Observing US: A column about America, by Marylaine Block originally published by Fox News Online, 1998-2000

#66, December 21, 1999

TIME GOES FAST...

by Marylaine Block

One thousand years ago the Normans
Hadn't thought about conquering Britain;
Ethelred wasn't yet unready, and
The Domesday Book hadn't been written.

Only 800 years ago, doctors first learned
The medicinal value of booze,
Though students at newfangled universities
Didn't need any such excuse.

Just 600 years ago Chaucer died,
And Gutenberg was just being born.
Alchemists still were plying their trade,
And silk dresses were first being worn.

'Twas 400 years ago Shakespeare ruled,
And the first WCs came along;
El Greco and Rubens were painting away,
And madrigals were England's pop songs.

In the year 1800, Napoleon ruled France,
And we had just formed a new nation;
Eli Whitney first used interchangeable parts,
And we'd just figured out vaccination.

Since then we've built skyscrapers, railroads and highways,
And linked the entire world with phones.
We surf in the sea, on the net and TV,
And we're now making sheep that are clones.

It's amazing how far and how fast we have come.
This millennium has NOT been a bore.
It's changed all that we knew,but we've all muddled through.
Would you care to try one thousand more?

MERRY CHRISTMAS, AND BEST WISHES FPR THE NEW MILLENNIUM!

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