New Talent

Recently, I heard a commentator discuss the results of a poll which to him—and to me—indicate a radical change in society. The poll showed that many young people today have no clue how to do some of the basic things older folks have always done, such as preparing a decent meal or sewing or knitting.

Traditional skills are being lost to the changing face of society. Why learn to cook when you can order out or quickly heat up frozen meals in the microwave.? Why learn to sew or knit when clothing made in developing nations is so cheap and easily available?

In just a couple of generations, priorities have shifted. My mother—just like yours, I’m sure—had skills that the world is quickly forgetting. We lived on a large farm, and she canned vegetables from the garden as well as fruit from our trees for our winter meals. She found time to mend clothing and sew some of our clothes during the long winter months.

Of course, my mother didn’t waste time updating her social network profile! Her entertainment was a little more basic—it was the radio. I remember that it seemed to be on all the time. She kept up with the news and comments of the day, and was entertained by the music, while her imagination made the most of listening to actors reading radio plays. When I talked about radio plays recently, my grandchildren were at a loss to understand what it was exactly. “You mean, no pictures?” No pictures, just your imagination! What a concept!

But the radio is far from dead as an entertainment medium, even in this age of computers and all sorts of hand-held devices keeping everyone connected all the time. More and more well-known people take to the airwaves with their own podcasts. We can only hope that radio drama will also resurge. In a world where video is taking so much space, it’d be nice to see imagination having room to prosper.