To the Days of Old – as they say

Looking back what gentleman used and carried on a given day to me speaks to a different time. I speak mostly to the times when men wore fedora hats, and gray suits. When a simple and basic pocketknife was just a tool, men had and not some tactical weapon. Times when the newspaper was read for news.

These were times of community and hidden sins. Times when getting on the news, had to be news and not just data to fill a 24X7 news cycle.

And it is not without issues; as I said, sins were mostly hidden. Gay people were in the closet, women were not CEO’s, and people of color were marginalized-unequal.

But I think I like the things we wore, like the fedora hat and things we used, like the newspaper. Dressing in a suit was proper. The cocktail was a thing. Books were read. Science was moving us technologically forward.

I do love computers (laptops), iPads, Smart phones, Amazon Echo, Kindles, social media, and online shopping.

But I still like books, fountain pens, newspapers, good leather shoes, suits, and men’s hats.

Some of this is a need for separation form all-digital, 24X7, instant gratification, expressions without filters. And the lack of civil-ness and community. Because it just seems we are inching to the edge of things, where everything will blow-up.

So the idea of wearing a suit and fedora, and picking up the evening paper for the train ride home (I grew up near NYC), and having a martini on the ride home, seems appealing in the times of today.