Sandwiched
My father-in-law called me last week with today’s column topic. He thought it would be interesting to talk about how our society would have dealt with being locked down in another decade.
Since this column focuses on my adventures in the sandwich generation, I decided to write about how I imagine my family would have handled things when I was growing up in the 70s and 80s.
First of all, my poor dad would not have been able to work, as he was a salesman who traveled all around Indiana selling “workingman’s” attire. Dad visited fire stations, factories, warehouses, etc. selling shoes, socks, jackets and other clothing. He would most likely be restless in this situation and probably driving Mom crazy! His hobbies were poker and singing in a barbershop group, something that also would have come to a halt in the 70s and 80s. I’m sure he would have given his van and our garage a thorough cleaning.
My siblings would be out of the house and married since they are older than me and I know we’d be missing them terribly. My sister’s house was a second home for me. My nephew and niece were more like an additional brother and sister and I would be sad not to play with them.
However, I would be handling the situation okay overall with the exception of not being able to see my grandmother. “Grandma Grew” was everything to me, although I can’t tell you for the life of me why I called her that. Even though she died when I was nine, I still have vivid memories of her.
Not many people believe this, but I’ve always been perfectly fine doing things on my own. Yes, I would have missed the few friends I had, but I was content as child/teenager to read, walk our dog, and do art projects. I still love to do these activities today, although the art projects have turned into writing and learning Spanish.
I think Mom would have been fine as well. Instead of teaching her ceramics classes, she’d be painting various pieces on her own. Mom loved working in the yard and her already gorgeous plants and flowers would most likely be at their finest with a lockdown situation!
We all liked to watch movies together in the 80s and play cards or board games. I think the three of us would have increased those activities as well.
I have a feeling Mom and I would have occasional fights over the phone, however, as I hogged it enough as a teenager without being on lockdown! In the 70s and 80s, the phone would have been the only option for being able to quickly reach a friend or relative.
Overall, thanks to our hobbies, Mom and I would have been okay “back in the day.” Dad … not so much. Although he did love to play his Omnichord (electronic musical instrument introduced in 1981 by Suzuki). That may have saved his sanity – and ours!