Things change yet remain the same. When I first arrived in Paris in 1971, I was amazed by the way the French would speak about the war (WWII) as though it had happened yesterday! It would come up in daily conversations over and over; a remark here, or a reminder there, but for me it was something I had read about in history class in high school and college. For the French, however, it was memories of the past, of their childhood, or tales they heard their parents talk about.
The years have not changed things much and people still remember. So when Patrick’s family began to talk about “the war” one evening around the dinner table, it was just another topic of conversation.
Patrick’s mom was telling everyone, “I remember one evening when we were so hungry and my father found a can of sardines! Do you remember that, Gisèle?” she asked her sister. “We sat down and divided that can of sardines, we were so happy to have something to eat!”
Katia, who was sitting next to me, poked me and asked, “What is everyone talking about?”
I explained to her in English, “Patrick’s mom is telling us about the time her father found a can of sardines and Patrick’s mom, his Aunt Gisèle, and their mom and dad had to share it for dinner. That’s all they had to eat.”
Katia looked at me, not really understanding where the problem was, and asked, “Well, why didn’t they just call and order a pizza?”
I burst out laughing and Patrick asked me what I was laughing about, so I told him. He started laughing and then told everyone around the table. Needless to say, everyone thought it was funny!
Maya Muses: I know! I failed to mentioned to Katia that it was during the war, but if I had, I’m sure we wouldn’t have had such a good laugh!
Photo Credits: Flickr and Personal Photos
11 responses so far ↓
1 Mia // Aug 6, 2008 at 11:08 am
It is amazing how much have changed since then…
It is always interesting to hear my Mom talk about her childhood,it seems so far away…
I still remember walking with my grandmother with a empty milk can to the farmer for fresh milk…I was 5 …grandmothers hot chocolate was heaven…
That can of Sardines must have tasted like heaven!
Even if it was all they had to eat…
Somewhere they experience the same thing just now!
All have changed and nothing have changed!?
Strange?Do we never learn?
2 Lynn // Aug 6, 2008 at 7:46 pm
If history is any indication, then, no, we don’t learn! …..
And the generation gap widens. Inconceivable for Katia and her generation to imagine that if there’s nothing to eat in the house, you couldn’t just pick up your phone and order a pizza!
When I told her that when I was a kid, we never dreamed that one day each of us would be carrying our own personal telephone around; it was unimaginable. She, on the other hand, has had her own cellphone since she was 8 years-old. Once again, her generation probably doesn’t even know what a phone booth is!
3 Mia // Aug 7, 2008 at 11:25 am
Yes,it is true the gap widens..
I talked to Ulf’s brothers son, who is 16 ,when they were here…and he agreed when I said that they have so much more to choose between than we had when we were young…
He thought it was difficult sometimes…But he also said that he prefer to talk to people face to face and not so much via internet…
But he sure used his cellphone all the time!
He is a very nice boy…but has already been in trouble, because he can’t control his temper…
I wonder what all these cellphones and other “stuff” that the young people use today,does to them in the long run?
I think sometimes that the “world” today have somehow forgotten that we are only human,no machines…
What are we really running for?
Oh,well.I guess I’m old..more like a turtle now than a rabbit….I enjoy to just sit and let the world pass by more than before…
I still don’t know how to use my cellphone right..
And the computer…lets not talk about that…I know how to write….thats about it!
4 Lynn // Aug 7, 2008 at 5:34 pm
I’m sure it’s not the same in Sweden (unless things have drastically changed since I was last there!) but in the States a cellphone for a child is almost a necessity. Life has become so dangerous, not like when I was a child and kids would walk a mile to school on their own. (Haha, I sound just like my parents!) Now adays it’s way too dangerous so most children don’t walk to school. The cellphone is just another means of protection that a child needs to stay safe!
That doesn’t mean that kids don’t love chatting for hours with their friends on their phones, (they do!) but most parents get them for safety reasons; to know where there children are at all times. Sad, but true.
In that sense, technology is great and you have to admit that carrying around in your purse thousands of songs, photos, and the internet on your I Touch is fantastic!
5 Mia // Aug 8, 2008 at 10:40 am
Sweden has changed…since you were here….a lot!
But kids can still go to school by there own….it is still safe…but I know that parents are worried here too…
And yeah,in a way I agree with you,technology is great,sometimes…but as everything you need to have the balance!
Call me stupid,but what is “I Touch”?I don’t even have an Ipod?
And I’m really bad at taking photos,and if I do,when am I going to watch them?
I don’t have much in my purse…hmm…
Am I in the right century?Guess I really live after the motto”Less is more” more than I realized!
6 Lynn // Aug 10, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Mia, there’s the I Touch Phone and the I Touch Ipod. The phone is similar to the I Touch Ipod. You can put thousands of songs, photos, or videos on your Mp3, connect to the internet using Wifi and more. With the IPhone, of course you also have the phone, (duh! lol!!!) a camera, and a lot of other features.
I hope that helps!
7 Mia // Aug 11, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Nope!Only made me more confused!
Took us many years to adjust to a CD player…
Took us a long time before we bought a Computer and we don’t get half of it!
Took us even longer to buy Cell phones….
I bought a Digital Camera from Tina….don’t know how to use it!
Don’t use much technical “stuff” at all come to think of it!
We don’t have a dishwasher,microwave oven,DVD-player,not even a video-player,we have an old TV…We don’t own a car,don’t even have a driver’s licence,non of us…
Hmm,how on earth can we manage?
Perfectly well!
8 Lynn // Aug 11, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Mia,…. Wow, I’m impressed! Patrick and I thought we were behind everyone else because we don’t have TiVo or a Blackberry! We do have a Wii, however, and I couldn’t do without my computer or the internet, or my microwave and dishwasher, for that matter! I don’t think we could do without our DVD or our digital camera (it comes in so handy for my blog) and now that I have an I Touch, I wonder how I could have gone so long without an Mp3! It’s remarkable!
I know what you mean, however. If tomorrow all these things were gone, I’m sure we could survive very well without any of them, afterall most of us have spent more than half our lives without any of the things we listed! Still, you must admit, it does make life so much easier having them!
9 Mia // Aug 12, 2008 at 9:16 am
Impressed you say!
I feel like I’m some kind of strange being from another planet!No,I’m just kidding!
But ,God, do you have to tell me there are even More stuff that I Know Nothing About!
Have no idea that they Exists!!!
I know what a TiVo is,’cause I saw it on Oprah! Blackberry is a very good berry..hehe!
Wii,sounds like something you say when going on a roller coaster ride!
I admit it can be fun using a computer and the internet…
Microwave and dishwasher I can do without!
Have done so far,don’t miss it one bit!
Yes ,I understand DVD and Digital camera is handy for what you are doing!
For me?Not for the moment,but I will never say never!
If you don’t know it exists..how can you miss it then?Mp3 or what ever?
Yeah, it is remarkable!How you get used to having things in you life so quickly!
I’m not sure I agree with you that all these things makes life easier!
It makes a certain lifestyle easier,thats true!
But Life?
Could be discussed!
10 Lynn // Aug 12, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Okay, take for example, you’re out shopping and you don’t remember if there’s enough milk or eggs in the refrigerator….with your cellphone it’s so easy to just take it out of your purse, call home and ask! Without it, you would have to look for a phone booth, (and one that’s working) see if you have change or a phone card, etc., just to make the call.
When you’re shopping and you lose the person you’re with because they went one way and you went another, you just call them on the cellphone and within minutes you’ve located them.
When baking potatoes, who wants to wait around 40 minutes to an hour (more or less depending on the temperture of the oven, the size of the potatoes, and how many are being baked), when you can zap it in the microwave for 5 minutes (one potato) to 10 minutes for four.
When you have a dinner party you no longer have to get up and change your CDs, now you can make a Playlists of whatever kind of music you want, you put your I Touch in the sounddock and you have the ambiance music you want that will play for hours!
But I know what you mean. We could definitely live without all this stuff. Still you must admit who would want to wash clothes by hand, or hang clothes up to dry when you can just throw them into a machine?!
11 Mia // Aug 13, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Okay!
It is much about your way of living!
I can see that it makes life easier!
But I usually makes a list before I go out shopping!
But I have to confess that we have a shop just outside where we live ,so if we do forget something,it is easy to run down and get it!
You have not convinced me yet…so I go on living the way I do,until I really do see the need to get all these “stuff”…
But yeah…wouldn’t want to wash clothes by hand…..And not wait a whole day for them to dry either!
Some things I would not be without!
But it is as in a song by a Swedish performer says:”High standard,what the “fu**” is high standard?
What do we Really need?
Having a fancy home.but not know your
neighbors?
There is needs and there is needs…It all depends on where you live,what lifestyle you have and what choices you make!
But they are fun “toys,tools” to play with if you can and want to!
I may try them eventually!
Going out now to get food from a restaurant near by!Hehe….Nice to live in a city sometimes…easy living…Katia Style!
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