Nostalgia

I was walking past a house in my village the other day, when I noticed a model on the windowsill that caught my eye.  It was a horse pulling a cart laden with loose hay with a man sat on top.  It harked back to an era of farming that is non-existent in this country now.  One that was labour intensive.  I am not for one moment suggesting that we should go back to that, although it might reduce the level of unemployment, but it got me thinking about how we talk about the golden times of the past.  What are missing that was so good.

In a time when farming and many other industries were labour intensive people who worked together often lived in the same community, be that in villages, towns or cities, that they worked in.  They all knew each other.  Not only did they live and work together they also socialised together.  At church, in the pub, at the local shop.  Some even went on holiday together.

Nowadays, with the rise of car ownership, we might live in a place and work somewhere miles away.  Our colleagues might come as far from the opposite direction so that you actually live hundreds of miles apart.  We might go for the odd drink with colleagues after work, but time spent with them outside of work is minimal.  If we work a long way from where we live, we may only spend any time in that location at weekends.   Even then we may be out doing the shopping or not actually in the location where we live at all.  How many people know their neighbours, or any of the folks that live near them.  If you do not feel part of any community where you live or work is it any wonder then, that online communities are thriving?