Conversation with Mr. Mark Houghton

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Introduction

World history, in general, and particularly American history over the past eighty years has been shaped with events that are memorable. Some of those events were tragic, while others would fill one with nostalgia; a longing for things as they used to be, and compelling one to be averse to change.

However, change is inevitable, and the last century has not been any different from its predecessors in paying homage to this one unchanging phenomenon that is change itself. Things are no longer the way they used to be, and with the passing of time, change seems to be catching up faster than it has hitherto been.

This article is the result of a conversation with Mr. Mark Houghton (not his real name, for the sake of his privacy). He is an octogenarian who gives his views concerning the unfolding of events in the mid twentieth century to-date, and how the same have impacted his life; influencing event the decisions he needed to make from a personal perspective.

Mark Houghton as a Youngster

Born in 1932, Mr. Houghton was the third son in a family of four boys and two girls. Their family lived in Pennsylvania and were neither affluent nor poor, since his parents worked at a retail outlet that thrived with the oil mining industry’s growth. Although the years during which he was born were difficult times for the whole of the United States populace, he was too young to have any inkling that circumstances were dire.

Houghton only realized that there was a change from normality when, one day, his father never went to the store as he usually did. Houghton was six years old at the time. He would usually accompany his father to the store, and cherished the times that they spent together. All that changed when his father, Houghton Senior, decided to look for employment. “Pursuing greener pastures,” said the older Houghton.

By the time his father was changing careers, Houghton’s elder brothers had both been enlisted in the military. His elder sister had been married, so there were three siblings at home with their mother. While growing up, Houghton would envision himself at work in the mines as a scientifically biased employee.

This was an ambition that saw him seek early employment even without the credentials required for such a high profile post. Someone once said that, with every grave situation, there comes a seed of equivalent gain. Houghton attested to that tenet being a fact when the Roosevelt government relaxed its policies against employing underage people (Miske 9-12).

It was a boon for Houghton, who saw that he no longer would have to depend on the earnings of his father that, once split amongst the five of them, failed to meet all their needs adequately. However, his employment did not take him directly to the oil industry as he had expected.

Houghton Starts Working and Gets Married

Houghton started working when he was seventeen years old. That was only one year short of the age at which one would legally seek employment. The government at that time was paying firms that hired new employees so that the unemployment rate could be reduced.

Houghton was to later learn that the country was experiencing the worst economic slump in its history. The Second World War, apparently, bore no great significance to Houghton. Both brothers of his who were conscripted in to the war came back with stories of their experiences in the frontlines.

Houghton was not as fortunate as they were, to have the chance of serving his country as a soldier. However, he did serve her in his capacity as an electronic engineer. He did not have to go to school to gain the knowledge for the trade in which he then worked with a flourish. His employer was the United States government through the military, just like his brothers before him.

When he was twenty six years old, Houghton got married to a lady who was three years younger than he. The war was over and so was the great depression. His experience with the military opened up Houghton’s mind to a world of immense possibilities. He saw himself being able to do things he had previously not thought possible.

For instance, he could now listen to the presidential address while in the comfort of his house. He had a television set and a radio receiver at home, two wonder gadgets hitherto unknown in his world, which he could use to get news from far-flung corners of the continent.

How Historical Events Shaped Houghton’s Family Life

Houghton’s experience as a child left certain indelible marks in his young conscience. The thought of having been separated from his father at such a young age was something that would keep haunting him even into his matrimonial home. He made a vow to himself, and to his wife, that he would never let the same thing happen to his sons if God would permit him to have them.

At the same time, however, he laid the blame on his parents for placing them in such compromising situations. He said that he saw his parents as people who had served themselves more than they could swallow. When asked why he said so, Houghton answered that in a struggling economy, it was not wise to bear very many children since this translated to having as many mouths to feed. Asked if he had any recommendations for that, Houghton said that he indeed had.

A bit of prodding on the part of the interviewer would reveal that Houghton was ill at ease with the idea of broaching the subject of contraceptives. Houghton considered himself to be a very conservative person, and he did not want it getting out in the public domain that he supported the use of birth control pills right from the beginning.

Furthermore, it would prick his conscience given the religious ramifications that the subject conjured. Houghton, nevertheless, agreed with his spouse that the way for them to ensure they gave their children (they eventually bore three children; two girls and a boy) the best that life could offer, was for them (the parents) to control and space out their conception.

After their second daughter, they decided never to conceive again. Not only was there the option for them to continue using birth control pills – which were the only available options at the beginning – but there arose methods that Houghton felt were more robust. He even intimated that vasectomy and tubal ligation revolutionized the practice of birth control.

Technological advances in the last one century were mostly pioneered by the military. This elitist group of people had the resources to enable them make breakthrough discoveries following research efforts of different types. Houghton recalled that even before the debut of the personal computer into the public arena, they had been using rather monstrous versions of the same while at camp.

Houghton said that it took several years (he could not recall exactly how many) before it was contrived that these powerful machines could be availed to the citizenry (Computerworld 85). He said that indeed, it was a good thing to have let the events turn that way because people had been clamouring ceaselessly concerning their rights and freedoms to this, that or the other. Houghton cherishes a peaceable demeanour and staging of demonstrations never caught his fancy.

He believes in a democracy where people are allowed to make decisions, but that those decisions should serve the collective good rather than personal agenda. He also sees the advent of cell phones as a blessing, looking back at his experience away from his father. However, he decries the attitude his children have, because although they are just a phone call away, none of them calls as often as he would have wanted them to call. He feels that the opportunity for communicating is being squandered.

Conclusion: Reasons for choosing the interviewee, lessons learnt, and merits and demerits of oral history

With age comes wisdom, and there is so much that one can learn from the past by keenly listening to the words of one who is advanced in years. The vagaries of age in the form of lost memories notwithstanding, when one meets an old person who has not gone through the throes of senility, such a one may consider themselves highly fortunate. Mr. Mark Houghton is a man who defies his age with a well maintained physique and sobriety to boot.

It was learnt from the interview that there was a time when technology was not as advanced as it is nowadays. Furthermore, government policies can at times be changed to meet the extant needs of a particular time. People’s aspirations may also change with time, as was Houghton’s ambition to work in the mines changed when something more lucrative and fulfilling took its place.

Historical events do not affect all people in a similar manner. One man’s meat being another man’s poison, Houghton’s father lost his business during the Great Depression, but other people got employed in factories.

Oral history has the benefit of the investigator getting first-hand information that cannot be easily misconstrued. However, the chronological aspect of events may be confusing, even to the narrator, as much reliance is put on one’s ability to lucidly recall the events. Moreover, a narrator may decide to add sensual appeal to their narrative, and include tales that are not real.

For example, when Mr. Houghton said he was not comfortable talking about contraception, it would have been expected of him to maintain his stance. However, he went on to mention (probably inadvertently) that they used surgical means to control birth permanently. Thus, whereas one might rely on oral history, the sources ought to be varied. This will ensure that one person’s story can be used to compare another person’s to ascertain that the events did actually occur.

Works Cited

Computerworld. Computerworld. New York: IDG Enterprise, 1978. Print

Miske, Ulrike. ‘Franklin Delano Roosevelt – A President Leading a Nation Through the Great Depression’. Seminar Paper, 2005. Print.

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