Things most have now that we didn’t have

This thread just divides people into the Haves and the Have Nots according to class.

watermeadow

This thread just divides people into the Haves and the Have Nots according to class.

Not class -disposable income.
Which at our age is an indication of whether or not one has a private/occupational pension and how generous that is.

Daddima

Peacelilydilly

We didn't have a
Car
Washing machine
Shower
Central heating
Lots of clothes
Fast food

What we did have was
Lots of love
Feeling safe in our own country
Safe playing outside with your friends
Our own doctor where he knew all about you and you just went to the surgery and he saw you no appointment needed.
Home cooked food every night
Law and order

What we have lost
Our country and way of life
Respect for the police and law and order on our streets
Respect for our national monuments
Respect for our veterans

Feeling like a foreigner in your own country in some areas.

England especially London where I was born

I most certainly have not ‘lost my country and my way of life’.
Can you tell us what you can’t do now that you used to do in your old way of life, and how your way of life has changed?

Peacelillydilly 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Daddima have you lived in London in the last 20 years?! If so you would understand.

I have and I don't understand.

watermeadow

This thread just divides people into the Haves and the Have Nots according to class.

Yes, if your Dad was a doctor rather than a dustman you would be bound to have had a different life growing up.
The same if you were born in 1948 or 1968.
Recollections will vary 😁

PollyEsther

I have and I don't understand.

I just bet you do.

watermeadow

This thread just divides people into the Haves and the Have Nots according to class.

I hate to refer to anyone in terms of class.

I do not believe the class you were born into matters, a good education and upbringing creates social mobility.

As a said earlier in the thread, I was well provided for materially but raised by an aggressive Father and narcissistic Mother, my life was grim.

An indoor toilet and a bath can never compensate for love.

Very true Sago

We weren't poor but we were working class. My mother worked full time and most families around us had a stay at home mother. My parents were buying our little house, they were the first to buy rather than rent in their families but money was very tight. They always paid cash and my father had a part time job at the weekend which was saved for big items. It's only when I look back that I appreciate how hard they worked and how little they had to show for it. Life was lived pretty much on a week to week existence. I remember going to a friends house in the early 60s and seeing how many tins of food they had in the pantry and being totally astounded at the sight. We only ever had a tin of salmon and a couple of other tins to make a quick pudding just in case someone arrived unexpectedly for tea!

watermeadow

This thread just divides people into the Haves and the Have Nots according to class.

It’s not how you start but how you finish.
Mr P was able retire at 53 in 2003 and me one year later.

Nurseries or other available (paid) childcare. My mother didn’t go back to work until I was 14 and considered old enough to be responsible for 2 younger siblings after school. We had no relatives anywhere near, so any such childcare was out of the question.

Of course nurseries are a necessity now, when largely because of the greatly increased cost of housing, so many more parents need to work. But the idea of being able to afford the mortgage for a reasonably nice house, and everything else, on just one very ordinary salary - at least in many areas - is a joke now.

Of course it’s way back, shortly before WW2, but in his ‘Ethel and Ernest’ book about his parents, Raymond Briggs (The Snowman) tells how his parents bought a 3 bed house in Wimbledon on ONE milkman’s salary!
We know the area and such houses now go on the market for £1m+.

What’s class ? Is it something to do with your school? We had a lot of class - 43 kids in each one. We learnt a lot,though and no one misbehaved.

Peacelilydilly

I recognise all you say and agree. I lived with my grandparents until 6 years old then in a prefab with my parents. There the kitchen was large with fitted cupboards and had an electric cooker a built in fridge a washing machine with mangle and a dining area. The living room had a coal fire with a back boiler to heat water and radiators in two bedrooms. The bathroom was fully fitted. This was in the early 50’s.

I agree with Peacelilydilly.

As a child in the early 50’s I lived in a prefab. The kitchen was large and had fitted cupboards with a gas oven a built in fridge and an electric washing machine with mangle. It also had a dining area. The living room had a coal fire with a back boiler which heated the water and radiators in two bedrooms. The bathroom had a bath, sink and toilet. We also had a tv and friends often enjoyed watching it with us. It’s was years before we had a car but were happy to jump on a bus. Short journeys you always had to walk. Money was tight for most people in those days and we grew a lot of our own food. When I was older I got pocket money to buy sweets for the weekend which was 3d about 1 1/2 p in new money. We didn’t have holidays until I was in my teens. I remember it as a caring time.

nanna8

What’s class ? Is it something to do with your school? We had a lot of class - 43 kids in each one. We learnt a lot,though and no one misbehaved.

Oh disingenuous nanna8

Ha ha

Calendargirl

The word ‘respect’ is bandied about a lot now, but I don’t think there is much respect really.

As a child of the 50’s, you ‘respected’ your parents, older relatives and older people in general.

You certainly respected your teachers, policemen, vicars, doctors, bank managers, in fact most people in positions of authority.

Wasn’t aware of your ‘rights’, but it didn’t seem such an issue back then.

Life just seemed so much simpler.

I agree with that 💯
Life was so much simpler, I wish I could go back to having not much.
We seemed to have more fun than the kids of today.

Sago

watermeadow

This thread just divides people into the Haves and the Have Nots according to class.

I hate to refer to anyone in terms of class.

I do not believe the class you were born into matters, a good education and upbringing creates social mobility.

As a said earlier in the thread, I was well provided for materially but raised by an aggressive Father and narcissistic Mother, my life was grim.

An indoor toilet and a bath can never compensate for love.

Indeed.

Sago

Oreo I haven't lived in London for about 50 years but when I went back a few years ago I was shocked I had lived in a council flat with my Mum and Dad in Holborn where Starmer used to be the MP it used to be a lovely block of flats where everyone knew each other and tenants kept their balcony etc clean well it was like a third world dump with rubbish dumped and graffiti and yes unfortunately I felt like a foreigner in my own country and I've no wish to go back I now live in Cheshire thank goodness although some parts of Manchester are going the same way as London.

Peacelilydilly

We didn't have a
Car
Washing machine
Shower
Central heating
Lots of clothes
Fast food

What we did have was
Lots of love
Feeling safe in our own country
Safe playing outside with your friends
Our own doctor where he knew all about you and you just went to the surgery and he saw you no appointment needed.
Home cooked food every night
Law and order

What we have lost
Our country and way of life
Respect for the police and law and order on our streets
Respect for our national monuments
Respect for our veterans

Feeling like a foreigner in your own country in some areas.

England especially London where I was born

I agree with that 💯
You never see gangs of kids playing today like we did back in the 70s- not round our way, anyway.
I have seen a big change over the last 12 months in our town, & surrounding towns. I don’t need to spell it out!
I agree seeing the family doctor was great (I baby sat for mine). They knew you on a personal level Now you are likely to be number twenty odd In the queue 😞 seeing a locum that can turn your life upside down (ours, who was in for the afternoon, knocked me off four of my drugs, type of drugs you need weaning off) 😳 put back on them all day after, after I kicked off- only time in 60 years that I have had to loose my temper.

Peacelilydilly

Oreo I haven't lived in London for about 50 years but when I went back a few years ago I was shocked I had lived in a council flat with my Mum and Dad in Holborn where Starmer used to be the MP it used to be a lovely block of flats where everyone knew each other and tenants kept their balcony etc clean well it was like a third world dump with rubbish dumped and graffiti and yes unfortunately I felt like a foreigner in my own country and I've no wish to go back I now live in Cheshire thank goodness although some parts of Manchester are going the same way as London.

I lived in London 50 years ago and there were always parts of the city like that. It tends to be cyclical with areas going up and down the social scale. I remember some areas from 50 years ago which were dumps and have now become gentrified.

Oreo

PollyEsther

I have and I don't understand.

I just bet you do.

You've just lost your bet because I haven't a clue what you're going on about.

Anyway, I'm out of this. It's ridiculous.

We lived on a council estate for a while, hardly anybody owned a car. We didn’t have a tv until I was 10 and my parents didn’t have a phone in the house until they retired, I always had to walk to the nearest phone box to phone friends. My Mum bought her first twin tub washing machine after I left school at 16.

Peacelilydilly

Oreo I haven't lived in London for about 50 years but when I went back a few years ago I was shocked I had lived in a council flat with my Mum and Dad in Holborn where Starmer used to be the MP it used to be a lovely block of flats where everyone knew each other and tenants kept their balcony etc clean well it was like a third world dump with rubbish dumped and graffiti and yes unfortunately I felt like a foreigner in my own country and I've no wish to go back I now live in Cheshire thank goodness although some parts of Manchester are going the same way as London.

My daughter moved to Cheshire as they didn’t want to bring their children up in London.

She went to Manchester City centre a couple of weeks ago, it’s a City she loved, she lived and worked there for three years.

She was so upset as to how quickly it had deteriorated.

She feels Liverpool is nicer and feels safer.

Sago yes I used to work in Manchester nr the library before I had my kids 40 odd years ago there used to be a place on Chepstow st for tramps (don't know if thats pc now) but I never saw any rough sleepers but now there's tents all over the place nr the library last time I went.

I agree, I prefer Liverpool. I have family there. I find the people to be more friendly.
Manchester City centre is just a sea of Pri-Mark bags I find.