Simplicity

Why is nothing ever simple? I’m tempted to say that there was a time in all our lives when things were simple relative to today and, in a way, it’s true but in many other ways that seeming simplicity wasn't as simple as we sometimes make out.

For example if your bus was cancelled or any transportation was disrupted you had no way of letting the hospital know you’d be late for your appointment or any of the similar things which were daily occurrences. Indeed I would say that communication is a huge way in which life has become simpler and yet more complex.

Another example is meeting people when you went into town. You had to make prior arrangements and if anything went awry then I, for one, can recall aborted meetings which caused considerable worry and angst at the time. Now if I go into town with someone we do our separate shopping and then say “Phone me when you’re almost done and we’ll decide the best place and time to meet.” Or if I'm meeting at a particular time a call or text message lets each other know what's happening if something goes awry.

We used to book phone calls at Christmas with our relatives in Australia and Canada. They were expensive and short. Telegrams and their international equivalent could be used in extremis but it could still be ages before you knew a relative had died. Now we can chat every day to friends and family anywhere in the world if we want using a myriad of audio visual or 'written' messenger applications.

Ordinary written conversations with relatives and friends abroad took up to 5 weeks between each letter being written and received: sometimes more. A friend at Prep School had a father at sea (he was a Chief Engineer like my son) and he often arrived home 9 months after he’d gone away and, on one occasion, arrived home before the telegram about his impending arrival. I recall that because my friend’s Mother was cross to say the least.

I mentioned at a gathering recently that I write or send at least a dozen snail mail cards and letters a week. Most of the others present neither receive not write missives sent by snail mail at all. Christmas cards on a reduced level seem to be an exception.

Obviously a book could be written on this subject and many probably have been.

Thinking about it it seems to me that the number of things where simplicity in life these days compared with my youth is absolutely colossal. 

What I can't decide is what is good and what is bad and how many things in our general life are so vastly different now.