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August 2009
by Dan Gralian

When I was growing up, one of my family’s favorite forms of summer entertainment was the “drive-in” movies. We would load up the station wagon with blankets & pillows, a big grocery bag of pop corn and jars of kool-aid and off to the movies we’d go. Our favorite movies were action films, especially westerns with great actors like Randoff Scott, Glen Ford, Jimmy Stewart, and of course John Wayne. (Poor mom, she never got to watch a “girl” show.)

That was over fifty years ago, and we have had some amazing technological advances in that time.

I can remember the first time I saw a television set. One of our neighbors in rural Langel Valley got one and everyone for miles around stopped by to see it. We’d stared at it in awe, marveling at this new technology. The picture was snowy and the images shadowy. It was kind of like looking at a shadow box mounted on the front of the family radio. (How many remember what a shadow box is?)

My dad thought this television thing was a bunch of nonsense; hence we were the last ones in the valley to get one. It was embarrassing to have to go to a friend’s house to watch television. Dad finally broke down and bought a set. We boys were so thrilled we didn’t notice that our friends had graduated to stereo consoles complete with record player, TV and eight track tape.

Then came “color” TV. Another innovation that my dad wasn’t too impressed with, claiming that the black & white picture was much sharper then that new fangled color. (Sure Dad, and cheaper too!) I had graduated from high school and was in Alaska going to college before my dad finally broke down and bought a color TV set.

Then along came the VCR, a technological wonder that I still haven’t mastered. I remember when we would go to the grocery or video store and rent one along with a week-end supply of movies. There was Walt Disney, Grizzly Adams and lots & lots of old cowboy shows!

I have always been intimidated by VCR’s. Maybe it was the pressure I felt while struggling to hook up the rental unit to our TV, as my family impatiently waited in not so quiet anticipation. Once I broke one and it ruined the whole weekend. (Following in my fathers foot steps, I held out and continued to rent until our daughter, Lisa, saved up and bought one for us.) Today my hand still begins to tremble when I try to insert a cartridge into a VCR. Instead I growl: “How do you get this *#$@ thing to work” and my four year old granddaughter will run over yelling “I’ll show you Papa!”

I can remember when we first got telephone service. It was a party line where a series of long and short rings announced that someone was calling. And, when you wanted to know the correct time, you picked up the phone, dialed O and asked the operator. After she told you, you would politely thank her and hang up. I remember my embarrassment when visiting a town friend and calling for the time. He said I had to dial a three digit number. I dialed, asked for the time and a recording came on giving me both the time and the temperature. I politely thanked the recording and hung up amidst much laughter from my friend!

Our technology quickly progressed from dial to touch tone telephones. I can remember seeing my first fax machine. I stood and gazed at it in the same awe as when I saw my first television set some thirty years before. I can remember when having a mobile “car phone” was considered a status symbol and when cellular phones were the size of a lunch box. (Another thing of the past.) Now days they make cell phones that are smaller than a match box. (Also a thing of the past.) And every member of the family has at least one.

And then there’s the computer!

Over the years, I have learned not to question how or why these advances in modern technology actually work. I believe I have mastered the basics of operating the computer. I can write letters and articles. (Spell Check has become my friend.) I can build a spreadsheet with rows, columns and mathematical formulas. I’ve learned how to shop on line. E-Bay still intimidates me but I do all my Walmart shopping over the internet and have it delivered by mail. I use the internet a lot and just last month I learned how to “Google.” All these years I have seen that word on the computer screen but I didn’t know what it was for. I still don’t know what a “search engine” is and I don’t want to know. I’m afraid I might break it like I did the VCR.

And, I can e-mail! Well, almost. I have this tendency to hit the delete button instead of the send. So when someone doesn’t answer my e-mail, I know to go back and check the “sent box” to see if it really did go out. But, when I’m checking my e-mail, the delete button has become my friend.

And then there’s text messaging, blackberry’s and lord knows what’s next. I’ve been asked if I twitter. Now, I don’t know what twittering is, but it sounds indecent.

Yes, we have come a long way with our communications and entertainment technology over the last fifty years. But in some ways, I think we have regressed; which brings me back to drive-in movies and family entertainment.

I can remember when movie stars were considered box office idols. They were admired and respected and they in turn worked to maintain that image. There was a sense of honor, decency moral values, and fair play in the movies made back then. And, good always triumphed over evil.

In many of today’s movies, there are scenes depicting impossible feats of daring and unimaginable violence; both at the theaters and on television. There is foul language, nudity and explicit sex scenes. This has extended over to regular TV programming and even advertising. Good does not always triumph over evil. (And then: “There’s Bob”)

When at the movies I am often embarrassed. Not just for myself, but for the young family that is sitting in front of me or the older couple across the aisle. But they don’t seem to be embarrassed. And that bothers me. There’s something wrong.

I can’t help but think back to the cowboy heroes of yester-year. With them, there was a set of values that was adhered to and lines of decency that were not crossed. They worked hard to present a wholesome image and set a good example for our youth. They had their “Cowboy Codes.” There was the Lone Rangers Creed and the Texas Rangers Oath. The Roy Rogers Young Riders Club Rules stated that you should: “Be neat & clean; courteous & polite; obey your parents & teachers; be brave & protect the weak; be kind to animals and care for them; love God & go to Sunday school; and respect the flag & our country.”

I think my favorite was Gene Autry’s Cowboy Code of Honor:

A Cowboy never takes unfair advantage – even of an enemy.

A Cowboy never betrays a trust.
He never goes back on his word.

A Cowboy always tells the truth.

A Cowboy is kind & gentle to small children, old folks and animals.

A Cowboy is always helpful when someone is in trouble.

A Cowboy respects womanhood,
his parents and our nation’s laws.

A Cowboy is clean about his person in thought, word and deed.

A Cowboy is patriotic.

It may sound hokey to some, but not to me. I think we should all follow the Gene Autry “Cowboy Code of Honor.” I try to and I think of myself as a “Cowboy.”

Until next month. Thanks . . . . . and such.

 

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