Bangkok pt. 3 - Day 4

This morning I came across something that made me think a lot about my childhood. Kindergarten with K, Martinschule with my brother, good times with my friends. Time passed slowly when we were younger. When did it start running? We used to have all the time in the world. I remember my first watch. It was an old Casio. A black rubber band digital watch with a yellow button that started and stopped the timer. I wore it tight around my wrist, because I was always afraid of losing it. 

Things were different then. Three hours of the day were enough time to do all the things we wanted to do. Now we need a week of preparation for everything. To find the perfect piece of wood for a slingshot we didn't calculate the dimensions or google the best type of tree. We just went out and found it. There were no decisions to chew over, no worries to keep us up, no headaches in the morning. We were carelessly living in our own little world.

Things were simple. Even essential things like nutrition. We didn't pick places to eat like we do today, finding the best balance between taste, price, comfort and distance. We didn't choose between pizza or pasta, Greek or Thai. We collected a few Groschen to get candy peanuts from the red little vending mashine around the corner. We counted them, put them in our pockets and took them to Schlecker. There we got a Capri Sun Orange and sat on the sidewalk. That was lunch. 

Today we would call it limited. And in many aspects it was. But that's exactly what made our childhood so special. As a kid a forty minute train ride took us so far away it felt like Sybiria. Or South Africa. It didn't matter, it was another world. We didn't have mobile phones or computers. And what the fuck is the internet? Things were different. We didn't wish for a fiber-optic high-speed connection. We wished for the battery-driven night light for the Game Boy.

Who would have thought that one day I would sit here in Bangkok and think about the Matchbox car that I accidentally stole. I remember I refused to believe it would really glow in the dark. I got distracted and when I walked out later I found it in my pocket. True story. I just forgot to put it back. Lately I think a lot about the future. My future. And also about the wife and kids that I'd like to have one day. Things change, and perspectives change, too. I know, it's nothing new. But this morning it hit me hard.