40 Thanksgivings Ago

40 years ago on Thanksgiving I was a Senior at Ridgewood High School. I attended what was then the traditional Thanksgiving Day Football game against the team from Fairlawn, NJ. Funny how things change. I haven't watched tackle football in years and feel sorry in a way for those who still find meaning in this brutalizing amusement. Bread and Circuses is what the Romans used to call these type of festivities.

40 years ago a band call The Band gave their farewell performance in San Francisco. They had been a hard touring group and they decided, as so few do, to leave on their own terms. They filmed it and invited all their friends in the industry. It turned out to be quite a film with a young Martin Scorsese providing the direction.















40 years ago we also had a new President getting ready to take office. This one was named Jimmy Carter. Fine man, less than memorable President. He is still active building homes for people who can't afford to do it themselves, even after he was diagnosed with cancer.

40 years ago a company I had never heard of, named Apple Computer, was formed. Now I am thoroughly enmeshed in the Apple ecosystem of computers and phones. We talked more when we didn't have these devices. We still communicate but we don't peer into each others eyes quite as much.

40 years ago I lived in a suburb of New York City. Today that same village still has fine public schools, but the barriers to entry and living in the village are now extremely high. I would imagine very few teachers in the school system can afford to live in the village, same for Postal Workers, and most other "good" middle class jobs. The town used to retain a middle class feel with only a few wealthier families, who didn't make as big a deal of their possessions, in order that they might fit in with everyone else. Today, they seem to want to flaunt their purchases in the vain attempt to distinguish their lifestyles and distance themselves from their neighbors. They also seem to spend time trying to convince themselves they earned everything their own by their own hard work. Truth be told they mostly inherited their money or had a relative show them how to game the real estate market and tax laws. No matter how much they drink they can never forget this, or the other truth that possessions don't make the person, only one's character can do perform that feat.

40 years ago I was working on College applications. My parents had saved the grand sum of $40,000 for each of their three sons so we could attend college and not have to take out loans. Today that same amount of money buys you much less. Most kids leave school with a ruinous amount of debt and one question, "Why did I let my parents and peers convince me that higher education was a good idea?"

40 years ago the movie, "Miracle on 34th Street" and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade ushered in the holiday season. Now we watch what we want when we want. The old television watching habits are now called "Linear TV" and "Appointment TV." These are truly things of the past, but still seem quaint and reassuring if you are feeling nostalgic.

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you do what we did 40 years ago and eat some turkey with your family.