Greg Jordan: The year 2023 is still paradise compared to 1923
Mar. 2—I'm sure everybody has at one time or another fantasized about going back in time and seeing an age when life was simpler and the pace was slower. I've had those sort of dreams.
Sometimes I'd like to go back to the late 1960s and visit the places of my childhood while being able to appreciate everything from my adult perspective.
Then I'd like to visit the 1940s and see the country while World War II was underway, go to the movies and visit diners that existed before the age of fast food.
My former teaching career brings another aspect to this fantasy. I'd take my students back 100 years to 1923 and watch as the horrors of that age grab them by the throat.
Sorry kids, you won't find any cellphones here. There's no internet. There are no McDonald's or Taco Bell locations.
Forget about having a car! Forget about finding any job you would consider easy. Get ready to labor long hours at a coal mine, a farm, a railroad yard or a sawmill.
You might sometimes whine that there's nothing to do in 2023, but it's paradise compared to 1923. I'd let them see life in the early 20th Century, then I'd threaten to leave them there.
Some conspiracy theorists claim that the federal government or some wealthy corporations has a time machine, but I'm not counting on getting access to one very soon.
Fortunately, I can satisfy my back to the future cravings by visiting local sites.
Monday I visited the Bramwell Corner Shop.
The old-fashioned soda fountain is being featured on a episode of "America's Best Restaurants," so the show was there for the filming and interviews. I always like visiting the restaurant and the town of Bramwell because you can sort of go back in time without the inconvenience of actual time travel.
You don't have to worry about doing anything like accidentally keeping your future grandfather from meeting your future grandmother and wiping yourself out of existence.
I love the decor and getting food that you can't find anywhere else; that's why I like to patronize the local restaurants and stores.
I've heard the joke that you can drive 200 miles from your home and arrive at the same place because you immediately see the same fast food restaurants and chain stores you see everywhere else.
About 100 years ago, every city and town had its own stores and restaurants, so every place you visited offered a unique experience.
According to my dad, who traveled a lot when he started working for the West Virginia Department of Highways in the 1950s, not all of those experiences were good, but you could count on finding a good place to eat regularly.
There were not many apartments like we have today, so he stayed in rooming houses, and the food he ate wasn't as convenient as popping something into a microwave. Microwave ovens and microwave food didn't exist.
My mom also tells me stories about how the good old days had its speed bumps.
She remembers a polio epidemic and how she was given a dog tag during World War II so children like her could be reunited with their parents if the Germans bombed the big chemical plants in the Kanawha Valley. Yes, there were a lot of good things years ago.
Neighbors readily helped their neighbors, and a lot of that attitude still survives today.
If I did travel back in time, I'd make it a short visit because I'd long for the early 21st Century and all it offers.
And if I dared to talk to anyone in 1923 about the future, they would think I was crazy as I described what would be, to them, an age of wonders. I'd tell them about the COVID pandemic and they would counter with horror stories about the terrible flu epidemic which killed millions of people during and after World War I.
I'll just visit the local historic landmarks if I want a look at the past and be thankful that I'm living in the amazing future.
— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com
Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com
