stuck with whatever public, you know, lots of uh game shows during by the time we got home, you'd watch game shows. But uh but she'd come home and be like, Yeah, go outside. I'll come back, come back at this time for dinner, you know, and then uh we'd go out and just raise a little bit of hell. It was kind of fun.

SPEAKER_03 10:48

But uh, like I said, you know, I I I I we were just talking about this. I'm like on the cusp. Um and depending on what timeline you look la look at, I'm either a millennial or a gen Xer and because I was born in June of 81. And I can remember when I was a kid, like just running. We'd I just ran the neighborhood. My mom was like, Yeah, go play. Like they literally would be like, go play in traffic. Go away. Uh be home by the time the street lights came on, or you're gonna be in trouble. But other than that, I don't care. And so I remember like running around the neighborhood and being in, you know. Um, there was a girl that was like three years younger than me, uh, Crystal. She lived down the street, and I'd be in her house playing Nintendo and you know, whatever, like eating her food. I'd go with her and her mom. Her mom was like a district manager at Taco Bell, and we go, whatever. My mom had no idea that I was doing any of these things. She just knew that I wasn't at home when I was down the street playing. But as long as I came home by the time the street lights came on, everything was fine. And then I think about me, like me as a parent and a grandparent, like my kids only went to a select few people's houses. It was a conversation that we had, and it was agreement, like it was all it was a whole production. And my grandson can barely go outside in the yard unless one of us is outside with him. Let alone go disappear into somebody's house for like a whole day.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

Right, right. Yeah. No, you know what's funny, like and I I'm firmly a millennial, and um you know, so my childhood era was the 90s, and even in the 90s, um, I was encouraged, it was a lot of go outside, go outside and play, go outside with your friends, uh, go ride a bike, just go do things. I have memories of doing that a lot. Now I don't know. I always I always consider the 90s as kind of like the breakthrough generation in terms of technology and whatnot. So that was definitely the era where you know video games and computers and all of that were cutting edge and coming up and becoming more prominent in uh your average household. So there were definitely I definitely have memories of a lot of weekends, you know, staying inside and playing video games or watching television or being on the computer. Uh I always I also used to draw a lot. I was a I was an artist from a very early age. I was always fascinated with art. So I spent a lot of weekends just sitting at my desk in my room and just drawing. That was a that was a big thing for me. But I also did like to go outside and I was encouraged to do so. And so um I feel like I I'm I'm almost I'm almost hesitant to say this, but I almost feel like that is something that has been lost in this current generation where every child has an iPad now, right? From the age of like four, every child's got like their own cell phone or their mobile device that they're locked into. And we are kind of locked into our technology now. I mean, even adults, right? I mean, guys, how many times have you gone out with people, friends or even family, right? Let's say you go out to dinner and you look around the dinner table, and how many people are on their phones, right? You know, it's just like we're all we are all so locked into these small devices that have our entire lives in them, you know. And it's like, and look, I I've said this many times before in this podcast, I am not here to denounce technology or say technology is bad or anything like that. I don't believe that, but I do think naturally you we have shifted uh our behaviors from being more outside to more locked into screens, you know. And so um I think and and I think that's kind of objectively true if you think about that. But kind of Trent, going back to you though, right? Back in the 70s, you know, that you didn't have that, right? So outside really was your outlet to have fun, and so that was or or or just to learn about the world, right? That's how you become street smart, it's just kind of by going outside and getting into trouble with your friends, right?

SPEAKER_04 15:21

Yeah, that's true. Pray to God you don't get caught. Uh yeah, yeah. You know, I mean, like, you know, as far as like the Gen X, my generation, if you will, um, I'm overjoyed to be have been that generation, to be honest with you. Um, when we talk about, you know, my you know, we're we're we're that we're like a tweener generation where you know my my adult or my childhood was more, if you will, to use the term more analog, you know.

SPEAKER_05 15:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 15:48

Uh we, you know, we didn't have this constant connectivity. And then and then when, like I said, when it became the internet, then that was, you know, when I was a young adult in my 20s, and now of course being into today, it's even more compounded by technology, but it was that was more of the digital existence. So it's kind of like a a tale of two cities kind of event where it's where it's like, you know, growing up all the way up until I was more or less uh a young adult, you know, like um after I graduated high school, I was in the Marine Corps. But so like I remember being in the Marine Corps and they were uh showing me what the internet, how this internet works, because I don't know if most people know this, but originally it was a military asset, the internet. Uh we were using it before it was ever ever big out outside of that. But the uh and it was just uh it's just it was you know, I I hate to say the term more simple because I think people make things as complicated or as simple as they want to make them, but uh well, you know, it's yeah, but you know, it's you know, it's it's it was just it was just uh I felt it was just a different kind of time of you know, particularly here in the United States, but um I wouldn't change it for the world. I actually enjoyed it. Um I'm like I said, I'm very proud to be a part of the Generation X in that regard. So, you know, we but um but yeah, I mean there's you like I said, if you do there's a lot of what those people say on those on those TikToks where it's like, yep, did that, did that, guilty of that, you know. Um have you ever seen the movie uh the uh hot tub time machine?

SPEAKER_05 17:16

Oh yeah, yeah, I'm very used to it.

SPEAKER_04 17:18

So they so they go back. So that would that was an interesting one because like there was a scene, and I can't remember exactly the words, but I might get the quote wrong necessarily, but the uh but there was where this one of the characters in the movie was asking this girl for her number, and then he was like, and and she gave it to him, and she was he was like, Well, how am I gonna where am I? He's he's like, Well, how am I gonna how am I gonna be able to get a hold of you? You know, like that Eric, you know, how how are we gonna meet? And she's like, You're gonna have to come find me. You know, you had to go, you mean you had you mean I mean like when you know, like as a young adult, like you know, a teenager, that was kind of like you know, the the the big thing was you know, you had one phone, it was like in your home, you know, it was the home phone, you know, with the cord. And uh, god forbid if you'd had a rotary phone that people made funny about that by the time I was in in the late 80s. But the uh but you would you would pick up a phone and you had all your friends' numbers memorized. It wasn't on, you know, you didn't you didn't have a you know whether you had you know you picked up the phone, too.

SPEAKER_05 18:18

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 18:18

You pick pick up the phone, call your friends. What do we do? What are you guys doing tonight? And try try to figure out what, you know, if you will, we my brother and I referred to it as the BBD. We're trying to get to the bigger, better deal. Like, see what's going on. What you know, who who's who's doing this and who's doing that this weekend, you know, and and make your plans. And then you would I remember, you know, like well, whatever, high school keggers, okay. I'm from Iowa, don't judge me too harshly on that one. But the you know, there, you know, some every once in a while, some someone's it's just kind of a movie, but it's true. So it'd be like, you know, the parents were gone, you know, and the kids would be throwing a kegger in their house, and you know, you'd be driving around in neighborhoods trying to find the house because there was no no Google Maps or anything like that to go find it. That's true. And then uh, you know, you would and then you would meet and you'd run into people, and you know, um it was it was uh it was a little bit more of an adventure every day trying to trying to just get socially organized and and go do things. Uh the convenience today is a little bit more to me, it's a little more head scratching because to me that that was half, you know, for me it was the journey less about the destination. But today they don't have that kind of problems, you know. You just drop a pen and here's where I'm at, come find me.

SPEAKER_01 19:26

So that's fascinating, and you know, and I want to kind of open this up to I think the larger point in discussion, you know, uh, because you're talking about the social aspect of it all. Because I think about that these days, like let's say I'm going to go meet a friend or even go on a date, right? And let's just say I arrange a date with uh with a woman and I say, okay, we're gonna meet on Friday at five. Uh I'll see you at this restaurant. And all the way up until the actual meeting, I because of technology, I have the ability or to check in with my date uh and vice versa, and be like, hey, where are you? Okay, I'm just leaving my house. I'm on the way, I'm 10 minutes away, I'm walking to the restaurant, I'm here, where are you? You know, that tends to be um how modern dating goes, by the way. It's just like this, uh you know, and and I'm and I'm don't and I'm not saying that in a derogatory way. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. But back in the days, trend back in the 70s uh and the 80s and whatnot, and and in my and the 90s too, when I grew up too, it wasn't like that. It was okay, you meet somebody and you don't meet them on an app, right? You met them in real life, you met them IRL, as the kids say, and uh you you read them in real life, and you well, just so you know, newspapers had like a little dating column.

SPEAKER_04 20:52

Are you talking about the the personal ads and the newspapers?

SPEAKER_03 20:56

Yeah, there was there was a component of that even then. I'm just saying.

SPEAKER_04 21:00

Yeah, I mean they got that song about it, you know. You know, do you like Pini Clause getting caught in the rain? You know, that song.

SPEAKER_01 21:07

Oh, is that what that song's about? I I love that song.

unknown 21:09

Do you like Pina?

SPEAKER_04 21:12

Yeah, it's it's about someone answering a personal ad in a newspaper.

SPEAKER_01 21:16

Oh, oh wow. Well, you know what? You saying that, that makes sense now. Sometimes you don't think about it.

SPEAKER_03 21:21

I just had to put that in there that it yeah, like that was not like actually a new concept, it was a new iteration of the concept, though. We we had that back in the day. Again, I'm a straddler between between the right times.

SPEAKER_04 21:36

I'll do you one better in that regard. When when we just maybe no one, maybe not maybe it was just my people when I grew up, but we if we were gonna be throwing kind of, if you will, a rager, you know, like I'm from Iowa again, so we would always like just back into a cornfield and you know throw up a fire, and everyone would just sit on their tailgates and drink and talk and do whatever stuff you're not supposed to be doing, but whatever. And uh but we I'll do you one better. We used to take out we would take out a personal ad and let and so we would just tell our friends, check the personal ads, you'll see it. And so people would know where the party's at. You had to go look for the personal ad and find out where the party was at.

SPEAKER_03 22:15

Uh locations, you had to do a little sleuth work.

SPEAKER_04 22:21

Yeah, yeah, it was kind of fun. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:24

Yeah. But like you said, uh Trent, it's it was an adventure. But let me throw this twist at you though, right? Because again, we we we call it the good old days, but and we complain about technology or whatever, but like let me go back to my dating example. You arrange a date with this person and you're able to check in with them at you know, up until the time you actually see them. Now, let's just say, for example, my date was running late, train problems or whatever, and my date arrives late. Now, if this was 1975, I arrive at the restaurant, my date's not there. Okay, five minutes, no problem. But then after 20 minutes, you're like, Ah shit, man, I just got stood up. You know, but your date has no way to communicate to you, hey, I'm still coming, I'm just running late. And I'm sure there have been many a situation um from people, or I'm sure people have so many stories from back then of like uh, oh, I was late to my date, and by the time I went there, uh they left already. They probably gave up, and then they had to explain themselves later on. I don't know, calling their household or whatever, be like, no, I came, I'm sorry, I was late. I but I had no way to tell you. So it was a little bit more risky, you know. It was, it was or you had to have you had to have faith that the person would arrive at the destination and arrive at the destination on time, and you just had no way to track each other. You just had to have blind faith that uh my date would be there, or your friends, or whoever it is that you're trying to arrange uh a meet with. And again, you didn't have GPS, right? To uh get to that destination to begin with. You just had to find a way to get there. And it's I don't know, like, do you have stories like that, Trend? I'm just curious, where you know, either dating stories or with your friends, or where there was a because of the that technology just wasn't there to track your friends like that or track these people, where I don't know, there were miscommunications or there was uh accidents that happened. I don't know. Do you have any stories like that or any memories like that?

SPEAKER_04 24:36

So oh yeah, I mean, tons of them. I mean, you basically I use the term ships passing in the night, you know. Like if you didn't, you know, you would I I didn't really date too much uh in my younger years at all. Um just wasn't that interested in it. But but I mean I I mean I did, but I didn't. Let's put it there. But the um all right, but the uh but as far as like just being able to spend time with your friends, like I said, you you you would have to uh one of the worst things was going to like to school on Monday and being like, and you run into a friend and be like, yeah, I tried to find you guys this weekend, and they're like, Oh, you missed it, you should have been there kind of conversations.

SPEAKER_00 25:11

Oh man.

SPEAKER_04 25:11

And you're like, dang, you know, like, oh what happened? You're like, oh, you know, that all this, and you know, I mean you kind of get you it wasn't uh yeah. I mean, if you you but there was a lot of times where you know you just like you couldn't, like I said earlier, you like if you couldn't find the place, you kind of just went back home, or if you couldn't somehow connect with your friends, you went back home and called them, or maybe they're back at their house. Uh yeah, I mean, you you could disappear for hours and and really no one would panic, you know, as far as that goes.

SPEAKER_03 25:38

That's what I was gonna say. It was a simpler time though, because like if you take like the the like dating scenario, right? Like we're supposed to hook up at this place, it's a first date, a blind date, whatever. Uh and I show up at this spot at this time, we agreed to be there. And you're five, ten, fifteen minutes late. Like after 15, 20 minutes, I'm just gonna order my food and I'm gonna eat my food. And if you show up before I leave and give me a reason why, then great. But if not, like, okay, this person didn't like me, or you'll call me on the telephone later on. Like it was much more simple than it is now, just from my perspective. Like I said, I'm kind of like a straddle in the line. And I have people that are like dating now and they have these like apps and I hear I hear some wonderful stories about these like Tinder and like these people, and like, oh, you talk to them for three days, and oh, you go on some like you know, you go and meet them, and then they don't know if they're gonna pay or you're gonna pay. There's this whole anxiety thing. I texted this person and they haven't responded back to me. What does that mean? Are they not interested? It's been three days. Oh, and then they just popped into my inbox. What does that mean? There's just like this whole other level of anxiety that's been created. And back in the day it was just like, well, they call me on my phone, they took the time to call me on my phone and I was actually home and picked up, like, okay, let me hear what they have to say versus you didn't text me for two days, and maybe you have the like I've been sick, so maybe you've just been sick, but I read into it as if you're not interested in me because I don't really know you like that. And since you didn't respond for two days, you don't like me. Like, do you feel me though?

SPEAKER_04 27:27

Like Yeah, you know, yeah. I mean, we know today, like if you will, everyone's reachable 24 hours a day, seven days a week, you know. I mean, uh it's the same thing. So it's like, you know, if you haven't responded back, you know, I mean, people expect a response back, and and well, Jesus, I'm I'm I'm terrible with that. Okay, I'm not gonna lie. But the uh some but uh I'm terrible at it. But the uh yeah, I mean back in the day it wasn't really you know, I hear I am saying back in the day, but back in the day, you know, prior, you know, what well compared to what we have today. It wasn't um it wasn't that yeah, yeah. I mean, yeah, I agree with you, Jessica. Like even back then, you know, like the rule has always been like you if you made it if you if you made it out out on a date and everything else worked out correctly, uh as far as like you know, you did miss them, they showed up, you had the date, but you know, now it was like you you still hold to this true to this day, but you get to that day three, a little bit different back then. It was a guy that would always if you didn't call that girl, for example, by day three, you know, you're just SOL. You know, she's you're you're gonna have to you're gonna have to explain yourself to this person as to why you didn't call them in three days, because it it gave the uh it was kind of like the unspoken um, you know, I'm not interested if I don't call you by the day three kind of thing. So it was uh it was kind of like an unspoken like line of demarcation as far as your your dating is gonna be with this person. Um because if you didn't call them in three days, watch out, you know. Then you wasted their time and they feel a little jilted, they're a little upset, and you know, Lord have mercy. And maybe you didn't want to call them after day three, and then you're just like, oh boy, this is not gonna go well when I see them next time.

SPEAKER_02 29:05

Awkward.

SPEAKER_04 29:06

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. But there was no But now I'm sorry, go ahead. Well, go ahead. I think you're gonna say touch on exactly what I was about to say, but now go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 29:16

Yeah, it's um because now yeah, with the texting culture and and I think this goes for either.

SPEAKER_04 29:24

The social media thing, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:26

Correct. And now we have it's created this new level of anxiety where yeah, if I text you, you don't text me back within a few hours. Is this just like, oh, they didn't text me back within you know, yeah, the last three or four hours. Are they are they upset with me? Do they like me or whatever? And so, like you said, you touched you said this earlier, we are reachable 24-7. And I don't know, man. I don't think it's supposed to be that way. I don't think we're supposed to have this much access to each other, you know. I don't think we as human beings, I don't I don't know how healthy that is to have this much access to each other is. Uh, I think back then, again, it was just like whether it was your girlfriend, your boyfriend, your friend, or your best friends, you know, you you talk to them on the phone for a little bit, you know, once a day or every other day. And then that was it. You went about your day, right? But now we are in this constant stream of yeah, we're always reachable. You know, you peep person X is always, you know, there's a there's a text waiting for you to respond from somebody, right? And I and you know, I know people will be listening to this and hear, well, what's wrong with that? You know, like it's just it's just connecting us more, right? Like, I think that's the that would probably be the counter-argument more. We're all connected more. Connection is a good thing, but is there such a thing as too much connection, you know?

SPEAKER_04 30:46

So uh Yeah, I mean I like us like I'm in that tweener, like I said, we're the mind in that tweener generation, so it's a a little bit different for me in in that regards, because I wasn't it wasn't something I was raised with where I had the constant this constant stimulation from people reaching out to me. It was like, you know, I mean it was just your home phone or you knocked on your friend's door, or your friend knocked on your door kind of event. Really, that was about it. Um these days, I mean, it texts, emails, social media posts, and and uh, you know, it's just constant stimulation. I find that to be a little exhausting.

SPEAKER_02 31:22

Over stimulating.

SPEAKER_04 31:23

Yeah, it's it's very I mean, it's like, oh my goodness, who you know, like my phone's ringing at three in the morning. Who the hell's calling me at three in the morning? You know, that kind of thing.

SPEAKER_03 31:31

But well, do you find like I mean, I know with my kids and like me and how I navigate it and how they navigate it, or like even people, my sister or my close friend circle, um, the conclusions that are starting to be drawn from um you didn't respond to me, you didn't answer me, I sent you a text, you didn't respond. Like I got an SOS from my husband's best friend from my best friend, because I kind of went into like a you know analog. Yes, I like into my shell.

SPEAKER_04 32:06

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_03 32:07

I saw people call in, I don't, I'm not answering right now, right? And it was no nothing to do with them and everything to do with me, but my husband's best friend like called me and he never calls me, but he called me and then he texted me, like, hey, you need to reach out to your best friend because I seen her in passing at work, and she's like, Is she mad at me? Like, there's all this conclusion and anxiety, and I'm like, No, I'm not mad at her. I'm just over here trying to like get my bearings about me, and I can't be in connection. But then there's then that added to my anxiety of life because I'm like trying to deal with what I'm dealing with, and I'm like, and now how do I balance my best friends, like feelings and how do I interact? And like in this age of like into instant connectivity, like if she texts me and I don't text her back, like when you don't get a response from and I'm guilty. If I don't get if I text you and you don't response me within 24 hours, I'm like, are they mad at me? Like, yeah, what's going on? Did I do something? Um what can I do? Should I leave him alone? Should I call him? Should I text him? Should I just disappear? Am I like overly annoying to this person? Like, there's just a whole fucking thing that goes along with that.

SPEAKER_04 33:24

Yeah, I can understand that. Yeah, I agree with that. It's uh there is there is that there's some anxiety involved when you're in this day and age where you know you're so used to that constant communication and this and it's infinitely convenient for you to be able or inconvenient for them for you or for you to reach out, or it's infinitely convenient for the other person to try to reach out to you. And when you're not playing that convenient game with them, if you will, like for me, I do I actually will turn my phone off on certain weekends when I just want to, I I literally believe it or not, I call it I'm going, I'm taking I'm going back to 1984 weekend. I call it my 1984 weekends, where I just turn off the internet and I go and I do things that actually I did in 1984, which is like, you know, go out, do biking, hiking, you know, but but again to build on what you just said, Jessica. Yeah, I mean, this day and age, it's I've had a lot of people, and I'm a terrible communicator in that regard. Uh, you know, I'm a I'm I am uh I am a child of my generation when it comes to I prefer I prefer this kind of conversation. I prefer face to face, so to speak, or on the phone talking to people. And if you don't believe me, trust me, I'll still I'll keep people on the phone all day. I'm exceptionally chatty. But the uh but the whole like like for me, I get annoyed when I'm like, okay, a friend of mine will send me a text. Okay, so then I finally see it, whatever, and maybe an hour or two has gone by, sometimes longer, and I'll send them a text, and all of a sudden they're texting me back. And now I'll and now instead of me actually getting anything done, I'm sitting on my phone texting you back. And I'm like, just so after about the third, after the third text, I I literally just call them and I'm like, look, what do you got to say? But like, let's just get this done in five minutes so I can I can put you in my ear and I can go and do other things now, right? Instead of instead of dealing with just me sitting here texting, it's like, oh my god, I got other things to do right now.

SPEAKER_01 35:06

Oh man, I feel that so much. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 35:09

It's I mean, I'm a little selfish.

SPEAKER_01 35:11

Let's just talk, let's just talk. Yeah, let's just let's just talk.

SPEAKER_04 35:14

Yeah, if you got that much to say, you know, texting for me is more like along the lines of like I said earlier, you know, like, hey, I'm gonna be, I'm gonna, hey, if you want to go to a movie, you know, yes, okay, here's the time, here's the movie, I'll see you there. You know, that that kind of what's for dinner. Yeah, what's for dinner, right?

SPEAKER_02 35:30

Yeah, what hey something simple.

SPEAKER_04 35:32

Yeah, yeah, something simple, like, you know, but but the whole can't want to have a conversation and and you know, or or start, you know, like you know, human nature, you know, start talking about, you know, what what is their, you know, what what's on their mind, and you know that it's like just why are you texting me these things? Just pick up the phone and have a conversation with people.

SPEAKER_03 35:51

Once I get two paragraphs and then you send me back two paragraphs or five, I call you.

SPEAKER_05 35:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 35:58

And sometimes people won't answer and then they'll text me. And I'm like, okay, I'm kind of done with this because we just need to have a conversation. I I can't spend my whole like sit here and just keep like typing, typing. I can say it faster than I could type it.

SPEAKER_04 36:15

Yeah. It's like I got you know, it's just like, well, Jesus, why don't we just have a conversation if you're that fired up about having a conversation? Um plus I'm I talk faster than I type, so it's just easier.

SPEAKER_03 36:26

You know, and talk to text is shit.

SPEAKER_04 36:29

Uh yeah, I agree with that.

SPEAKER_01 36:31

Well, forget about it. Forget about it, man. Yeah, I I I I rare I rarely, if ever, use talk to text, but like, but you know, I I will admit though that I have moments where I do prefer text. Um I I admit like sometimes it's like I don't know, like after work, I'm drained, I'm I'm emotionally drained, and I maybe I just want to share some quick thoughts with somebody, and I'm not in the mood to have a full-on conversation, you know, verbal conversation, because that's the thing with a phone call, right? It's like, okay, you're on the phone with someone, so you're kind of making a commitment. Texts are like, I kind of see text as non-committal forms of communication, if that makes sense. You are communicating, but you're not fully committing to like a long, like like an ongoing dialogue. Like I could send a text to you, Trent, or you, Jess, and of a thought, a random thought I had, or just a feeling I had. And that could be that, you know. But then if we're on the phone, okay, okay, I gotta dedicate uh I'm I'm dedicating the next half hour to to this, you know. And it's not that, and it literally doesn't mean that I don't like talking to you or or or anything like that. But sometimes you are just drained, right? Sometimes you just don't have time for anybody, right, guys?

SPEAKER_03 37:46

100%. Well, but Kyle, you found the happy medium with like me. You send me texts of simple stuff, and then you send me audio messages, yes, of deeper thoughts or feelings or things that like you you want to have an ongoing conversation with me about, but you don't necessarily want me to handicap you with a two-hour conversation. You just send me a voice memo, and I'm like, all right, let me send you a voice memo back. And sometimes it's like, okay, we do that, and then we're good. And sometimes I call you or you call me, like, no, this this isn't just a voice memo thing, but it's like the happy medium between just like text because I can send it to you and give you like my emotions, and you can hear like kind of my thoughts and stuff, but I still have to get on about my day, and I can't have a four-hour conversation with you because I have to work to pay the bills, right? Um, correct. And then when you get a moment, you can listen to it and respond to me.

SPEAKER_01 38:42

Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 38:43

You found a happy medium there, correct.

SPEAKER_01 38:45

And and that's how it is with some of my other friends too. Like, I do the same thing with a couple few of my other friends where like I will I'll send them a voice note if I want them to actually hear how I'm feeling about something, and I feel passionate about something, but I'm not, but I'm either not necessarily ready for a long form conversation, or or maybe I just need to I need a moment to think about I I need to say it first, and then I need to let it marinate. I need to let it sit and marinate. And again, whenever you listen to it, you listen to it, and then you can give me your thoughts, and then maybe we could have a phone conversation about it later. But I admit that that is nice sometimes to be able to do that to just send someone a clip of your thoughts, and then send me a clip back, and then that may lead to a phone call, and then we can just talk about it. But then uh that's the thing about phone conversation, you're committing. So, again, going back to the 70s, the 80s, the 90s, where yeah, you called your friends, you called your girlfriend, you called your boyfriend, and yeah, you you are making a commitment. I remember I would call my friends almost every day after school, and now you know, for an hour, hour and a half, we talk on the phone, and it was fun. But you're committing that chunk of time, and I think that's the thing, that's the thing about us as adults as we get older, right? We tend to feel like we don't have time for anything, you know, like time is just flying, and time is a precious commodity that we don't uh have to easily spend, even though I feel like that's kind of an illusion, but that's a whole nother conversation. But but I think a lot of us uh I think Gen Xers and millennials feel like, oh, I don't have time, I I've got work or I've got this, I've got that. I'm working on this project, I'm I'm I'm out and about. We just don't have time, so we're gonna send you a quick text instead, right? And uh or a quick voice note. I don't have time to sit on the phone and and just yap and talk to you. But going back to decades ago, Trent, that's that's what it was, right? We we it it forced you to be social with people, it forced you to connect with people, I think. Um arguably on a deeper more face to face more face to face on a deeper level, you know. Like I think you said this earlier. Sometimes it wasn't even a phone call. Sometimes people will just show up at your doorstep, right? Like, hey, it's me, your your your your your friend Bob. You know, let's are you free? Let's go hang out, right? Let's like Bob will just show up at your doorstep.

SPEAKER_04 41:28

Yeah, there you go. Yeah, hey, we need we we need another guy for you guys. What yeah, I'm again, I was raised. Um I have a twin brother, so it was always both of us get, you know, they're like, Hey, uh, we need a couple, we're you guys want to play some pickup baseball, or you want to go ride bikes, or you know, or you just want to go, you know, create some mischief, you know. I mean, we yeah, they knock on your door. I mean, that's what you did. You just go wrong, hang on your friends' doorbells and try to get them to go. Uh yeah, to get to get it.

SPEAKER_00 41:54

Hey, Trent, what do you what do you what are you doing? Uh well, and you're like, well, clearly I'm at home doing nothing, right?

SPEAKER_04 41:59

Yeah, you're like, Yeah, well, let's go. Yeah. Leave a note for leave a note for your parents on the on the kitchen table and out the door you went. And that's maybe maybe you left a note. And frankly, I don't understand the my parents' generation in that regard because that and of course we don't have a boomer here, maybe maybe that could explain this a little bit or give us a little more insight. But it the the whole idea is of just like see you later, you know. Like the parents were like extremely hands-off. You know, I mean, we were like we were just running wild in the neighborhoods most days. Although I will say this though, uh the I we we had like what I called a we when I was growing up, we called it our our neighborhood intercom. And it was like a a collection of moms that would lay that like my my mom wanted to get a hold of me, and I was like um in a different part of my neighborhood, she would just lean out and yell our yell our our names, right? And if we didn't if we didn't respond back, then a a mom that would be sitting outside, maybe like a half a block down, would start yelling our names too. And eventually this crying up for our names would would be you know transferred by op from and it's always the women, the men, the the the no offense to the women by any stretch of the imagination, but you know, the you know, but the uh the men never really you know called out our names we will the adult men as a kid, but it would be like you know, my name Trent, and then another lady would pick up that call, Trent, your mom's calling, your mom wants you, Trent, your mom's calling for you. And then eventually it'd be like up like I'd be like three blocks away, and some lady I've never even talked to is like, hey, Trent, or you know, like my friend's mom or something. She'd be like, Hey, Trent, your mom's calling, you need to go home. You need to get home. I'm like, Oh, okay. Like, okay, let me get let me get on my bike and pedal my butt home, you know. Oh, and the other thing is, just while we're on that subject too, is one of the one of the conditions that my mom allowed us to just basically disappear for hours is when we'd be like, Yeah, we're gonna go, whatever, you know, we're gonna go do this other. She'd be like, make sure you have a quarter. in your pocket so you can make so you if you need to call me for an emergency you can. It wasn't so we had to go find a payphone, dial our home, and be like, hey mom, can you come pick us up? Or you know, or you know, this is what's happening, you know, like you know, so she would know that, you know, that we could actually have the means to be able to contact her through off telephone, which is a pay phone, which good luck in finding payphones anywhere these days.

SPEAKER_01 44:24

So oh my god, yeah, do they even still exist?

SPEAKER_04 44:27

I know, right? Every time I see one, I'm like, I just want to put a quarter in it and call someone. But I don't have anyone's numbers memorized anymore.

SPEAKER_01 44:35

But who said it's call someone who cares? Yeah. Yeah. Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_04 44:38

Or when you did the collect call, if you remember the old commercial, you know, you would have to do a collect call. You you received a collect call and then it was like and you would you would say the messages you know where they're like please state your name and you'd be like mom we're at the YMCA come pick us up and then you'd hang up so you get your quarterback. Did that then you then you use the quarter to go buy you know like you know candy at the local convenience store.

SPEAKER_01 45:02

Man the days when candy did cost a quarter man now they're like I don't know a six three dollars and fifty five cents they're not worth it the price these days in my opinion but yeah yeah it's like well jeez that candy bar I I remember eating these like a Snickers bar but I don't remember paying this much for it and what's my utility value out of this thing I like I'll just um I'll make a smart home but I'm serious man yeah go ahead no that's I mean we were really unstructured a lot of childhood freedom back then so yeah and let me let me hold into something you said you know because you kind of use that example of okay you uh you'll leave with your friends maybe you'll leave a note for your parents maybe you won't your mom will scream your name throughout the neighborhood and that was kind of like that's like your parents' form of texting right you know like you they scream your name out and they kind of will you into existence to come back home right and I think that's actually a very poignant example of how I think a lot of boomers and maybe Gen Xers also feel like our generation millennials and Gen Zers are soft right that you guys were a tougher generation because and I think there's a truth to that I think you guys were built tougher because of those circumstances. So if you came if you're a parent and you came home and your kid wasn't there your first reaction wouldn't have been you know it can't have been panic right it can be like okay he uh Trent's not home he he must have gone to go play with uh his his his friend uh Bob or whatever or whatever you know um so that was that may have been the first thought that went through your head okay Trent's not home he went to go out and play and then now maybe if hours and hours went by and it's like nine 10 o'clock and you're not home okay now I'm starting to worry right because I have Trent's still not home and I haven't heard anything. But yeah the first reaction wouldn't have been to panic. So you were just built tougher that way. And but these days I don't think you can really do that. If your child disappears and your child didn't even text you hey I'm going to Bob's house then um you're like okay what happened to Trent? What happened to Kyle what happened to Jess you know then immediate panic settles in and God forbid your parent doesn't have a um like an iPhone tracker on you right where they can track your cell phone or something like that.

SPEAKER_03 47:26

You know a peer tag I find my iPhone light something like that.

SPEAKER_04 47:31

Lowjacking your kid well yeah right all these tools to track our our our our children you know to uh or or track whoever go ahead yeah well yeah I mean I I don't doubt for a second that if that technology existed back then that that that my my parents would have utilized it don't get me wrong in that regard is they just didn't they uh they just they just didn't have it I mean there that that was their there I mean that was like again that more of the digital kind of uh you know digital kind of uh interactions that we have the the luxury and the convenience of being able to do that these days uh and so you know the your these children these days are they are having a a much closer scrutiny and how they're spending their time uh comparative to like you know like my generation where the you know my my mind my instructions were you know be home before the lights come on you know before the street lights come on and don't get in trouble you know don't don't don't make me have to deal with you being in trouble you know go and conduct yourselves and in the in and don't get into trouble these days you know there you can monitor your child completely through every for a great number of ways of doing it but including like you you know through low jacking them through their phones or or you know just it was it's just it was it's just different these days and it's it's a nice modern convenience but also I I how can I put it in the nice way I I feel for the children these days that don't have that uh freedom uh that that that I got to enjoy as a child because you know you know yeah they're gonna you know kids are gonna get into trouble and you know but but also you know when you have that kind of a freedom in my opinion that's when you can kind of start developing like independence or and and and things that allow you to not be so um fearful of reprisals because everything here is you know or looking for somebody to validate yeah the change you're making I will tell you like that just made me think about a couple of weeks ago um my youngest daughter dog set for my niece she's 19 it was her mom's birthday they went to the lake my niece who's 19 they have like five or six dogs I don't know a lot of dogs in their home and so they were going to the lake and I asked my 15 year old to the dog set of their house so she asked me and I was like yeah that's fine they paid her whatever so I took her and I dropped her off and then um that night I called her I was like oh I wonder if she's throwing like a rager and my oldest daughter who's 24 is over here she's like Bob stop she's not throwing a rager I was like no I know she's not but let me just call her and fuck with her so I call her and she didn't answer.

SPEAKER_03 50:24

And I was like yep see she's having a rager uh and then she called me back like I don't know three to five minutes later and she's like sorry I was taking the dog outside this and that I was like tell me anything you have the whole party now out there being quiet and she's like are you being for all mom and I'm like oh yeah so she like FaceTimes me and is like her it's her and the dogs do you see what's going on around me and I was being totally flippant like you know she could but like that was the only time I checked on her she was supposed to be coming home the next day and they ended up staying at the lake for the whole weekend so she stayed the whole weekend and other than her calling to be like can I order food I didn't hear from her all weekend but I also wasn't like driving by or popping up on her or like you know I'm like I mean could she do that? Yeah she could and if she did do that would I be like super excited about it. No at the same time I'd be like yep that's what teenagers do. You know what I mean? Like there's a nostalgia to that like well yeah I mean yeah it just so choke hold choke killed into like I can't take one step wrong.

SPEAKER_04 51:37

Yeah I I mean like okay for just to build out that remind you actually talking about it remind me of just one of the little uh one of the little games that we that I used to play as a as a kid but that all of us played and I I'm I mean for the most part is you know you would be like hey mom I'm gonna be staying over at uh or I'm I'm gonna can I sleep over at Jason's house you know like a friend of ours can I sleep over at Jason's house and they'd be like yeah sure and then and then we would tell my friend Jason be like hey tell your parents that you're gonna tell your mom and dad that we're gonna stay at uh you're gonna stay at at our house tonight and then and then we go out and just create I mean we'd be up you know like again we'd be just running the streets like wild children you know because we took advantage of the fact that our parents weren't that connected uh to to uh you know and then God forbid you've ever got caught well lord have mercy there was hell to pay but it was you know risk versus reward kind of event but it was you know you we got away with that because the that that's not happening these days I can guarantee you I mean if it might be happening but they're not getting away with it at the the success rate if you will of what we had were able to enjoy because no because I think I did that at least once a month.

SPEAKER_03 52:44

Somebody's kid took a picture posted it on social media somebody's other some hater kid could took a screenshot sent it to somebody's parent who they're mad at yeah that parent got it they shared it with somebody else's parent now everybody's parents is like checking their locations they're all the same fucking place and it ain't the fucking place you said you was gonna be at and here I know it's the problem. Yeah again I feel for the kids these days they didn't they don't have those kind of freedoms you know uh you know they don't yeah so it was interesting to say the least uh you know in that regards I've always like I I feel for my kid I feel for my my child my I have two adult sons in their twenties and I also have a grandchild and I'm like you guys didn't you guys just don't kind of have the I wouldn't say freedoms but you just don't have the same kind of uh childhood or lifestyle that I had growing up yeah there's there's no thing as like getting on your bike and riding a mile away oh yeah forget it and seeing where you ended up at like like I did as as you did you know like my grandson you got this one block and if the bar parking lot isn't busy because it's early enough you can ride around in the bar parking lot but once they start showing up they're drunk now you gotta be back on the front sidewalk.

SPEAKER_04 54:03

And other than that there's no freedom in exploring this neighborhood because you can't trust people yeah there's that too so let me ask you so let me ask a question that just to end this episode um I love the discussion and I feel like we could go in so many different directions but but I want to ask the question then of so going back to the kind of the title the good old days so I think we can to agree uh to a degree say that times were simpler and they objectively were in terms of access to certain things technology lack of technology all that stuff they were simpler you know but were they better you know we're were were times better than they are now because that also is what people say when they say the good old days and they're saying yeah the times were better back then than they are now everything is rough now everything is bad now where and things were so much better back then but were they Trent and Jessica well were they guys or is it a relative thing um because Trent you know you grew up in the 70s right and look and look I even though I'm even though I was born in 86 and I'm a 90s baby I actually have a lot of a appreciation of a lot of the culture of the 70s like I love 70s film the music oh my god like the music in the 70s uh soul motown um uh uh uh jazz you know soft rock like like there was so much good stuff culture wise of that era and so I I watch like a lot like I'll watch a lot of 70s films like oh man it looked cool back then you know but then I remember oh yeah but then there was you know racism and racial inequality and uh there was the uh there was the outcome of the Vietnam War right uh the 80s had the Cuban Missile Crisis right um and well that was in the 60s but yeah I'm sorry that's more in another decade yes no I'm thinking of I'm thinking of the uh the cold war right the the the the uh that was that was yes I'm sorry yes that was the 80s um where we had yeah where we had these very tense standstills with Russia right and um but there was a lot going on the AIDS epidemic uh that that broke out you did have Atari right that was a big thing right um but no there was there but there but that's what I'm saying there were a lot of beautiful uh breakthroughs and aspects of the culture of the 70s the 80s the 90s the eras that we came up in but it had more than its fair share of really scary shit for lack of a better term of really scary shit um and there are things I think that are objectively better now than they were back then uh yeah gender j gender and racial uh you know in uh equality you know that's uh that as one big thing so okay you know I'm going a little over the place but what I want the pose is so then were times actually better or is it just us looking on it with a fondness that is just relative you know what I mean does that make sense Trent so yeah I mean I think um yeah I wouldn't say in an absolute to answer the question I wouldn't say an absolute that yeah absolutely times were better you know I mean there's uh when we when we think about when we look back and you know and for everyone it doesn't matter when you're born but when you look back and you know you tend to uh have these like you just mentioned like the music you know and the and the and the friendships that were a lot seem to be more intense than they were and and uh but and the freedom that we had back then was compared to this but you know what people tend to remember that part everyone remembers the good parts right so there's it's somewhat of subjective right you know so to me that's where you start romanticizing if you will the you know when you're waxing nostalgic about your childhood like kind of what I've done here so far. You know, I mean but at the end of the day you know it what were times better you know there's good there's pluses and minuses to it. I mean I wouldn't again like I said it's the the difference in our in our world or our society today versus back then is just really honestly it's just that more connectivity and the digital the digit digitization of of everything and the whole 1247 access that people have to you these days back then you know we had music was great loved it you know deep deep deep friendships um still have I mean I I I have friends of mine from high school that we pick we pick up in chat like we haven't seen each other in 20 years but we we just go right back on the same page kind of thing um but to you know to answer your question I wouldn't say it was specifically better it was just um there there's pluses and minuses to it and you know what we'll well what what I remember uh is you know I I tend to I'll romanticize the nostalgia of all the positive things but what you know like I've never you know I in my memory it's not like I'm like sitting around in a fondness going man I can't I'm so fond of the fact that I had to wait three weeks to get a letter you know or or a lovely I am so I am so glad that I decided to take this road trip but I didn't bring a map because because I don't have GPS back then you know it's like I get the old and trust me those are two things that have happened in my you know you know where I'm like oh my oh my god I gotta stop I gotta stop and get a map of the state I don't have this map of the state how am I gonna find my way through the state right man yeah I just yesterday literally just yesterday I just uh I have to renew my passport because I'm gonna be traveling soon and um so so I just I just renewed it and I renewed it online and and I remember the time when you couldn't do that you had to like go to an office and get your you know get your photo taken and get you know get your passport renewed and then whatever but now you can just you do it in 15 minutes you take a photo with your iPhone and then you just wait for it to come in the mail you know so that is objectively really fucking awesome you know that you don't have to go out of your way to do these things or like uh like you're you know like who wants to go to like the driver uh renewing your driver's license right like who the fuck wants to go to the DMV right right so if you if you could just do this stuff easily online great but I'm sure we all have not so fond memories of waiting for hours at the DMV to get your photo taken to get your license or get your license renewed or whatever right like my God and we are shifting so that you can do things like that easier and more efficiently from the comfort of your own home on your computer.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:03

So you're right Trent there are a lot of conveniences that are afforded to us today uh that I think have made life better. But with everything like with everything in life there's a give and take and I do think there have been certain things that have been taken away I think our seizure where intense social interactions have been lessered uh we've all become a little bit more introverted. So you know in general um I do think we romanticize the past a bit and uh or a lot a bit and I think that's also why nostalgia and Trent you've touched upon this a few times is so big nowadays. It's uh kind of permeated our culture in a huge way where we're all looking back and uh we're all looking back and reminiscing and we're bringing old things back. And that's what I want to talk about in the next episode which I think kind of uh uh naturally uh branches off to what to today's discussion is that I want to talk about the concept of nostalgia and how we all seem to be a little bit obsessed with that these days and because we feel like the old days maybe were better quote unquote so we're bringing all the best aspects back of our youth and our childhood and our yesteryear and we're bringing them back in today into today and I want to dive into that a little bit into you know culture film media even clothing a little bit I want to do a little bit of a deep dive on that on the next episode because uh you know nostalgia is fun but why are we obsessed with nostalgia but anyway uh Trent thank you for this conversation today um I loved hearing your stories uh from the 70s you know and uh you know it did it did seem like a pretty cool time to be alive you know um overall well a simple a simpler time right that's the whole idea yeah well when I start writing my book I'll let you guys be some do some proofreading on it I can't wait yes sir I can't wait yes sir me too all right well listeners that's it for today uh for this episode of the seeing sideways podcast we will see you all back next week when we talk about nostalgia so thank you everyone for listening and Trent Jessica I will see you guys both next week thank you so much for