CHANGING TIMES, LIKE LAST TIME

Changing times can break you.

“You can only pull out of the times what the times will give you.

“You create out of your experience.

“If your experiences are the same as the guys’ next door and he ain’t doin’ nothin’, then you aren’t going to be doing much either.”

Bob Dylan

That’s the voice of a generation talking.

He started talking before I understood what he was saying.

I was seven in 1962, seventy in 2025, and I still listen.

 

The line, it is drawn, the curse, it is cast
The slow one now will later be fast
As the present now will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin’
And the first one now will later be last
For the times, they are a-changin’

 

Have I got it figured out, these changing times?

Not enough to spew the sort of shit-talk a borderline finger pointing wide-mouthed nut in a nice suit and tie on television who has it all figured out.

But I’m doing my own research.

Following Bob’s train of thought takes me to Nature vs Nurture.

Who would have heard of Bob Dylan if he’d never left his hometown?

Maybe a few guys in the local stage one Saturday night after Bob’s long days at Zimmerman Furniture and Electric.

 

Reporter: How did you like the music tonight.

Fan: The Memorial Building always has good sound, but I couldn’t understand the mumbling.

Reporter: It’s a style you’re not familiar with.

Fan: Oh, I’m familiar, I just don’t like it.

Reporter: It’s more a vibe than a message.

Fan: Jmblamy mubella tullu.

Reporter: What?

Fan: That’s my vibe.

 

Adjusting To Changing Times

When albums were the only way to hear new music, aside from the hit 45 played on the radio, we’d get the song we wanted and ten we didn’t.

Instead of a string of hits, that one hit that showed it was a fluke.

Not that there’s anything wrong with having only one hit. It’s one hundred percent more than no hit.

But we want more.

More from Bob, from Bruce, from everyone we’ve ever known and everyplace we’ve ever been.

It doesn’t have to be a lot more, either. Just enough to show we matter.

Changing times don’t have to change too much to get noticed.

If you’re a celebrity watcher you know it’s true.

A new haircut can be a New Era.

A picture of someone with a drink in hand can be the new Dark Ages.

If you have normal friends and family living normal lives, people who go to bed and get up at regular times, who either work or keep themselves occupied like a writer writing a blog for their blogger audience, then a new haircut is just a new haircut.

The only question is if it’s a self-cut, or a pro job. (Hey Debbie)

 

The Modern World Of Change

Ignore change at your own risk.

From passwords, to codes, to new domain names, the list is endless.

The bank can’t find your money, the automated collection can’t find your money, and you owe, owe, owe.

With the ease and comfort of online financial transactions I found it funny both ways, funny ha ha and funny weird, that a state taxing agency that is on high alert to collect any and all taxes didn’t give me a heads up for overpaying.

Then, to add extra joy, I was on the phone an hour and a half going over years of over-payment one month at a time.

Including interest.

What was so funny?

We reviewed every month, including interest.

I paid a penny too much one month, and one penny doesn’t generate interest like a nickel.

When changing times become trying times, remember the people making changes.

If you trust the direction they are headed you won’t get to heated up.

If the trust is based on experience with the same people who made changes last time, you give them the grace of patience.

But, if you shackle your mental health to an unstable switch-up artist mistaking them for the voice of reason, maybe the voice of a generation, you may feel deceived, which means lied to.

Why make a big deal out of it like it’s the first time.

It’s not if you’re a certain age, like over twenty-five.

By that age you’ve been smeared, dealt dirty, and told to shake it off, get over it, grow a pair.

My introduction to changing times came in 1974 when Patty Hearst went from ‘who’s that’ to bank robber.

Who the goes from heiress to fugitive that fast?

If she can survive the whiplash of her times, we can work through these times.