Time is relative. Time doesn’t move at a constant rate like the speed of light does. When we are little times lasts a lot longer. That’s because the past is so short. When we age, the past grows longer, time speeds up. It’s a relative thing.

I thought of that this morning after reading a meme. In this meme they were talking about the late 1900’s. I hadn’t really given that a thought before, the use of that expression I mean. Sure, I’ve said in the late 1800’s before because that was so long ago, my grandparents and great grandparents were born in the 1800’s.

So here we are in the 21st century. I recall when movies were made by Twentieth Century Fox. That name has since been changed. It wasn’t changed due to the century; it was just a marketing thing. It happened six years ago. I thought it was referring to the century, it’s how I learned what century I was in! Yes, the 1900’s.

Born in the mid 1900’s it does seem like a long time ago, but it wasn’t that long ago; know what I mean? You have to be old to understand that. There was a time when just keeping track of the year was a challenge, it changed so fast, but now I have to remember the century as well. That changed 26 years ago.

What changed since the 1900’s. Well, lots of thing actually. The introduction of smart phones and the internet. Online shopping and digital payments. How many millennials have a checking account? Working from home, remotely they call that. And in society the rise of the LGBTQ+ agenda and marijuana usage replacing alcohol as the intoxicant of choice. Vaping is a thing; no one was vaping in the late 1900’s.

Yes, back in the 1900’s things were quite a bit different. We weren’t worried about terrorist attacks; the climate wasn’t a big concern and few of us had ever heard of a pandemic. In the 1900’s sex and gender were interchangeable terms. Men were men and the women were glad of it! (a line from an episode of the Waltons) Miss Maime was talking about the 1800’s.

Here in the 21st century time is moving quite quickly. I’m already a great grandfather! Man, time sure does fly. I have a grandson graduated from law school and a granddaughter a licensed radiologist. They laugh when I tell them we had chalkboards when I was in school. And we didn’t carry backpacks or cell phones!

As this summer races to an end, the grandkids are off to work and Dunkin’ Donuts is selling pumpkin spice lattes! Time surely has sped up, why it was just a little while ago; you fill in the blank. The answer will depend upon one thing, the length of your past.

Was that in the 1900’s? Did you have a television with a dial on it? Did you ever watch Walter Cronkite? Did you eat a Swanson tv dinner from a tv tray? Yeah, you’re from the 1900’s. You probably wore bell bottom jeans and listened to am radio, on a boom box.