People don’t remember things the way they used to. When I
was growing up, if somebody went to the store, they by god came home with what
they went for. Nowadays, you never know what people will forget when they go to
the store.
Back in the day, remembering things seem to be people’s
second nature. They would just be sitting around thinking about the past and
all of a sudden something important would come into their minds and they would
tell you a story and you would be like, yep, that’s the way I remember it too.
I wish I had a nickel for every time somebody forgot
something important around me in the last few weeks. I would be a rich man. I
blame it on the internet, calculators and GPS systems. People used to take
pride in remembering, now they are ecstatic if they can just put one thought in
front of another one.
I remember one time I was trying to remember this guys name.
It was on the tip of my tongue. He was somebody famous and I swear, everybody
in the room where I was at the time, piped right up and gave me the answer
almost in unison. I was blown away. I thought, now this is the good life. I got
all my faculties, I am young, and everybody still cares about remembering stuff
and can do it when it counts. I would be afraid to try something like that now.
Everybody would be rushing for their phones to see who could Bing it first.
Half of them would get the wrong answer from their search and the other half
would be asking me to repeat the question.
I can remember remembering things that nobody else could
remember. That always made me feel so proud. They’d be like, “Oh snap, I just
can’t remember” and I would be like, “blah blah blah” and they would be like, “Yep,
that’s it. Damn, how did you remember that?”
If you think about it, you know what I am talking about. Try
to remember back to when you were a little child. Didn’t people remember things
better then than they do now? Now, if you ask people to remember even important
things they will look at you like you lost YOUR mind.
Try this little experiment. Ask somebody to remember
something and see if they can remember it. Chances are, they will have
forgotten it. You know I am telling it like it is. Now ask them to think back
say ten years ago. Ask them if they could not remember better back then. I bet
you a dollar they will say: “Hells yeah, I could remember so much better back
then.”
I think part of it was people did not have to remember as
much stuff back in the day. When I was a kid, if I had to remember five or six
things a day, that would be a hard day. Nowadays, adults and even little kids,
have to remember fifty or sixty things on easy days.
Nobody expects older people to remember much these days, but
I can remember my grandma… Remember? My goodness, remember aint no word. She
would remember things little kids can’t remember this day and time and she was
getting along up in the years. When I was little and me and my brother and
sisters would stay at her house for the weekend, she would remember every one
of our names and if we went out somewhere and somebody who knew us would see
us, she would look at them like they were crazy if they could not remember our
names. Let’s see your average grandma do that today. She would be like: “Who
you are little boy?”
I honestly believe things will only get worse. I think the
day will come when people will no longer remember anything. When that day
comes, you might be talking away and all of a sudden forget what day of the
week it is, Monday, I believe; anyways, where was I, oh well, but you get the
point.
I think people are going to regret not trying harder to
remember things. Back when we all remembered every little thing, people were
happier. Oh, sure, you had the occasional suicide or somebody going crazy and
blowing up a church or something; but for the most part, people were happier
back when they could remember things. And why not, if you think about it.
Part of the problem now is that people take their memories
for granted, present company excluded. I know how valuable my memory is and I
work hard at keeping it strong. Sometimes I will sit around for hours just
remembering things. I will even occasionally write down the things I remember.
If more people would follow my example on this, it would be a better world.
Another part of the problem is that in the future, when
people cannot remember as well, they will not remember how good it was back
when they could remember better. That will be a sad time. There they will be,
forgetting right and left and not remember this that and the other thing and
they will not even know how bad it is to not remember, because they will not be
able to remember back when they were able to remember so much better.
Maybe we should all just tell each other things when we
remember them. Maybe that would help. If Jack told Jill something he
remembered, there is a chance Jill might remember it, but even if she cannot,
Sally may be standing nearby and she might accidentally hear it and remember
it. And suppose Sally happen to tell Jim what she had heard. Who knows, Jim
might remember it or at least, he would have a better chance of remembering it
if he heard it than if she had not bothered to tell him about it. You get the
point.
Anyways, I guess I am in one of those nostalgic moods,
longing for the good ole days when we all remembered things and took pride in
doing so. I will leave you with this thought-provoking question. How would you
like to be the last person on earth who could remember anything? See, what I
mean? That would not be too pleasant now, would it?
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