With a little help from Rod Serling,‘You’re traveling through another dimension...’

Setting the clock back last Sunday started me thinking what it would be like if, instead of setting the clock back one hour, we had the ability to set it back in years.

After all, since time itself is an invention of mankind and is measured differently in other time zones and perhaps doesn’t even exist as we know it, in outer space or different spheres, it just might be possible to do.

What would we choose to have frozen in time, if we could go back, say, 50 years or so?

Of course, one of the first wishes that comes to mind would be our health and looks, but aside from that, what about the world around us?

I think I would opt for the slower life pace of that time, and I would willingly sacrifice computer, fax and cell phone if they were a condition to enjoying a more leisurely lifestyle. I would most certainly want to return to the neighborliness and special “chance encounters” that are fast disappearing from our so-called “connected” lifestyle.

I miss the interesting conversations and even friendships that resulted from the spur-of-the-moment chat with someone on a train, in a store, on the street or on an airplane. Now, everyone is on their cell phone or i-pod, talking, but oblivious to the chance to connect to the person right next to them.

Would it also be possible in this fast-paced world to keep the good manners of old? I feel positively girlish and happy when a gentleman opens a door, tips his hat or calls me “Ma’am” instead of “you guys.” And, since I still enjoying dressing up, is it too much to ask that on a Friday or Saturday dinner out, men don a jacket and tie? Since my mother was raised in England, good manners, especially toward our elders, was stressed in our home.

While I didn’t expect my children to rise when a senior entered the room as I was taught to do, children and young adults should realize that although the senior population may not be swift on the computer, they have, over the years, accumulated some worthwhile experience and wisdom.

I would enjoy having the New York that I knew 50-plus years ago, exciting and stimulating, but much less crowded and expensive. Even allowing for the lower salaries of those days, rental apartments, theater tickets and restaurants were much more affordable.

I also miss the gracious, medium-priced department stores: Best & Co., B. Altman, Peck & Peck, Russeks, De Pinna and Bonwit Teller. Their tea rooms, personal shoppers, fashion shows and elegant gilded elevators manned by white-gloved attendants who announced the treasures awaiting on each floor — all the lovely niceties that made shopping an uplifting and memorable experience.

I would like to regain the feelings of safety and security formerly enjoyed by both myself and my children. No worries when they rode their bikes, went to the local swimming pool, played with friends ... all, unsupervised by me.

There wasn’t any need to constantly know their whereabouts. The rule was — be home by suppertime. And the major discipline problems in the school were chewing gum and talking in class.

Does time sweeten our memory of past events? I wonder if 50 years from now, people will look back on 2010 with fond nostalgia. Since I don’t expect to be around then, someone else will have to make that comparison.

I'm reading: With a little help from Rod Serling,‘You’re traveling through another dimension...’