Good Ol’ Days

Editor, Times-Union:
Like many seniors we can remember when life was simple and in many was better.
School, we prayed and said the national anthem daily, if a teacher told you to straighten up you learned fast to do as they said or the paddle would put your brain back into your head. Yes, spankings hurt and we learned fast.
We helped each other, learned to work on farms, in factories while in high school and learned the solid work ethic.
We had guns and fishing poles in our cars to hunt and fish. We were taught gun safety and respected private property.
Mistakes were made and poor decisions had repercussions. But we learned these life lessons and moved forward.
Community and church were where we learned the meaning of do unto others as you would like done unto you.
Sure, we had differences and problems, and we worked them out .... most of the time anyway.
Deals were made and closed with handshakes and your word mattered.
We could leave our doors unlocked and keys in our cars.
And, sadly, spankings and prayer were removed from schools and replaced by cell phones, video games, social media platforms. Between the mainstream media, politicians, conspiracy theories, we wonder what is the real truth?
While our world has changed God and the bible have not. Isn't it sad that we have thousands of laws on the books because we could not follow 10 simple commandments?
Maybe as we head into a new year, we can bring back kindness, respect, manners and make an effort to improve behavior for the sake of our children and grandchildren.
Mike Wood
Warsaw, via email