Hello everyone. Today, just a random thought. Nothing too deep.
Did you notice how people often say “before COVID…” (or “before the pandemic…”) in current day conversations? It’s usually to highlight how something has fundamentally changed, how “things used to be different”, how some things no longer exist.
It makes sense to relate to COVID / the pandemic as a mental watershed. After all, it did change many things in profound ways, and for some of us it was also a personal life changer. Arguably, it was also the last mega world event. I did notice, though, that such reference is more common with younger people. That’s not a big surprise… If you were born on or after Y2K, the pandemic might be the only world changing event you ever experienced consciously. The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) happened when you were a young child. September 11 happened when you were a baby, or before you were born. I did, though, come across some younger people who say “before social media…”; in that context, I wonder – interestingly – when exactly “social media” (take off?) took place? 2007? 2010? 2012?
I’m not too old, but I do belong with those who might say “before the GFC…” or “before 9-11”. What is YOUR mental watershed? Of course, there may be more than one.
Going backwards in time, some that may be on my list (not necessarily in the right order):
“Before China manufacturing took off…”
“Before smartphones…”
“Before Y2K / the .com take off…”
“Before we learned about Climate Change…”
“Before the Internet…” (that’s a huge one)
“Before mobile phones…” (I mean those clanky ones with hard buttons and monochrome displays, maybe even a pull out antenna)
“Before CDs / DVDs…”
“Before the USSR dissolved…”
“Before PCs…” (that’s an even huger one – if that’s a real word…)
Some people older than me (but still very much alive!) might have these – which I missed out on – on their list:
– Realizing en-mass that smoking is damaging
– Landing on the moon / space flight
– Commercial jet travel
– TV
– World War 2 (arguably even bigger than PCs and the Internet)
– Wired telephones in homes
– Antibiotics (no, just kidding)
I hope that this random post is at least mildly thought provoking. If not, I’ll try to do better next time.
Peace to all.
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3 responses to ““It Was Before the Great Flood””
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I’m; this person is now 71+ years old. The only thing I remember that I was born on a date in Nov.1953. I might not be wrong if I say I only remember whatever happened after this date. Most of those things are heresy only for me. What seems to be true that I’m still what I had been since that fateful date of Nov.1953. All else is just memory or information. So really nothing whatsoever happened in between Nov.1953 and today the 22 June 2025. I think I may live for a few days, months or years more from now, but looks like there is nothing as much important is going to happen in this so-called future. I came from nowhere and shall go nowhere but will be as I had been ever so always.
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Thank you, VinayVaidya, for this comment.
Interesting perspective.
I hope you will live for many more days after today, so that we can continue to converse on such topics. To me, every interaction is an important event, when it happens. Maybe not to the whole universe, but at least to those involved.
Take care.
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