By Muriel Sluyter

There is a cute saying that most have heard, but for fun, I’ll repeat it. "If you look like 80 when you’re 40, it’s because you went like 60 when you were 20." We live such a frenetic life-style in this country, it’s a miracle we’re not all on Prozac.

When we transferred to the Midwest, I discovered that people still lived quietly and sedately. Our small town was close to Omaha, but people drove slowly, shopped slowly, and even spoke quietly and calmly. Best of all, they were concerned with the welfare of their neighbors.

We had come from California, where the lifestyle was neither quiet nor sedate. Though we had lived in a quieter neighborhood than most, there was still an air of pressure and stress on the streets. Consequently, when we arrived in the Midwest, I still drove the speed limit. I was used to having people become impatient if I drove slower.

Soon, I didn’t want to hurry. I drove around town slowly. I wandered the neighborhood and found the yards had flowers that had been planted by inhabitants, parents or grandparents. The streets in the oldest part of town were brick, and were old, but looked as though they might last another century. There were no blaring car radios on Main Street. Children were firmly controlled by their parents.

One member of my family is a devotee of old TV shows; they make me remember that things were different then. We kids walked home alone after games, and were safe. We went to movies on Saturday afternoon and walked home afterward. We tried to get home before dark because it not only got really cold in the winter, but if there was no moon and no snow on the ground to reflect what light there was, walking was difficult, especially where there were no sidewalks.

Now, I wouldn’t worry about kids tripping and falling in the dark. I would worry about them being attacked by predatory humans. It isn’t safe to walk after dark in cities, especially alone. Nor is it very safe to work in businesses that are open at night.

That is reflected in today’s TV shows. A script writer introduces his characters, allows the viewer to identify them, then puts his characters in conflict. In the old shows, the conflict was rarely of the violent or chaotic type. It was usually an ethical or moral dilemma, but that is old fashioned. Now, writers go in for sex, violence, blood, guts and car chases.

Is it any wonder our people do whatever they can to stimulate themselves? Unfortunately, this behavior is subject to the law of diminishing returns. What stimulates them today isn’t enough tomorrow, and they go looking for a higher level. They often overdose on drugs or kill themselves in crazy driving, trying to reach that higher level.

This bodes ill for society. There is a limit to how much mindless stimulation people can absorb without destroying themselves. They go from one form of stimulation to another and have little interest in moral or ethical dilemmas. There must be excitement to hold their attention.