posted on May 16, 2001 12:09:49 PM
Do any of you remember the Twilight Zone episode called, "A Stop At Willoughby"? More and more I have thoughts of getting off the train in Willoughby. I find myself wishing more and more for a less cynical and less complicated world. I find myself watching older movies, I listening to my collection of old radio shows, listening to Garrison Keillor monologues, and watching reruns of "I Love Lucy" and "The Honeymooners".
Is progress over rated, or am I just doing poorly at my stress management?
You do realize that getting off the train at Willoughby was a metaphor for suicide, right?
Remember how the episode ended? The guy driven to the point of nervous exhaustion by work and wife got off the train, was greeted by the kids with the fishing poles and wandered away into the 1890s ... meanwhile back in the present he was seen jumping off the moving train. The episode ends with his body being taken away in a funeral home vehicle. The name of the funeral home was WILLOUGHBY.
posted on May 16, 2001 12:49:09 PM
Oh, I didn't mean that you might be 'dwelling' on those things, only expressing your dispair over the hopelessness in the neverending attention paid them by others.
posted on May 16, 2001 01:29:27 PM "More and more I have thoughts of getting off the train in Willoughby."
I sincerely hope you are not meaning it in the context of that show. Having lost someone to "A Stop At Willoughby" I find that it is something I would never even remotely consider. Why? Because it is a very self-centered thing to do. I feel no consideration what-so-ever is given to the ones left behind. It's a rotten thing to do to another human being especially one you are suppose to have cared for!
I often find myself irritated by those who think no problem is as big as theirs or pain as great. I want to scream "Oh! pleeeeze, get a grip. Your not that special!"
Sorry to appear so rude and crude, but it is a touchy spot with me. I really don't like making lite of it.
If it is something you have actually thought about in passing, keep in mind that trip is a very permanent solution to an often temporary problem.
My motto for life is "this too shall pass"! That's why I try to really enjoy the good times and not dwell too long on the bad ones.
Now that I have made a total fool of myself, I'll comment on what I hope is your real topic: I do find myself wishing for simpler times, but that probably isn't going to happen anytime soon. However, I do believe in a full circle theory so who knows????
My humblest apologizies to anyone whom my post may offend....especially uaru I probably should just not have posted.
posted on May 16, 2001 02:27:32 PM
Times may have been simpler 100 or more years ago, but they were by no means easier. There's a swell book by Otto L. Bettman entitled: The Good Old Days -- They Were Terrible! It explodes the television/movie version of the past and gives the reader a dose of the realities of work, housing, air quality, crime, education, etc.
I might want to ride along with Sherman and Mr. Peabody the next time they aim the Wayback machine at the 19th century, but I sure as heck would not want to live there. The Civil War is interesting to read about and makes for a lot of great collectibles, but thank God I didn't have to be in it. Nor would I have done well as a mill hand, working eighty hours a week, living in a tenement with ten kids and having neither the time nor the money to do anything but get drunk during my off hours. Nothing to look forward to but possible maiming and/or death by the machinery on the factory floor. And if that didn't kill me, the cotton fiber I breathed in every day or the metalworking fluids that seeped into my skin surely would some years later. Of course, work wouldn't have been much of a problem during the 1870s, since it was a decade plagued by depressions and factory closings. Maybe I could have joined the hundreds of thousands of men who walked away from their lives and families in those years to wander the countryside as hell-raising, barn-burning tramps. It certainly sounds better than life in the city, where people perished daily due to poverty and disease. Have a look at How The Other Half Lives by Jacob Riis for an eye-opening view straight into the impoverished heart of Victorian America.
The "good old days" were only good if you were wealthy -- and even that couldn't guarantee that you wouldn't contract smallpox, be bitten by a rabid dog that wanders into the village, or have a 30-lb tumor grow in your thigh.
At least today in America the wealth is more widespread, and certain luxuries and comforts are available to far more people (though certainly not everyone) than ever before.
Bad as things may seem today, we really do have it pretty good.
posted on May 16, 2001 03:25:38 PM
uaru - While I'm not familiar with that episode of the TZ, it sounds to me (from your I find myself wishing more and more for a less cynical and less complicated world that you may be experiencing a 'passage' in your life. You and I know we aren't going to change the world, but we do have the ability to change the way we react to it. Right?
I personally believe that as adults we go through 'passages' (stages) in our lives, just like children do as they are growing up. A time when we re-evalute what we are doing in our lives, why we are doing it and decide if and where we want to make changes so that we are happier, more content people.
A long time ago a friend of mine was having a rough time with the direction her life was taking, she was feeling overwhelmed and helpless to change any part of her life. She sought professional help, and her counselor told her all that was *required* of her was to breathe in and breathe out. Then one issue at a time they worked together on how she could bring more joy and happiness into her life.
Life was much simpler way back when our expectations of what we should be achieving/acquiring weren't so high. It was my experience that people where happier with less material possessions, and had the free time to enjoy the fun in life and their families.
posted on May 16, 2001 10:44:37 PMLinda Kyou may be experiencing a 'passage' in your life. You and I know we aren't going to change the world, but we do have the ability to change the way we react to it. Right?
Yeah, I suppose I'm passing in to passiveness and I don't understand why the rest of the world isn't making the same transition with me. I get to honk my car horn only once a year when I get my vehicle inspected, I don't give an incompetent clerk a hard time anymore, and I can't remember the last time I saw an article in the paper that truly upset me.
I keep thinking maybe if I was in Willoughby I'd be dealing with people that understood the things I understood and they would agree with me on the things I believe important and of value.
No I don't expect to change the world, I don't see my self buying the world a coke and teaching it to sing in perfect harmony anymore (not sure if I'd done that in my naive days either, I prefer Pepsi.)
With all due respect if I wanted to dwell on Bush or the election I'd use a different title."[/i]
krs
"Oh, I didn't mean that you might be 'dwelling' on those things, only expressing your dispair over the hopelessness in the neverending attention paid them by others.
