A generation or so ago, a majority of the people in our country lived a life far different from that of today. A life that you would call tough, astounding or impossible. They walked miles to fetch water from the river, used hot coal to iron dresses, washed clothes at a stone specially designed for the purpose and hung them out in the sun to dry. They bent double to sweep and mop the house. They wrote letters to connect with others. They did arithmetic in their mind, or on paper. They used fire to cook. They went out shopping. They fanned themselves in Summer and burned fire-wood in Winter.