Lucas Fowler

7/16/2016
Dr.Harris-Rambsy
English 2010
Lets Go Back to the Way it Use to be.
Growing up I remember hearing my Grandpa talk about back in the day. No matter
what he was referring to it was always better back in the day. From the way cars were built, to
the way people were raised, to the shows on television his opinion was always the same, things
were better when he was young (referring mostly to his time in high school and college 19641975). My whole life I had heard him make these sorts of comparisons and figured he was just
an old man stuck in the past, unwilling to accept new things. As I have gotten older, I have
started to think about the stories that he shared with me and have started to wonder if he was
right all along, were things really better back in the day? Since I was born in 1995, it makes it
very difficult for me to determine on my own if things were actually better back then. Because of
this, I decided to investigate the past by interviewing a person who lived back in this time period
as well as look at statistics of modern time and back then to prove my grandfather right and that
things really were better back in the day.
I interviewed my Grandma, Lynda Rushton. She was born in 1948 in Magna, Utah. She
graduated high school along with my Grandpa in 1966; they were married the next summer, had
their first child in 1968, and built their own house in 1971. When she told me of all the things
that her and my grandpa had accomplished within just 5 years of being out of high school I was
astonished. I cannot imagine a person in the present time being able to accomplish so much at
such a young age. The first question that I asked my Grandma was, Was it common to be
married at such a young age back in the day? Do you think it is better to be married young of
wait like most do today? She did not hesitate with her reply, I feel back then young adults
were able to get out on their own at a younger age because good jobs were more available right
out of high school. Money was not such a problem like it is today because houses, food, and gas
were in line with the wages that were paid for jobs that young adults could get with a high school
education. Like all decisions made, you have to have some maturity and some experience to
make them. Getting married young helps you to gain that experience and maturity young, which
helps you throughout the rest of your life. Although it would be very hard to afford marriage at a
young age these days, I still think it was better to grow up faster and mature faster instead of
everything being put on hold ten to twenty years. Without that delay you have more time to
achieve your goals. My grandparents were both able to accomplish so much starting out at such
a young age and my Grandma attributes that to having the opportunities that life back then
afforded them to get out on their own at such an early age. My Grandma has lived through both
time periods and feels that being able to get out on your own two feet at a young age is better
then waiting until you have the means to be able to do so like is so often the case today.
A major difference between now and then is the technology that we have today. I always
looked at it as a tool to make life better, but maybe I am wrong? I asked her the question Living
in both time periods, what do you feel is better, the tech age or the time before all of the new
technology? Her response was, Before technology. I think because of technology the world is
more chaotic as we become a worldwide society through new technology, we have become more
singular oriented and less family oriented. Sitting down to dinner has become a time to look at
cellphones, shopping is done on I-pads; all the wonderful technology I see is a problem to the
family. Though technology helps us in many ways, it is tearing apart our families and making

relationships with the people closest to us weaker. During this interview my Grandma shared a
lot of things with me that I had never even taken into consideration. She brought up things that
she likes about the present and things she is happy changed, but she misses the old days.
The next thing I researched to glimpse into the past was some numbers and statistics. I
focused on things that make or break the quality of life including unemployment rates, divorce,
and poverty rates. I figured this would give me a good understanding into what people were
feeling and thinking back then compared to now. The first thing that I reviewed was
unemployment rates. According to the article, UnitedStatesUnemploymentRate:19202013 in
1966 the unemployment rate was 3.8% in 2013 it was 7.4%. Theunemploymentrateis
significantlyhighernowthenitwasbackintheday.Peopledidnthavetoworrymuchabout
moneyorjobsbackthen;theirlivelihoodswereobviouslymoresecureasthereweremorejobs
andabettereconomy.
Familiesareabigpartofapersonsqualityoflifeandwhenparentsgetsadivorce
familiesareliterallytornapart.Itcanbeveryhardtogrowupinadivorcedfamily,whichoften
leadschildrentomisbehaviorandbaddecisions.AccordingtoAmiSedghi, a data journalist for
the Guardian Post, In1971,37,785couplesgotadivorce,in2012,118,140 couples were
divorced. The stress of a divorce on a family can be very difficult financially and mentally as the
family is torn apart. It can lead to depression and make growing up very difficult for the children
of divorced parents. One may conclude that because of this depression and suicide rate would be
higher now then back in the day, however suicide rates were higher then than they are now. In
1960 the suicide rate in the United States was 13.2%, in 2010 it was 10.2%,asexplainedinthe
article,Death Rates for Suicide, 1950-2010. These numbers are deceiving since the number in
adolescence committing suicide has increased dramatically due to the higher amounts of stress
put on kids in modern academics and in family life.
Though there are some aspects of the present that are a better then back in the day, the
old school way of doing things does seem to truly be better. There was not nearly the amount of
stress that there is in todays society. It really does seem to have been a much simpler laidback
way of life back then. People were genuinely happier as the economy, job market, and family
unit were all stronger. Doing the Because of all the new technology and pressure that you have
growing up it is more difficult to enjoy childhood. Trying to become your own person is harder
and takes a lot longer then it use to. Even after you make it on your own, you still have a higher
chance of losing it all due to a bad economy or higher chance of divorce. I do know this is a
complex subject and I was unable to look at every aspect during this short essay but in my
opinion, due to the research I gathered. I conclude by saying. I guess all along my Grandpa did
indeed know what he was talking about; it was better back in the day!

Lewis, Lenny. Family_1970. 7 Nov. 2008. N.p.

Work Cited
"Death Rates for Suicide, 1950-2010." 6 Feb. 2014. Web. 12 Mar. 2015
Rushton, Lynda. Personal interview. 16 July 2016.
Sedghi, Ami. "Divorce Rates Data, 1858 to Now." 6 Feb. 2014. Web. 12 Mar. 2015
"UnitedStatesUnemploymentRate:19202013."13November2014.Web.4Mar.2015