Things That Grandma & I Noticed How The World Has Changed Profoundly

Imagine living in a house where there is a huge generation gap? The tradition and values equipped to us by our ancestors and how the world is shown to us now really make a huge difference. It's a struggle.

Here I am again, sharing my struggles with you guys. As much as I want to portray a less dramatic and less negative profile here, I just can't. I guess that proves me as a person, really.

Well anyway, I talked with grandma a couple of days ago and our topic was about how things have changed as to how she witnessed everything when she was young up to now.

Here are some of the aspects we talked about:

Fashion

Fashion is something that is constantly changing. My grandma was born in 1933. Imagine how she witnessed everything as fashion evolved. The Philippines was colonized by the Spaniards for 333 years. They have influenced us with a lot of habits and traits.

For one, they have influenced the Filipinos to be conservative. This speaks a lot to the fashion world we have right now. Our ancestors before were heavily influenced by the fashion they have formerly.

As per grandma, the fashion right now makes no sense to her anymore. It has changed big time. Women are now wearing shorts or pants whereas before, only men are expected to wear those. Women are only allowed to wear skirts. It is to emphasize the feminity of a woman. They were very biblical.

Women before have longer hair than how expressive women are right now with their hair. Before, they are expected to grow their hair longer to establish a strong feminity presence. Meanwhile, women right now have been so adventurous with regards to styling their "crowning glory".

Games

With games, I'll share my perspective on this. The games I grew up with were the traditional ones, I would say. I grew up playing patintero, Chinese garter, rubber bands, marbles, and other larong pinoys.

These games that I grew up with were classic. I used to sneak out every afternoon to spend time with my childhood friends. Somehow, I'm glad I did it because I got to experience fun childhood games with memories I'll cherish forever.

Comparing with how technology takes place right now, it concerns me how kids grow up locking their eyes on gadgets. They are exposed too early to radiation. More so, they get influenced by how people behave on the internet surface.

Virtual games exposing violence and abuse, involving trash talks and bullying, which is very inappropriate for kids growing up during their vital years of character development.

Lifestyle

Grandma was 8 years old when World War II started. Those years were the most horrifying events that happened in her lifetime. Imagine an 8-year-old girl so scared, hiding with her parents and siblings from one place to another because their lives were endangered.

She saw how people live their lives before and now. She highlighted that people nowadays are very lazy. Trust me, she said it right on my face. I felt violated, haha. Somehow, I agree. It's just that technology is already present when we came out into this world.

Appliances were made to make household chores be manageable at cost. Either way, it gives us the opportunity to multitask from time to time. Then again, she argued that it was their "resourcefulness" trait that made them to who they are now. They grew up very disciplined and consistent.

I can't blame her for that but I'm standing my ground as a millennial too. Each era has definitely had its highlight to take lessons from, indeed.

Relationships/Sexuality

Oh my. This category will always be a heated one between us. You know, boomers and the older generations past us are definitely homophobic. They do not welcome homosexuality. They are still not open-minded about our gay, lesbian, and other members of the LGBTQ community.

One time we had a heated and emotional discussion with grandma because she's very traditional and biblical. I can't blame her for that. That's how she grew up with. She doesn't embrace homosexuality.

We were watching a TV show and she was giving side comments about what she saw. It was a dance contest and the main participants were gay. She implied that gays and lesbians are sinners.

Then I told her right away that she can't conclude that statement right away. They didn't choose to be like that. For sure, they have hidden what they have felt deep inside because they know how judgmental the society is. They sacrifice their own happiness to fit into the standards.

I even told her that for as long as they don't harm people, that's okay. Those straight people who kill innocent people are undoubtedly sinners. LGBTQ community members are way too good compared to those straight people who are abusive to their partners or parents and other criminals.

I really hoped she realized something from that.

Thanks for reading.

Keep safe everyone!