By Deseret News Feb 12, 1992, 12:00am MST
Sharon Nauta Steele
For a long while I've had a hard time convincing my children how tough things were back in the '50s, when I was growing up. Somehow, the old "I had to walk 10 miles to school through 3 feet of drifting snow" routine doesn't work on youngsters who spend more time on a school bus than they do on homework.
My kids, who fight over the two full bathrooms in our house, are not at all impressed when I tell them my childhood home had only an outhouse during the three years my dad took to build the house.
They take even less notice of the fact that I didn't know anyone who had a television set until I was 4 years old, and they shrug their shoulders when they learn that cars came without either air conditioning or GPS and houses came without automatic dishwashers, microwave ovens and wall-to-wall carpeting way back then.
My daughters yawn when I say I never saw a pair of panty hose until I was in college, and my sons are only mildly interested in hearing how the smallest computer in my childhood world filled several good-size rooms.
They really ganged up on me the last time I tried to help them see how many advantages their generation has had compared to mine:
"Yeah, Mom, you sure had a rough time of it. . . .
"When hamburgers were 19 cents. . . ."
"And two Snickers cost a dime. . . ."
"And all the movies were double features. . . ."
"And there was no pollution or acid rain. . . ."
"Or hole in the ozone layer. . . ."
"Or half as much crime!"
And I never tasted pizza until I was in fourth grade, and your grandmother came home from Homer's Market with the newest rage - a boxed mix that baked up into something resembling a thin sheet of cardboard sprinkled with tomato sauce, oregano, and Parmesan cheese. That night she had a party and invited all her friends over for a slice. I got a corner piece and thought it the most delicious thing this side of Elvis Presley.
"Gosh, Mom," one child finally put things in perspective, "life must have been a bummer before pizza!”
