Growing up

I was stuck in a traffic jam this morning, most unusual because my route to work is against the traffic, I'm glad I don't have that every day. It got me to thinking (sorry Sandra) about my childhood, a sure sign that we're getting older.
I grew up in a small Welsh town and my parents didn't own a car, in fact as I recall there were only two cars in our street, the puddle jumper across the road and the black taxi owned by John James, a man with a most interesting vocabulary and a lovely black spaniel called Mickey James.
But I digress.
We walked to school and the shops and only took the train when visiting Manchester. Everyone walked or so it seemed unless they took the bus or train. The man from the Prudential rode a bicycle as did the District Nurse.
I don't recall any traffic jams.
Later we lived alongside the Chester Bypass and yet crossing the road was not a serious mission although when my dad bravely bought a silver Volkwagen (pronounced vokes wagon) they would sit in heavy traffic when visiting family in Rhyl or Colwyn Bay.
In the early days of our marriage, living in Pinelands, if I had a need to go to Claremont I would gather the brood, probably aged around 2 and 4, we would walk the half mile or so to the main road, catch a bus to Mowbray and then another to Claremont. It was nothing out of the ordinary but, the traffic was certainly getting heavier. (I wasn't, with all that walking).
Edgemead in the seventies had no bus service but we had splashed out and bought a bakkie (LDV) for Rowland and I had the use of the mean gold Cortina. I ran out of petrol three times, just couldn't learn!
 Our children either rode their bikes or walked to school, Fairbairn is about 5kms away. We all survived this healthy lifestyle. I remember a friend of Rowland's, he lived at the YMCA and walked everywhere, miles and miles.
Today, it's all about personal transport. From the parking boom on the roof of Canal Walk to my front door takes about 4 minutes by car, how could I waste the hour or so that it would take me on foot.
That's just it, we have to chase around far too much, our grandchildren have schedules that would make Barac Obama even greyer than he is now. It's rush to school, sport, dancing, music, art and for the grown-ups, rush to work, to the shops, to  home, rush around the house.
I don't believe there was any road rage when I was growing up, perhaps this generation needs a more relaxed pace, after all, the baby boomers created so much with, I think, far less stress.