'All Work and Little Playtime', a century before the 'All Play and as little Work as possible' Era of Now......

When friends, who have homes, 2 year old vehicles and pricy 'latest' mobile phones...whine about their misfortunes .....I just look at this old photo of these pitiable kids, in rags, all under 15, that worked 12 hour days, 6 days a week, in dusty, cold/hot conditions at the Ragland Mills in Old West Huntsville, Alabama ....a century ago......making cotton thread to survive....This morning, an NPR program about the evolution of X-mas, based on the Dickens' tale, A CHRISTMAS STORY with references to OLIVER TWIST...was being discussed.......as memories flowed from my brain's storage neuron-connects, of stories that my Grandfather told us, of his Youth, where he toiled in a cotton mill, as did many young boys and girls....during the Industrial Revolution of the late 19th Century........