Today with the TV and all the other modern technology we have, the radio is a thing of the past.  But in my days of growing up, if you had a radio, it was a luxury.  I don’t know how we could afford one, but we had a radio, and electricity wasn’t even around then in the rural areas.  Our radio ran on two 6‑cylinder batteries that would last about three months.  When the batteries got low, father would only allow us to listen to the news.

We had a neighbour who didn’t have a radio, and he would arrive at our door to listen to the news at 8:00 p.m.  The news would only be for 15 minutes, not continuously like it is today on TV.  Our neighbour was a little short on patience, so mother would warn us to be quiet.  I can still see him pull up a chair and listen to the news.  This was when the Second World War was on.

Some of the other programs that we listened to were Jack Benny, Amos & Andy and, oh yes, mother’s favourite soap opera, “Pepper Young’s Family”.  When I think about it, I believe I enjoyed those long-ago programs more than the ones from today, because when we listened to those programs, we had to use our imagination.

We have so many gadgets today and nobody talks face-to‑face anymore.  I heard someone in the store the other day.  I thought he was talking to himself, then I realized he was talking to maybe his mother, wife, or maybe his mother-in-law for whom he was shopping and wasn’t sure just what to buy.  Some of those “gadgets” can be very useful.  A cellphone can be a lifesaver if your car breaks down, but most people have never learned how to control them.

When I think of everything we have today, those were “the good old days”.

Leslie Jobb