I HAVE been described as old-fashioned. Honestly, I do not know what to make of that. In my experience, that can be a good thing or bad. See what I mean.
Growing up, when my father said my music was just noise, I said he was old-fashioned. That was a strange thing for me to say because I listen to old-fashioned classical like Mozart and Bach just as much as I listen to old-fashioned jazz and swing from the 1940s. My dad says you can’t beat old-fashioned classic rock from the Sixties and Seventies.
When someone adheres to Judeo-Christian morality they are called old-fashioned. Wanting to meet a woman, marry her, stay faithful to her my entire life (30 years so far), and die together is old-fashioned. I suppose I am expected to cheat on her, have many lovers, trash several marriages, and die alone. That is the new standard. Hmmm.
I watched a movie with old-fashioned special effects, and it looked pretty cheesy compared to today’s movies. I could see the strings holding the airplanes, the ships were obviously models, and the lighting on the main characters was different from that on the background. Old-fashioned special effects help me appreciate how far Hollywood has come.
You heard there is a guy out there who does not have Netflix and still buys DVD’s? That is me. When I want to see a movie, I buy the DVD and my whole family watches it together. Then it goes into the movie cabinet until the next time someone wants to watch it and I own it forever. No subscriptions, no internet service needed. Just a giant collection of old-fashioned DVD’s in a cabinet.
Some things are old-fashioned in a good way. When I go to the donut shop, I always get an old-fashioned. It is one of my favorites. My root beer says old-fashioned on the label. They advertise it, for crying out loud. They brag about it. Old-fashioned vanilla ice cream, and old-fashioned mixed drink from my dad’s liquor cabinet. When I hold a door for a woman, I am sometimes told I am being old-fashioned, but I have never heard a woman complain or refuse to go through.
Old-fashioned furniture was made of real wood, not pressed sawdust and glue that bends and warps. Old-fashioned clothing still looks good and never goes out of style, like a pair of denim jeans or Converse sneakers. An old-fashioned 1957 Chevy is still the king of car shows.
When young people tell me something I do is old-fashioned, I usually thank them. To me, being old-fashioned is a way to respect our ancestors, to acknowledge what came before. It is humble, not assuming the new is better just because it is newer.
I prefer old-fashioned butter to margarine, old-fashioned sugar to chemical substitutes, and old-fashioned pen and paper when taking notes. I prefer things made of metal to things made of plastic. Metal tools, a metal trash can, metal broom handles, metal fans and metal flashlights. Old-fashioned? You’d better believe it.
The next time someone calls you old-fashioned, thank them.
BC Cook, PhD lived on Saipan and has taught history for 20 years. He currently resides on the mainland U.S.
BC Cook
