Bethany sent the following to me the other day, and I was just simply fascinated.  My, oh my, what a different world it was just one hundred years ago.  It gets one thinking about metaphysical philosophy and the nature of life and what it all means.

Maybe all we can do is think and, therefore be.  And that's all we've really got to go on?  

Every generation cannot possibly imagine how different the world will be for the next generation.  I mean, do you think the lady over there ever imagined her picture would show up on the internet in blog written by a girl who talked dirty on the phone for a living?  Or that nudity and sex would be pretty much out in the open, shared generously via both adult and mainstream venues?

100 Years Ago:  Statistics for the Year 1907 

1. The average life expectancy in the U.S. was only 47 years old.
2. Only 14 percent of the homes in the U.S. had a bathtub. (I would simply die.)
3. Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.  (No phone sex?)
4. A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost eleven dollars.  (Who could afford phone sex?)
5. There were only 8,000 cars in the U.S. and only 144 miles of paved roads.
6. The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.
7. Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California.
8. With a mere 1.4 million people, California was only the 21^st most populous state in the Union.
9. The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower.
10. The average wage in the U.S. Was 22 Cents per hour.
11. The average U.S. Worker made between $200 and $400  per year.
12. A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist dentist made $2,500 per year, a veterinarian $1,500 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.
13. More than 95 percent of all births in the U.S. Took place at HOME.
14. Nineteen percent of all U.S. Doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION.  Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press AND the government as "substandard."
15. Sugar cost four cents a pound.
16. Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.
17. Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.
18. Most women only washed their hair once a month and they used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.  (OMFG!  I HAVE to wash my hair every day.  Borax?  WTF?)
19. Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering their country for any reason.
20. Five leading leading causes of death in the U. S. were: 1. Pneumonia 2. Tuberculosis 3. Diarrhea 4. Heart Disease 5. Stroke.  (Diarrhea?)
21. The American flag  had 45 stars. Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Alaska had not yet been admitted to the Union.
22. The population of Las Vegas, Nevada , was only 30.
23. Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea had not been invented yet. (No crossword puzzles?  Did you hear that PQS and Puzzler?)
24. There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.
25. Two out of of every 10 U.S. Adults couldn't read or write. 
26. Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.
27. Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores.  (God bless the good old days.)
28. Back then, pharmacists said, "Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health."
29. There were about 230 reported murders in the entire U.S.A.

So we've traded the chance of dying of diarrhea for the chance of death by murder.  Hmmm.  I guess there is always good and bad and everything in between as the world moves on.  Coffee was cheap, drugs were easily attainable and everybody was driving at a speed limit that I pretty much would like to see reinstated.  But if I couldn't bath or wash may hair everyday, well, ewww!  That is just downright unacceptable.  

So I figure God put me into just what century was best for me.  But I can't help but be curious about what the world will be like 100 years from now.

xo, Angela 

This entry was posted on Friday, January 4th, 2008 at 3:13 pm and is filed under Bethany's Email, Porn-Art-Graphy, Sidetracked. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.