Born in the wrong era?

Does anyone ever feel they were born in the wrong era?

I love the freedom I have as a woman in the 21st century, of course I do - I couldn't exactly be considering having a baby on my own 50 years ago, could I?!

But there are so many things that we have wrong in the 2010s, things which previously, even within my adult life, we never had. I miss the formality of business communication. I just found a letter in my handbag (hence the rambling) from the occupational health department at the hospital I work at - nothing exciting, just a routine health surveillance questionnaire - 'Dear Kaitlyn...'.

'Dear Kaitlyn' indeed. Letters, particularly those of a business nature or which start with a dear and end with yours sincerely, should always start 'Dear Miss Edwards.' I know that is old fashioned, but it really, really drives me crazy. I receive letters from the bank, from my mobile phone provider and from my car insurance company addressed 'Dear Kaitlyn.'

On the phone, I also find it rude when they call me Kaitlyn. I phoned my mobile phone provider (Orange) about a year ago to complain as they had made a mistake a few times with my bill. The man I spoke to kept calling me Kaitlyn. He never asked if that was OK, or how I would like to be addressed. I mean, I was phoning to complain, you would have thought that he would be wanting to do everything in his power to sweet-talk me. But no. On the other hand, I phoned British Gas recently, and the man I spoke to there asked me if it was OK to call me Kaitlyn, and I said of course it was.

Everybody seems so egotistical nowadays, too. Perhaps that is the fault of social media, encouraging people to announce everything. Everybody seems to feel so entitled. I work in the NHS and everybody seems to think that they are the only person who matters. People turn up for their appointments and expect to be seen immediately, despite the fact that their letters say that the appointment could take up to two hours. The worst though are the patients who turn up early - and I mean very early - who expect to be seen when they arrive. The elderly, on the whole, seem much more patient. I don't know whether this is simply because they have learnt to be more patient, they have more time (generally not having to dash off to work or for the school run) or whether they were taught as children to be patient.

People now have no real need to leave the house if they do not wish to. I remember my mum having to go to the post office when we were children to collect her family allowance. Nowadays, it is paid directly in to the bank accounts. If we wanted to go shopping, we had to physically go to the supermarket. Now, it can be done on-line. I remember having to go in to an estate agents to look at houses, a travel agents to book a coach trip, or later a holiday, or the library to get information. Even between finishing my first degree in 2009 and starting my second in 2012, information was available in new ways. I could quite easily have done my second degree without ever stepping foot in the university library. I could have hid away at home to study, using e-books and e-journals rather than physical, paper copies.

One of my best friends was definitely born in the wrong era. She and her fiancé love playing the piano, learning languages and playing board games. I could imagine her living quite happily in an era with ball gowns and servants. And I, too, would be more than happy there.