Emma or Cher? Which time would you pick?
Ever been asked this question: If you could live in any time in history, when would you chose?
We have all looked at photos of a certain time, 50’s rockabilly hairstyles, Elizabethan style or 20’s parties, and said to ourselves how much we would have loved to have lived then. I studied history, for me, when asked which period I would prefer, I say the same thing, always – this one!
The reasons for this are threefold. First of all, I doubt I would be a king. We all look back in history class and think it would be wonderful to be a noble, or lord, because generally that’s who we study. Chances are, though, we would be a serf or a peasant. Quite frankly, life would have been crappy. If I could go back to Rome and be a rich lord with properties, and feasts, what fun! If, however (and much more likely), I end up in a ring with a lion – no, thank you.
Secondly, to reiterate: crappy. Indoor plumbing, sewerage systems and waste disposal may seem mundane today, but until about 200 years ago, they were pretty rare. Ever known anyone to have dysentery? Well, that because you don’t live 200 years ago! And thank goodness!
This also goes for any scientific advance, things now are probably as good as they have ever been and hopefully getting better. Trust me, I studied history, if you like being able to drink the water without boiling it first, you would rather be alive now too.
Finally, in pure pragmatism, I doubt I would survive in any time other than now – I know how to use Google, word processors and drive a car. All of which are useless skills even a century ago. I can’t ride a horse, tell which plants are edible in a forest and I have never fired a longbow. Drop me off at the battles of Marathon, Hastings or Blackwater bay in Westeros and I am pretty useless. I would be a lousy farm worker too, having not spent my entire life lifting hay bales.
We’ve gone soft, Science shows that the ancient Greek Olympians would have held records in today’s games well into the late 20th century, I can’t compete with that! My only hope would be to find a nice monastery and hope to pick up Latin pretty quickly.
Send me back with a few semi-automatic rifles, ammunition and some over the counter drugs I would have a chance, but otherwise I know I am a man of my times. And our times are pretty damn good!
Were you born in the wrong time? When would you like to live?
