The Cost of Convenience

This is me at 15 and this is pretty much where I spent my four years of high school.   On one side of the divider was the kitchen, as you can see, and on the other was the living room.  This was the only phone in the house so all those family members watching the only TV in the house were three feet from me.  There were no secrets.  No bad language.  I was free to talk until Mom got tired of listening to me or the TV watchers were bothered by the constant drone of conversation.

 My brother was once sitting on the living room side of that divider when my mother was washing dishes.  He said some smart comment to her so she took the glass she was washing, that was full of water, and soaked him good. 

We lived in a small town that had it's own phone system that made it impossible to call any other town without it being  long distance.     So, therefore, we did not call anywhere else unless you asked permission and it better be for a good reason.  Like someone died.   On Christmas my parents would call the grandparents and then pass the phone to us kids when they ran out of stuff to talk about.

Terry and I were talking yesterday about the high cost of living  we have now that our parents didn't have.  Things like cell phones are hugely expensive compared to their house phone bill.   We have not had a land line phone for about 8-10 years.   Our cell phones are more than double that land line charge. 

Then there is the cable and Internet bill.  Forget the Internet even.  Just go with your television cable bill.  Our parents had an antenna.  Do you remember when you could turn the dial and the thing would move?  That was high tech!    Once they bought the antenna, there was no other bill.

I would like to see the price comparison for an average date then and now, with allowance for today's dollar value.  The kind of date that teenage girl on the phone went on.  A regular go to a movie, get some popcorn and pop at the concession stand date.  I know Terry and I don't get refreshments at a movie unless there's a special of some sort.  My teenage dates were pumping gas or bagging groceries after school.  Some were working at the local orchard on weekends.  They didn't have much money.

It just costs more to live today.   There's gas....we know that's horrible.  Can you think of any other comparisons?