Thursday 13 ~ Thank God for Showers

October 18, 2007 /

The other day when I was climbing into my nice steamy hot shower, I was reminded of Maya donating money to Unicef to bring clean water to children elsewhere. Then I thought of the book I had just finished, March, and how they didn’t have hot steamy showers, either. Pretty much, for the length of human history, no hot steamy showers. Want to take a bath? If you’re lucky enough to have access to a well, you can heat up water on your stove and use that. Otherwise, it’s the creek or river. No fun. And yet, that’s how it’s been for hundreds of thousands of years, and how it still is for the majority of people on this planet of ours. So then I started thinking, maybe it’s time for a Thursday 13, about modern inventions for which I am thankful. Here goes:

  1. Antibiotics. I’m sure I’d be dead by now without them, and if not, probably at least Ted or Maya would. Or deaf. Or missing a limb.
  2. Immunizations. To grow up not worrying about diphtheria, polio, tetanus, rubella, whooping cough, the list goes on…to grow up not worrying about these things is a blessing.
  3. Running Water. Being able to turn the tap and get hot or cold water, or any clean, drinkable water, is a HUGE time saver. The time saved from this one thing is often enough that children can stop working in the home and go to school.
  4. The Printing Press. I can’t imagine the world without books…where only the very rich and very well educated had access to books, to newspapers, to all kinds of wonderful stories and information about cultures. Truly, the printing press made our world a lot larger.
  5. Electricity. The ability to turn on a light, to turn on the heater, to power appliances like we do…without it, no music that we don’t create, no computers, no blogging (ACK!), no so many things we love to do.
  6. Hot Water Heater. Showers with all cold water don’t sound like much fun to me.
  7. Stove. No collecting fuel. Just turn it on, and cook. Amazing.
  8. Refrigeration. How fortunate we are to have a fridge, where we can keep food fresh for days and days and maybe even weeks for some of it.
  9. Telephones. Our ancestors used to move only 100 miles away, and never see their family again. How wonderful to be able to pick up the phone and share the day you are having with family and friends all over the world.
  10. Washing Machine. I see women on TV, washing their clothes in a barrel, or the sink, or the river, and that looks to be some back breaking work, let me tell you.
  11. Dishwasher. Washing dishes by hand isn’t really a big deal, so clearly I’m getting to the less important part of the list here. But still, I love having a dishwasher.
  12. Cars. I love being able to get in the car and go, and it’s wonderful to be able to visit family near and far, pick up groceries, etc. I love horses, and maybe I would have liked the world of the horse and carriage…but I think it might have smelled worse around here. 😉
  13. Computers. Last but not least, and for many of the reasons that the telephone is so wonderful. It has made the world smaller, to email, to blog, to do your banking, to make a living, right here with this cursed machine.

That’s my list…is there anything I didn’t mention, any wonderful modern inventions, for which you are truly thankful?

15 Comments

  • Ally

    October 18, 2007 at 5:32 am

    Your list is great. The only thing that I’d add is an electric automatic coffeemaker. But that’s really the cherry on top of the sundae compared to what you’ve mentioned.

  • J

    October 18, 2007 at 6:06 am

    Ally, I’ll confess I was thinking last night that another post might be that type of things…the ‘cherry’ type items for which we are grateful. 🙂

  • Sharon

    October 18, 2007 at 8:43 am

    I am grateful for most of these things, too! 🙂 Good list.
    One modern invention I’m NOT always grateful for is the cell phone. I don’t always want to be readily available at all times. We’ve switched to emergency-only pre-paid, and I like it. 😉

  • Dee

    October 18, 2007 at 1:26 pm

    How about airplanes? You thankful for that?? Maybe they are in the car genre.
    With family in India, I am really thankful for that!
    And thankful for the all trips that have been possible ’cause of that.

  • Ray

    October 18, 2007 at 8:18 pm

    I just wanted to say this is an impressive web site. Thanks Julie for sharing so much of your life. My website is a stark, dry thing in comparison, but my students put it to good use and there is a little back ground into my professional history.

  • lalunas

    October 18, 2007 at 10:03 pm

    Big sis , says can opener and the tooth brush she is really thankful for.
    Chee would probably say the telephone
    I would say, grocery stores and Target, hhehehehehehe.

  • Py Korry

    October 19, 2007 at 6:35 am

    I’m with you on this list, and would only add “music players” to the list. This includes records, tapes, CDs, mp3 player,whatever. I just can’t imagine life without recorded music to play whenever I want. 🙂

  • Wanderlust Scarlett

    October 19, 2007 at 12:54 pm

    Great list, you got most of the big ones…

    1. Heat and A/C
    2. Medical Equipment/Dr.s educated enough to use them
    3. Aircraft/trains/public transportation
    4. COFFEE POTS

    Scarlett & Viaggiatore

  • Jimmy

    October 21, 2007 at 5:12 pm

    Nice list J. Thanks for reminding me to be more thankful. We take too much for granted sometimes. Imagine living in a third world country?