The death of desire

[kiloran]

Oh, and we had to write letters to keep in contact.
TJH

I lived in France in the mid-80s and phone calls back home were expensive (and emails hardly existed), so I wrote letters to friends. I bought a nice fountain pen and spent countless hours sitting outside a sunlit cafe or bar, drinking a beer or several and actually thinking about what I was writing. Page after page, typically 20-30 pages at a time. And then the pleasure of getting a reply, and reading and re-reading it.
I probably learnt more about myself and my friends from those thoughtful letters than I ever did in face-to-face conversations or emails in later life.

Happy days indeed.

--kiloran

[scotia]

I have been mulling over the responses, and thought I may offer my observations.
I was brought up in a low income family - no car and no television, but I was encouraged to continue with my education, and received a grant to go University - so I started out adult life with no financial burdens, apart from a mortgage (and a wife and two children!). In later life, I am comfortably off, as are my children and grandchildren. So I could afford a Rolls Royce - but what good would it do me? My Skoda Fabia estate is ideal for driving on remote (often single track) roads and the big boot holds all my fishing gear, and sometimes my son's dog. My neighbours, of a similar vintage, indulge in regularly updating their top of the range cars, then seem to spend much of their times cleaning and polishing them (which I never do).
So what are my desires - number one must be continued good health. And I do like the flexibility of being able to jump in my car and go off to remote places. I'm now into my second driving licence extension (over 70s need to renew it every 3 years). I really haven't yet got my head round what I'll do if I can't drive. As others have mentioned, I also make charitable donations, while still retaining sufficient funds to cover possible nursing home fees for myself and my wife.
I was interested in the recent all-parties report which made some pertinent remarks on the unfair financial burdens now placed on the younger generation. If I were starting now (from a low income family), I don't think I could risk taking on the debt from a University education, and I have no idea how I could raise the finance for a house purchase.

[AleisterCrowley]

Courting was very circumscribed, but sex had been invented.
As the man said;

Sexual intercourse began
In nineteen sixty-three
(which was rather late for me) -
Between the end of the "Chatterley" ban
And the Beatles' first LP.

Rather late was an understatement. It existed in the days of 78rpm and far earlier.

It reared its ugly head in infants school.

TJH

I was born in 1965 , which supports the argument.
Anyway, it's solely from the point of view of a rather glum Hull University librarian...

[UncleEbenezer]

We do have both, but don't have the hippy impression too ruined by generational envy [...] The hippy is still in here somewhere, just a bit older and fatter.

Heh. Nice reply!

There are other ways to gain a place to live... just think outside the box. There is a man in Brazil who lives on the beach in a sandcastle.

I've done my share of time out under the stars, including a stint of over half a year rough sleeping (which was less horrendous than renting in London). I fear I'm now too old for that. But fortunately I can now afford a place to live, provided I don't aspire to live somewhere expensive like southeast England.