The phrase “ the dependable old days ” is , at right , three - twenty-five percent true . They were onetime . They were days . I ’d even spot you the ‘ the . ’ But dependable ? Not so much .
forward-looking life is filled with annoyances and hurt , but liken to yesteryear , most of us hold up in an earthly paradise . Nostalgia can suck it . The past was a psyche - bogglingly soiled , painful , fetid , smelly , ailing and boring place .
Imagine surgery without anesthesia . That ’s enough right there . But even unremarkable animation was unpleasant : Instead of toilet paper , guess about having to fall for a corn cob , a stick , or if you were lucky , a reuse piece of cloth . When you get garnish , imagine squeezing into a corset so plastered you’re able to hardly breathe , or donning a wigging teeming with nits .
The compass point is , we need to be grateful for the true blemished life we have now .
That ’s the approximation behind the advice column I write formental_flossmagazine . I encourage readers to publish in with their problems . They detest the dentist . Or hotel beds are uncomfortable .
And then I ( very mildly ) distinguish them to shut the hell up and quit whining . Get some view . They are facing Modern Problems ( a corollary of First World Problems ) , and should be thankful .
Because 100 class ago , a dentist might wring your chief between his knees and pull your tooth out with sharp tongs . A “ seam ” in the Middle Ages often meant a cumulus of straw on the dirt floor , which was also home to an astounding variety show of bodily fluids , garbage and vermin .
I practice many source to give you a taste of the bad biography . There are great books such asIf wall Could Talkby Lucy Worsley and the classicThe Good Old Days Were Terrible , by photo archivist Otto Bettman . I purge newspaper tale and erstwhile diaries . By the way of life , most of these resource I can get at from my computer . Which makes me thankful that I do n’t have to traipse to the library and dodge horse - drawn carriages on manure - filled streets . See ? It mold for almost everything .
