America pre and post I Want to Hold Your Hand

 

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I have a theory that the modern age in America began when the Beatles made their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. I have listed some of the sociological and legal phenomena before their appearance on CBS in February 1964.

America before I Want to Hold Your Hand;

Children respected the opinions of their parents.

Parents controlled the living room television.

Young people were well groomed. No beards outside of Greenwich Village.

Black people kept to their own neighborhoods or lived in the South.

Mexicans lived in Mexico except when they were needed to pick crops.

Women took care of the children but did not have to work outside the home.

Gays were forbidden from teaching in schools.

No Black History Month.

No Women's History Month.

No Cinco de Mayo in the United States.

No such thing as trans rights. 

Gasoline, coffee and eggs were cheap.

Secretaries made coffee for the men in the office.

Now with our new administration we are going back to those years before the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan show. Everything that happened after that time will be gone, forgotten. We'll go back to the halcyon days prior to 1964. Men will have to start wearing ties again. Women will have to start wearing skirts again. The one exception is that women will   have to take care of the children except now they will still have to work outside of the home. 

But honey, I haven't been to a demonstration in years

 

I have many memories of demonstrations in my distant past. Visiting my brother, I even walked two blocks through Boston with an antiwar demonstration. I can remember chanting "Ho Ho Ho Chi Minh NLF is gunna win". Yet at reaching retirement I felt I could avoid such things and concentrate on streaming tv and going to nice restaurants. However it took a little prodding, but I have now gone to two of these this month. In the role of first person reporting, I am going to give my synopsis of the two events. 

The first one I went to was the Hands Off demonstration in Monroe Township New Jersey. It was held on the street intersection of a mall. You parked at the mall and stood on the street with a hand  made sign. We were told to keep out of the street. You felt a little penned in, since you were on a narrow sidewalk facing a steep looking incline on the side away from the street. People were friendly. A lady with a bull horn led the chants. The chants were actually similar at the Trenton rally. Nothing as scandalous as the "NLF is gonna win" chant from the sixties. Lots of cell phones taking pictures. Glad I am beyond my job seeking years. You never know. 

 

On Holy Saturday I went to the rally at the State House. I am a veteran of such rallies from when the CWA led them when state workers contracts were due. This was organized by 50501  This event was more like a rally. Speakers. Chants. Port a Potty's. NJ employee parking was made available. 

Most of the first hour consisted of chants. I'm getting tired of the chants. Perhaps a few Pete Seeger type songs instead. I suspect most of the participants are veterans of 60s - 70s student demonstrations. The speakers mentioned the need for more young people at these things. My friend and I rewarded ourselves with beer and sandwiches after the events.  Coopers does have a nice view of the Delaware River. 

Good Friday

 

On Good Friday, devout Catholics go to the Stations of the Cross in their local church. There, the priest stands in front of each of the the stations and leads the prayers while the faithful, armed with rosaries, recite the Lord's Prayer and the Hail Mary. 

Afterwards the participants go home to a fish dinner. Of course there is bacala. A new type of fish  dinner for Americans is poke. Poke is a Hawaiian salad made with marinated raw fish and Chinese rice, vegetables and seasonings. It is not bad and is starting to turn up in the shopping malls of New Jersey. 

Of course, during my extended youth, I can remember celebrating Good Friday at a go go bar with friends. Youth.