# The good old days, I think.



## Pappy (Sep 6, 2020)

Ah yes, surrounded by beautiful woman.    Actually, this was taken in the 70s when we lived in a mobile home park. Our neighbor on the left, and my pretty wife on the right. I do remember the appliances were all pink. 3 bedrooms, 64 feet long, 10 feet wide and three little rug rats too. Take about tiny houses, but we made it work for 7 years.


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## hollydolly (Sep 6, 2020)

Pappy said:


> Ah yes, surrounded by beautiful woman.   Actually, this was taken in the 70s when we lived in a mobile home park. Our neighbor on the left, and my pretty wife on the right. I do remember the appliances were all pink. 3 bedrooms, 64 feet long, 10 feet wide and three little rug rats too. Take about tiny houses, but we made it work for 7 years.View attachment 121300


Sounds  a lot like our Narrowboat... 72 feet long 7.6inches wide...


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## Aunt Marg (Sep 6, 2020)

A lovely snap of history!

That's the difference between your generation and today's younger generation, people today want it all yesterday, whereas yesteryears generation was willing to go without, do without, and make-do with what they had in order to get ahead and live a comfortable lifestyle, and no one I knew (back in day) dug themselves into debt like I see today.

I guess that's why I have always longed to go back in time, because IMO, yesteryears generation were real people, with real morals, real standards, and there was a sense of closeness. There was true meaning behind family and friends. That is what came first, not materialism and greed.

Mind you, I'm biased in my way of thinking, because IMO the 60's and 70's was the best era ever.

Thank you so much for sharing this, Pappy.

P.S. had I been of age, I would have loved to have been sitting at the kitchen table with you.


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## RadishRose (Sep 6, 2020)

Thanks for sharing, @Pappy . Also, I love your new avatar.


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## Rosemarie (Sep 6, 2020)

I lived in a trailer when I was first married, the only other option was living with my in-laws! It was a bit cramped, but perfectly adequate for a young couple.


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## Keesha (Sep 6, 2020)

Beautiful picture Pappy. I like how happy and content you always appear to be when you  present your photos. 
It looks like all your times are happy times; maybe cause you make them so. It’s a beautiful characteristic to have.


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## Aunt Marg (Sep 6, 2020)

hollydolly said:


> Sounds  a lot like our Narrowboat... 72 feet long 7.6inches wide...


My disdain for your entitled interjections is beyond words.


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## jujube (Sep 6, 2020)

Aunt Marg said:


> A lovely snap of history!
> 
> That's the difference between your generation and* today's younger generation, people today want it all yesterday*, whereas yesteryears generation was willing to go without, do without, and make-do with what they had in order to get ahead and live a comfortable lifestyle, and no one I knew (back in day) dug themselves into debt like I see today.
> 
> ...



It's true.  The collective "we" of my generation usually started out in tiny two bedroom, one bath houses because that's all we could afford. It wasn't the end of the world if two (or even three) kids shared a bedroom  (heck, there were seven females and one male sharing a single bathroom in the house I grew up in).  We lived through it.  We paid down the mortgages and then traded up to a three bedroom, two bath.  Sometimes, we ended there or moved up to a larger house with a pool when we could afford it.

Most of the kids today wouldn't consider starting out in a "starter house".  It has to have the four bedrooms, three baths, three-car garage and the pool right away.


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## 911 (Sep 6, 2020)

My wife had a cousin that lived in a mobile home. When we visited, I was almost claustrophobic. Those things are not made for big people and at 6 ft. 2 ins. it was tight for me to move around in. But, I thought it was pretty cool because your family isn’t spread out all over the house.


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## 911 (Sep 6, 2020)

Aunt Marg said:


> A lovely snap of history!
> 
> That's the difference between your generation and today's younger generation, people today want it all yesterday, whereas yesteryears generation was willing to go without, do without, and make-do with what they had in order to get ahead and live a comfortable lifestyle, and no one I knew (back in day) dug themselves into debt like I see today.
> 
> ...


When Visa/Master Card and Discover came out, everyone thought, “Oh, boy, free money.” And, “Now we can have it all.”


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## 911 (Sep 6, 2020)

hollydolly said:


> Sounds  a lot like our Narrowboat... 72 feet long 7.6inches wide...


Do you have a picture of this boat? What fits in a boat 7.6 inches wide?


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## JaniceM (Sep 6, 2020)

911 said:


> Do you have a picture of this boat? What fits in a boat 7.6 inches wide?


A goldfish?


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## 911 (Sep 6, 2020)

This is a problem that I have. I live in the ‘good old days’ too much. Up until I graduated high school, my life was what some people would call ‘living the dream.’ Going to school, having a job after school, playing sports, hanging out with friends and mostly doing whatever. I never had a steady girlfriend in high school and when I did date, I dated mostly girls from other schools. Definitely the best days of my life.


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## 911 (Sep 6, 2020)

JaniceM said:


> A goldfish?


You got me on that one.


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## hollydolly (Sep 6, 2020)

911 said:


> Do you have a picture of this boat? What fits in a boat 7.6 inches wide?


we have a livingroom /kitchen (Galley).. toilet & shower , & 2 bedrooms... Many hundreds of thousands of people live on their narrowboats  permanently, and many are smaller than ours ( ours being the longest)


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## Pinky (Sep 6, 2020)

hollydolly said:


> we have a livingroom /kitchen (Galley).. toilet & shower , & 2 bedrooms... Many hundreds of thousands of people live on their narrowboats  permanently, and many are smaller than ours ( ours being the longest)


What is the true width, Hols?


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## hollydolly (Sep 6, 2020)

Pinky said:


> What is the true width, Hols?


 It's 7feet wide Pinks..that's it's true width, they're not permitted to be any wider than that to be able to sail on our canals..


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## Pinky (Sep 6, 2020)

hollydolly said:


> It's 7feet wide Pinks..that's it's true width, they're not permitted to be any wider than that to be able to sail on our canals..


They're very attractive. I can imagine being quite comfortable living on one, though it could get cold through the winter. 

Don't know if you are aware that you made a typo, quoting inches rather than feet. Most of us figured it out though


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## hollydolly (Sep 6, 2020)

This is the typical look of the interior of a narrowboat... (not ours)...

Everything is behind each other.. this livingroom with the galley kitchen behind,,,






Then behind that to the right (in ours) is the toilet, and then behind that at the back are the bedrooms... ( everything is in one line)...

Oh they can be very cosy in winter..  using oil radiators or using wood log fires,


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## Pinky (Sep 6, 2020)

hollydolly said:


> This is the typical look of the interior of a narrowboat... (not ours)...
> 
> Everything is behind each other.. this livingroom with the galley kitchen behind,,,
> 
> ...


Very light/airy/modern and attractive. Are there a lot of younger couples living in these, or more retired people .. or a mix?


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## 911 (Sep 6, 2020)

hollydolly said:


> we have a livingroom /kitchen (Galley).. toilet & shower , & 2 bedrooms... Many hundreds of thousands of people live on their narrowboats  permanently, and many are smaller than ours ( ours being the longest)


OK, now I get it. The boat is 6’7” wide. That makes better sense. Glad that’s cleared up.


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## 911 (Sep 6, 2020)

hollydolly said:


> This is the typical look of the interior of a narrowboat... (not ours)...
> 
> Everything is behind each other.. this livingroom with the galley kitchen behind,,,
> 
> ...


That’s one cool boat.


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## hollydolly (Sep 6, 2020)

911 said:


> OK, now I get it. The boat is 6’7” wide. That makes better sense. Glad that’s cleared up.


I already said it was 7 feet wide...


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## Pinky (Sep 6, 2020)

Do you make much use of your boat, Hols? It would be a nice getaway sometimes, I imagine.


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## hollydolly (Sep 6, 2020)

Pinky said:


> Very light/airy/modern and attractive. Are there a lot of younger couples living in these, or more retired people .. or a mix?


There's quite a mix , Pinks.. today with the young finding it difficult to get on the housing ladder, many more younger couples are choosing to live on them permanently.. whereas before they tended to be middle aged and older.. ( more money)... they're not cheap to buy  and the morring charges can be quite steep, but it's still cheaper than a home in the more expensive areas like here in London for example.

Ours was my husbands' home for 10 years before we got married.. he had it built to his own specifications and  lived on it with his dog , and the odd girlfriend or 2 ..

ETA..yes we do use the boat...we don't go out on it anywhere nearly as often as we used to, we tend to entertain friends to dinner on it more often than  actually go up river on it.. in fact we were just saying today that we need to go down and get it ready for the winter and close it all up, and next spring we'll take it out up river for a week  with a view then to selling afterwards..


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## 911 (Sep 6, 2020)

hollydolly said:


> I already said it was 7 feet wide...


When you wrote 7.6 inches, I took that as 7.6 inches only, which would be about 7 and 5/8 inches. We don’t write it the same here as you do over there.


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## hollydolly (Sep 6, 2020)

911 said:


> When you wrote 7.6 inches, I took that as 7.6 inches only, which would be about 7 and 5/8 inches. We don’t write it the same here as you do over there.


aha..!! I see... well no, that meant 7 feet 6 inches wide...


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## Pinky (Sep 6, 2020)

hollydolly said:


> There's quite a mix , Pinks.. today with the young finding it difficult to get on the housing ladder, many more younger couples are choosing to live on them permanently.. whereas before they tended to be middle aged and older.. ( more money)... they're not cheap to buy  and the morring charges can be quite steep, but it's still cheaper than a home in the more expensive areas like here in London for example.
> 
> Ours was my husbands' home for 10 years before we got married.. he had it built to his own specifications and  lived on it with his dog , and the odd girlfriend or 2 ..
> 
> ETA..yes we do use the boat...we don't go out on it anywhere nearly as often as we used to, we tend to entertain friends to dinner on it more often than  actually go up river on it.. in fact we were just saying today that we need to go down and get it ready for the winter and close it all up, and next spring we'll take it out up river for a week  with a view then to selling afterwards..


I could see it as an attractive alternative to purchasing a house .. especially for young couples. Real estate here is sky-high - just under a million for a house in the city and outskirts. 

It sounds a charming way to entertain friends. You've got the best of both worlds


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## hollydolly (Sep 6, 2020)

Pinky said:


> I could see it as an attractive alternative to purchasing a house .. especially for young couples. Real estate here is sky-high - just under a million for a house in the city and outskirts.
> 
> It sounds a charming way to entertain friends. You've got the best of both worlds


yes it's those kind of prices here for a 1/2 decent  home in the city...  and here in the area where I live  they range up to anything around £3 million... averaging around a million  and a half..

We've also got our home abroad  too... we're fortunate in that way.. but then we worked very hard for them all..


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## RadishRose (Sep 6, 2020)

deleted


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## Pinky (Sep 6, 2020)

hollydolly said:


> yes it's those kind of prices here for a 1/2 decent  home in the city...  and here in the area where I live  they range up to anything around £3 million... averaging around a million  and a half..
> 
> We've also got our home abroad  too... we're fortunate in that way.. but then we worked very hard for them all..


In our day, the goal of owning a home wasn't that easy, yet reachable. It's becoming out of reach for many young couples now. Maybe that's why so many are not having children.


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## RadishRose (Sep 6, 2020)

Pinky said:


> In our day, the goal of owning a home wasn't that easy, yet reachable. It's becoming out of reach for many young couples now. Maybe that's why so many are not having children.


Yes Pink, it wasn't that easy, but reachable. Prices in many areas are just out of their grasp now.


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## Pappy (Sep 6, 2020)

911 said:


> My wife had a cousin that lived in a mobile home. When we visited, I was almost claustrophobic. Those things are not made for big people and at 6 ft. 2 ins. it was tight for me to move around in. But, I thought it was pretty cool because your family isn’t spread out all over the house.



Boy, does that bring back memories when a huge trooper came to our trailer to collect license plates I forgot to turn in. I don’t think they do that anymore. Anyway, he could hardly fit though the door. He wasn’t fat, just big.


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## hollydolly (Sep 6, 2020)

Pinky said:


> In our day, the goal of owning a home wasn't that easy, yet reachable. It's becoming out of reach for many young couples now. Maybe that's why so many are not having children.


My daughter chose not to have children


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## 911 (Sep 6, 2020)

Pappy said:


> Boy, does that bring back memories when a huge trooper came to our trailer to collect license plates I forgot to turn in. I don’t think they do that anymore. Anyway, he could hardly fit though the door. He wasn’t fat, just big.


When I worked out of the Erie barracks, we had a Trooper that was 6’8”. He couldn’t sit in his vehicle with his hat on, but then again, not many of us wore our hats while driving.


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## Pinky (Sep 6, 2020)

hollydolly said:


> My daughter chose not to have children


My daughter is not having children, either. In fact, the only couple who have a big house, can't conceive, and are now beyond it age-wise. The others are all in condos.


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## hollydolly (Sep 6, 2020)

Pinky said:


> My daughter is not having children, either. In fact, the only couple who have a big house, can't conceive, and are now beyond it age-wise. The others are all in condos.


My daughter had a 3 bed house before she moved to Spain..it was expensive  at the time but she could afford it,  she's been in Spain over 10 years now,  and owns   2 houses , a business and 5 acres of land  which costs a third of the  price her old house here  is valued at now. She wants to return to the UK if she can sell her business and home.. but she realises that she will have very little option but to have to settle for an apartment here and not be able to afford a house.. It's very sad..


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## 911 (Sep 6, 2020)

Pinky said:


> In our day, the goal of owning a home wasn't that easy, yet reachable. It's becoming out of reach for many young couples now. Maybe that's why so many are not having children.


I think buying a home today is much easier than when we were buying our first home. Many banks offer a first-time buyer incentive with only 3% down. Interest rates right now are pretty low also, right around 2-3%. Of course, if anyone can afford it, it’s best to put 20% down to avoid paying the monthly PMI, which can add a considerable amount to the payment.


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## Pinky (Sep 6, 2020)

hollydolly said:


> My daughter had a 3 bed house before she moved to Spain..it was expensive  at the time but she could afford it,  she's been in Spain over 10 years now,  and owns   2 houses , a business and 5 acres of land  which costs a third of the  price her old house here  is valued at now. She wants to return to the UK if she can sell her business and home.. but she realises that she will have very little option but to have to settle for an apartment here and not be able to afford a house.. It's very sad..


It _is_ sad. People work so hard to save, and it isn't enough to put a decent roof over their heads. Even condos are a luxury to purchase.


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## 911 (Sep 6, 2020)

hollydolly said:


> My daughter had a 3 bed house before she moved to Spain..it was expensive  at the time but she could afford it,  she's been in Spain over 10 years now,  and owns   2 houses , a business and 5 acres of land  which costs a third of the  price her old house here  is valued at now. She wants to return to the UK if she can sell her business and home.. but she realises that she will have very little option but to have to settle for an apartment here and not be able to afford a house.. It's very sad..


How much is an average house like; 2800 square feet, 3/3/2?


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## Pinky (Sep 6, 2020)

911 said:


> I think buying a home today is much easier than when we were buying our first home. Many banks offer a first-time buyer incentive with only 3% down. Interest rates right now are pretty low also, right around 2-3%. Of course, if anyone can afford it, it’s best to put 20% down to avoid paying the monthly PMI, which can add a considerable amount to the payment.


That's how much (20%) we put down on our first house. We stuck to a tight budget back then.


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## Pinky (Sep 6, 2020)

911 said:


> How much is an average house like; 2800 square feet, 3/3/2?


2800 sq. ft. - 3 bdrm/2 bathroom or bigger .. 
https://www.theplancollection.com/house-plans/square-feet-2800-2900


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## 911 (Sep 6, 2020)

Pinky said:


> 2800 sq. ft. - 3 bdrm/2 bathroom or bigger ..
> https://www.theplancollection.com/house-plans/square-feet-2800-2900


How about where a Holly is?


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## hollydolly (Sep 6, 2020)

We don't tend to sell housing based on square footage here.. but the housing here is quite small given that we're a vastly overcrowded Island, and also housing in built up areas tend to be terraced which are even smaller.. but looking at the sales for the  ''average'' 3 bed 2 bath house which my daughter owned and  in the town she was in ( around 10 miles from here)  , which was quite spacious in British terms for that type of detached home in a small avenue.. I discover that it was 1800 square metres!!


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## Aunt Bea (Sep 6, 2020)

Housing is still relatively inexpensive where I live but it varies wildly from zip code to zip code and school district to school district.  According to Zillow, the median home value in my zip code is $99,968.   Home values have gone up 8.1% over the past year and Zillow predicts they will fall -0.5% within the next year. The median list price per square foot is $73, which is higher than the area average of $56.  The condition of the homes also varies wildly but it's still possible to find a snug little mid-century ranch or cape in that median price range.

https://www.zillow.com/home-values/

With some exceptions, I believe that if owning a home is a priority most young people can still stretch to buy a home and grow into it over time just like most of us did.

I live not far from a planned community that kicked off in 1956 with eight different models among its 1,200 homes, ranging in price from $11,000 to $25,000.  The young families that stretched to buy them are now well into retirement and selling them as starter homes for young families at prices of around $175,000.00.


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## jujube (Sep 6, 2020)

I remember buying our first house, a cute little cottage about 950 sq. ft.  Two bedrooms, one bath.  We thought we were in heaven.  It cost $17,000 and we put $0 down because we had a GI mortgage.  The total monthly mortgage payment was only $161 but that was still a strain because we had only been paying $140 a month rent for an apartment with all utilities paid.

I was the only wage earner as my husband was in school working on his doctorate.   I don't know how we got a mortgage because back then they discounted the wife's salary (y'know......they were afraid we were going to slip on an icy sidewalk and get pregnant or something.....)


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## Geezerette (Sep 6, 2020)

not to be nosy, but what do boat people do about bathing, washing up. Toilets etc?


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## hollydolly (Sep 7, 2020)

Geezerette said:


> not to be nosy, but what do boat people do about bathing, washing up. Toilets etc?


We have a toilet and shower on the boat !!

This is typical of the longer boats like ours...







smaller ones  tend to have something more like this...





Everything is very compact! If you google toilet and shower systems on a narrowboat you'll get all you need to know


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## Aunt Marg (Sep 7, 2020)

jujube said:


> It's true.  The collective "we" of my generation usually started out in tiny two bedroom, one bath houses because that's all we could afford. It wasn't the end of the world if two (or even three) kids shared a bedroom  (heck, there were seven females and one male sharing a single bathroom in the house I grew up in).  We lived through it.  We paid down the mortgages and then traded up to a three bedroom, two bath.  Sometimes, we ended there or moved up to a larger house with a pool when we could afford it.
> 
> Most of the kids today wouldn't consider starting out in a "starter house".  It has to have the four bedrooms, three baths, three-car garage and the pool right away.


You've summed it up so well, Jujube.

My parents first home purchased in the 60's, was a tiny single bedroom home, and even then, a stretch for my parents as far as affordability went, but we lived there for several years before moving across town and into a more average-sized home with three bedrooms (still only one bath), though still a small home by 1970's standards, but over the course of the next few years my folks had an addition put on, and they developed the basement, which was a blessing with all of us kids.

For years, bunk-beds and baby cribs were in completion with one another in my childhood home, and even with a single bathroom, somehow we all managed to make it, though not without it's challenges.

LOL! I remember how when we'd want to take a bath, we'd give a holler to everyone... "anyone need to use the bathroom, because I'm going to take a bath".


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## RadishRose (Sep 7, 2020)

Close friends of mine sold their house and actually lived on their yacht on Rhode Island! It was a smaller one but it suited well. They would store it for the winter and drive down to their trailer home in Florida until spring.

I was surprised that the Yacht Club fees were cheaper than their mortgage! The restaurant, bar and laundromat were all really inexpensive for members and they had planned social events.

One weekend when I was there, they all had a party. The boats were all decorated in special ways with lights, props, you name it. People strolled the piers and ate snacks and appys set out on tables at each boat, cocktails or beers, too. Some of the really big boats were open to go onboard and take a look around. Yikes.


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## KimIn Wis (Sep 7, 2020)

jujube said:


> It's true.  The collective "we" of my generation usually started out in tiny two bedroom, one bath houses because that's all we could afford. It wasn't the end of the world if two (or even three) kids shared a bedroom  (heck, there were seven females and one male sharing a single bathroom in the house I grew up in).  We lived through it.  We paid down the mortgages and then traded up to a three bedroom, two bath.  Sometimes, we ended there or moved up to a larger house with a pool when we could afford it.
> 
> Most of the kids today wouldn't consider starting out in a "starter house".  It has to have the four bedrooms, three baths, three-car garage and the pool right away.


I agree 100%!  They all want to start at the top and then complain they can't get a job (not working for less than $30/hour), or afford a house (but only the 4 bedroom one), or a car (has to be 2020 BMW or nothing). I started working at 14 and didn't stop until I was 56. From bussing tables in the boondocksville to a great work at home job with a pension, good medical and retired at 56! No, it wasn't fun getting up at 4am every morning and driving 1.5 hours each way to work and back in snow and storms and dodging animals! And that was when things were getting good! AND I only had a high school diploma and ended up in a high tech, high paying job, all because I worked my butt off and took pride in my accomplishments!  I have/had 3 brothers who all ended up either dead from drugs and alcohol or spent their entire life trying to get on SSI and bragging about how they "played the system".  We all grew up the same, only I decided to do something with myself.  And ya know what? The only thing my brothers ever said to me was, "you're so lucky, can I borrow some money?" Sorry for the rant on your post, but this is one of my pet peeves,


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## Aunt Marg (Sep 7, 2020)

Pappy said:


> Ah yes, surrounded by beautiful woman.   Actually, this was taken in the 70s when we lived in a mobile home park. Our neighbor on the left, and my pretty wife on the right. I do remember the appliances were all pink. 3 bedrooms, 64 feet long, 10 feet wide and three little rug rats too. Take about tiny houses, but we made it work for 7 years.View attachment 121300


I not only believe it was the "good days", Pappy, I believe it was the best of days.

Family time actually meant something back then, as did friendship, get-togethers, and holidays. There was a sense of closeness that I don't see today, and people respected one another back then, unlike nowadays.

People made-do with what they had, and what they didn't have, others were there to offer. I remember as a young child, running to the homes of neighbours to borrow a cup of sugar, flour, or whatever else mom was in need of, and when mom had whatever it was that she needed to borrow in her pantry, back over to the neighbours I'd go with cup in hand to payback the favour, and neighbours came calling at our house for the same.

Mom and dad were poor for years, so having a pickup truck was a dream, yet we had neighbours that would drive over to our house on Saturday morning, load up what yard waste and debris dad had collected over the course of the past week or weeks, and they'd haul it away, and it wasn't unheard of for neighbours to offer the use of a vehicle in the event someone needed one. People were more giving, but then again, people were more appreciative of the fact, unlike today.

Finding a babysitter for ones kids back in the day was as simple as calling up a neighbour. Today, we don't even know our neighbours, aside from two families that have resided next to us for as long as we've lived here.

I recall neighbourhood parties and barbecues, and what fun we had. Plans would be set in motion months in advance, and what fun everyone had. People worked from Monday to Friday, and weekends were for pleasure and play.

Homes were simple, well-kept, and people lived in the same home for decades, not just a few years, and families relied on a single vehicle to get around, and it didn't have to be a Mercedes Benz, a Rolls, or a Cadillac.

I remember come Christmas, invitations would fly, the phone was ringing, for mom and dad would be invited to multiple get-together's at neighbours homes, and kids were all invited, too, and heaven forbid someone was found to be alone, an invitation would be extended to them but someone or another in the neighbourhood to come for supper, and when it came to special times of the year such as Halloween, if a parent wasn't able to take their kids out, there was an endless choice of neighbours that were ready and willing to step up to the plate and take ones children out with their own children.

People, neighbours, you name it, everyone watched-out for one another, and when it came to knowing ones own children's parents, that was the norm. Everyone knew everybody, and everyone respected other people's belongings and property.

And then there were Sundays, when all was closed. All would be quiet on Sunday morning, church bells could be heard ringing in the distance, and busy in the kitchens were housewives preparing a special Sunday night supper for the family.

Gosh, I could go on and on...

What I'd give to wave goodbye to this materialistic, greedy era we live in, to be able to go back in time.


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## CinnamonSugar (Sep 7, 2020)

One thing I personally think is an improvement over yester-year is that it’s *ok* now to talk about uncomfortable things like mental illness or child abuse. There was too much of a “we don’t talk about such things” mentality.. people who really needed help didn’t get it.  Of course, often Now the pendulum swings too far the other way and people say way more than is necessary.


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