Opinion: Life moves on, and times change

Submitted to NIT:

Jim Chimbidis is product of Mason City; he went through our school system, went on to graduate from the University of Iowa with a Masters in Journalism. He then wrote and directed national television shows on ABC. Later, he returned here and became the original partner with Peter Children in opening the Red Llama in 1961. He later sold his interest in the lounge and returned to Chicago where he joined Argonne National Laboratories as a writer and filmmaker. He remained with them until his retirement. He now lives in Aurora, Illinois.

The following are his thoughts and reflections on life:

Life is a rather plain and predictable process. You are born; nurtured by loving parents; sent to public school; possibly asked to serve in this country’s military; then eventually you are asked to earn a living. After a lifetime of fending for yourself, someone tells you that it is time to stop working and retire. They do not give you any help in your effort to make ends meet once you retire. So there you are exhibiting all kinds of pain and old age and trying to figure out how to survive when you are in your 70’s and 80’s. You still have to pay taxes and rent and buy food and pay for heat and light and put gasoline in your car. And make sure you INSURE yourself—by paying premiums on your house, car, and property.

So in this life—you eventually meet yourself—and deliberate as to how in the hell you’re going to get through this. If you have planned ahead, it might not be a problem—but if you have not planned ahead—all manner of woe can be placed upon you.

No one has prepared you for these events. You’ve never been told what to expect—you merely stumble through as best you can—making sure that you do not do anything illegal. In your instinctive way, you make certain choices and decisions—some good, some bad. Since you are living in plain sight of others, you have to be careful that you conduct yourself in a truthful and honest manner. No one wants to be falsely arrested or accused of committing a crime. If that happens, then you have to hire people to defend you and prove your innocence. This possibility leads to inordinate legal fees and public airing of your possible transgressions.

If you have survived all this, then perhaps you can begin to have some peaceful years near the end of your journey.

So there you have it…the journey of your life. The ironic thing here is there is absolutely no way you can know in advance what might be the nature of your life. Your foresight extends out to perhaps a week or ten days. Anything beyond that is a crap shoot.

So what measure do we use to evaluate your life? Well we can list the things you accomplished; like getting educated; getting a job and earning money; you can also get married and raise some children. There will be times when you will be asked to do certain things—like register for the draft; pay fines for over-parking; late charges at the library for over-due books; be asked to attend certain funerals; give some money to worthy causes; and help out others in a philanthropic way—perhaps helping out with certain church functions like being a pall-bearer or cutting chickens for the church picnic or attending the Ahepa conventions. If you are slippery enough, you might be able to avoid the trap of marrying a nice ethnic girl. At some time in your life, you might be able to afford to take a trip abroad—perhaps to your family’s original village. It’s always nice to be able to say; “I went back to the village and saw where my grandparents and parents came from!”

Sooner or later, the time comes when you are “out-of-the-loop”–so to speak. This is a time when you don’t feel like visiting friends or going out into the cold night air. You begin to remove yourself from the mainstream. Your bones ache and you don’t seem to have as many friends anymore. By nature you also become somewhat fixed in your ways: you don’t like this or that; you would rather not eat this or that; and you cant seem to appreciate the current music of the day—too loud or something! You start using the word “Crap” more often in your comments. And you cannot understand why people are the way they are. Their value system seems all wrong to you. “What the hell are they thinking?”

Eventually the routine of your life evolves into some type of predictability. You get up at the same time; you eat at certain times; you always make sure to lock the door; and you also begin to forget things, like did I park the car in the garage or where in the hell did I put that phone number or that address? Was I supposed to call someone?

You become very particular about things—you know exactly what you like or dislike. You would never go see that film or listen to that kind of music or frequent certain jive talk or rap sessions…and what do people see in the current list of so-called celebrities. Eventually you realize that you cannot fathom computer technology or social media and why are you being asked to pay outlandish fees for shit that you don’t really need?

In the final analysis—you finally arrive at a place in this crazy world where you are sitting alone in your house and staring out the window and shaking your head. And you continually ask yourself; Where has Frank Sinatra gone? How come they only play rock music on the radio? And you are continually surprised by the lack of good taste.

What has happened dear friend—is that the world has gone on without you. The culture that you remember and cherish no longer exists. Those events and those tastes and those celebrities have vanished and in their place, have come all manner of things that you do not understand or care about. What is Jimmy Fallon doing with the tonight show; what the hell is the purpose of these reality shows? Why is there so much Rap music? Better that I tune in the BBC and get involved with Downtown Abbey or Masterpiece theater.

So it is…what you have experienced is the passing of your generation; the disappearance of your personal value system and the utter growth of what you perceive to be “BAD TASTE!”

It is time to internalize your thoughts! Stop passing judgment! Think, but do not comment! Smile and turn the other cheek! The America you were born in and grew up in—no longer exists. You unknowingly have been whisked away from the familiarity of life and are being asked to accept and tolerate the changes that now appear prevalent before you. No one plays hopscotch—or marbles or mumble-peg. Kids do not play hide and seek and tin-can-out…or listen to the radio. They are now at the multiplex down in the mall playing video games in the lobby.

It is time to wrap up this experience you once thought so highly of. The only thing constant—is change!

Johnny Mack Brown and Buck Jones and Charles Starrett and Jack Oakie are no longer playing at the Strand and State theaters. There is no such thing as a double feature and Wahoo or free dishes at the movie house. And when was the last time you saw a short subject or newsreel or a serial in the theater? Sam Kregotis no longer sells hot dogs at the North Iowa Fair. Joey Chitwood and Gus Shrader no longer race at the grandstand. Hank Hook no longer broadcasts from the corner or State and Federal on Sunday mornings. You no longer can “Keep time with Damon’s” on the radio…and Santa Claus no longer sits in Merkel’s department store at Christmas. You will never again see clay cars being pulled up from the clay pits at the brickyards. No more Sweetheart bread or Hutchinson ice cream. Say goodbye to pork tenderloins at the Spic and Span.

What in fact has happened—is that you got older and the train of life kept going, after you chose to get off. There are no more hobo camps along the Milwaukee railroad tracks…and they have filed in the old City Dump and knocked down the tall chimneys at the brickyards and pulled up the tracks of the Interurban. And now you notice that there is no longer Grant School or Monroe Junior High or Roosevelt Junior High.

All of these things have been politely “stored” in your skull vault. They have become the ephemeral part of your memory bank, to occasionally be called upon to re-create those good old times. The green rivers at Harry’s Sweet Shop; greasy hamburgers at Dad’s place in the alley; used comic books at Mike Caponies; day-old pastries at the Holsom Bakery; large malts at Pete’s place on North Federal; or cherry cokes at Casey drug…or Christmas parties at the Dennison Club. They have all disappeared and no longer play a part in your life.

So here you are in your dotage…unhappy with the present, critical or the future; still in love with the past. To alter the old refrain “Those were the days my friend, I thought they’d never end” have in fact ended!!!

It is no sin to lament the passing of things—for that is the nature of life. To enjoy the sweetness of things we liked and lost. It is the past that we have lived and it is the past that we will always remember. We absolutely know the past and we will never completely know the future. That is for others much younger than ourselves to live and experience and remember when they too get old.

“Let us then be up and doing…with a heart for any fate—Still achieving and pursuing…Learn to labor and to Wait.”

–Jim Chimbidis