Juggling Cats

(Link at left)
g e n e r a t i o n s E d i t i o n
the idea behind today’s c a t & m o u s e is to describe things from your generation, your parents’ generation, and your grandparents’ generation. you may use the words i am using or choose your own [the original words are "war", "language", "food", "entertainment", and "cars"]

Work
1. My generation seems to think that working in an office for 7-8 hour a day is positively killer. We "work" primarily with our brains. Our hobbies are where we actually do anything physical, if we do anything at all physical. And working for more than 8 hours per day is just not done.
2. My parents' generation did what needed to be done, work-wise, to feed the family. By and large, the women stayed with the kids while the men worked outside the home. Physical labor was not uncommon, and hobbies didn't exist. Working 10 hours a day was, if not common, certainly not unusual.
3. My grandparents' generation worked straight through till the work was done, as long as it took. Most work was physical, and there were no safety controls in place: no OSHA, no unions, no (hah!) worker's compensation. People starved if they didn't work, but there was no income tax. Hobbies were practical: canning, woodworking, etc.

Ethics
1. Almost anything goes. People are expected to accept diffrences in beliefs, fasion, worldviews, and skin color. Much of the population doesn't attend religious services of any kind because they don't believe in God. Ethics are greatly self-determined.
2. There are rules, which are meant to be followed. Don't step out of line. People are expected to follow the same belief patterns without questioning them too much, and "like stays with like." Most people do attend worship because that's what everyone does. It's all about keeping up with the Joneses.
3. There are rules. If you step outside the bounds of those rules, it's your own fault if you suffer for it. Different beliefs are not tolerated, and strangers are suspect. People attend worship, if there is a place for them to worship, as a place for community support and also because they believe absolutely in God. It's all about doing right in God's eyes.

Children
1. Are to be molded and shaped carefully and quietly, primarily by the family. Their self-image is of the utmost importance. Their creativity is not to be stifled. Boys and girls are ostensibly treated equally. Children are still legally children until they turn 18 in most respects, and sometimes 21. College is an expected follow-up to high school
2. Are raised mostly by "mother" and are taught early to keep out of her hair. They know that the whole community is watching them and will report bad behavior to the parents, whereupon they will be thrashed. Boys and girls are equals at school, but are socially unequal. Children are expected to contribute to the family income as soon as possible, starting as early as 13 or so.
3. Are raised with the expectation of work. More kids means less work per family member as they grow up. Self-image has never been heard of, and kids are working 10-plus-hour days by age 8. Education is less important for girls, who are raised primarily to be wives and mothers. Most children are not schooled past 6th grade.

Technology
1. Computers, cell phones, Tivo, etc.
2. Rockets, cars, manmade fibers, etc.
3. Plows/combines/harvesters, barbed wire, heavy machinery, etc.

(FYI: My parents were born in 1919 and 1921. My grandparents were born between 1875 and 1895)