Today was spent organizing the household and taking care of business. I grew up in simple times with no credit cards and nothing was done by telephone. My mother and I rode the streetcar downtown where the few necessary bills were paid with real money. Dad thought owing anyone anything was shameful and he always paid cash or we did without.

We grew up knowing the value of a dollar. There was no such thing as an allowance to be had. Dad thought it was like telling your parent’s “if you want me to do something around here you have to pay me for it” …my brother and I never thought of asking….but when we were old enough to begin making our own money we were thrilled and proud.

Money in and of itself is disappearing....giving way to plastic and telephone transactions, transfers, automatic withdrawals and the like. I feel it is a delusional way to do business because we don’t “see” the money going out of our hands….it’s almost like getting it free to toss a piece of plastic for the desired item. Free, until the end of the month when most shoppers have “buyer’s remorse.”

I rather miss the personal side of money and the days when a handshake was a firm business deal that neither party would “fudge” on. Life has taken on a lot of numbers and changes that take the personal side out of many transactions that were gratifying. I may be a dying dinosaur but I regret a lot of good things that have been lost in our modern world.

What do YOU miss?

Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther