THE MORE THINGS CHANGE...! OR: IF I COULD TURN BACK TIME...

Train up a child in the way he should go, and

when he is old, he will not depart from it.

(Proverbs 22:6.)

Don't panic, I'm not about to preach to you, but the

above verse has a remarkable degree of truth to it.  How-

ever, it doesn't just apply in the case of morality;  it has other 

implications.  I'm talking about how impressionable we are as

youngsters, to the extent that our early experiences shape our

sense of how we expect things to be (that's how it seemed to

me anyway) for the rest of our lives.  Not convinced?

Allow me to give you a few examples.

Currency for one.  I still think of £sd as 'real' money,

and view decimal coinage as a recent introduction.  Bar codes

on comics for another.  Although that little box was introduced

over 40 years ago, and has graced the covers of most of the peri-

odicals I've ever bought, to me it still seems like a fairly new inter-

loper (a squatter) that I'd be happy to see the back of.  Next up is

Jeremy Paxman, the current host of University Challenge

In two years time, he'll have been presenting the programme

for 25 years, equalling his famous predecessor Bamber

Gascoigne, the 'real' presenter in my view.

And how about Snickers, M&Ms, Oil of Olay, and

various other items?  To me, they'll always be Marathon,

Treets and Oil of Ulay (not that I use the last one, I hasten

to add - despite perhaps needing to).  Doctor Who?  There'll

only ever be one, and that's William Hartnell.  I could go on

and on (and some of you no doubt fear that I will), but you get

the point.  Our first experience of how things are in our early

years becomes the template for how we feel things should

be for our entire allotted span on this planet.

That's how I feel anyway.  No doubt there are ex-

ceptions to the rule, but what I've just outlined probably

goes a long way in explaining why, in the main, I don't like

change.  I have difficulty coming to terms with familiar things

disappearing from my life;  I hate it when trees get cut down,

or lampposts or paving slabs are replaced, or when buildings

are demolished, or fields where I played as a child are built

on.  I want things (as I first knew them) to stay the same

forever, and what's more, I want to be around for-

ever to enjoy them for all eternity.

What about the rest of you?  Do you think I'm

talking my usual old pants, or do you feel the same as

I do on the matter?  Hey, I've got an idea - why don't we

put on a'show' right here?  Okay then, we'll do it in the

  comments section.  Who's up first?  Get typing. 

Posted in: Cartoons