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There are some old-time conveniences you probably hope never come back in style. Think hand-pumping to get water, coal stoves, crank starters for cars (or even horse-drawn carriages), mattresses actually stuffed with feathers, or the legendary outhouse
				If we&rsquo;re honest, these things would actually still do the job of more modern replacements, just not as well. A hand pump in the kitchen would be preferable to daily trips to a well in the back yard &mdash; or more onerous, a trip to a shared town well. A coal stove would be more efficient and presumably easier to keep burning than a fireplace in winter. But running tap water and central heat are a heck of a lot more convenient.
				Every once in a while we are reminded of the benefits of keeping some sort of back-up system in place for the things we take for granted.
				Cell phone service disrupted? Maybe that good old land line your uncle or mom insisted on clinging to makes a little sense (though with everyone else using wireless, there may be no friends or family you can reach).
				Remember post 911, when planes were grounded? Old-fashioned trains became surprisingly attractive, and plenty of people doubtless suddenly appreciated the fact that efforts to kill government rail subsidies had failed.
				Enter the COVID-19 pandemic, with the loss of social gathering opportunities for the last two months, and a resurgence in that most iconic of 1960s venues: Drive-in movie theaters.
				This weekend saw the re-opening of the Garden Drive-in in Hunlock Creek and the Moonlite Drive-in in West Wyoming. Simplicity rules.
				No choosing from 10 to 20 screens, no surround sound, no stadium seating or vibrating and tilting chairs. Just a good old fashioned communal sharing of the same feature film, in a setting that had fallen out of favor until it proved that automatic social-distancing was a good thing.
				Close concession stands (restoring another once-popular habit: bringing your own drinks and snacks) or limit purchases to smart-phone orders, ban the use of lawn chairs or other out-of-car seating, keep re-sanitizing restrooms, and you have a reasonably safe venue.
				People can share an experience without much risk of virus transmission. Who knows, you may glance over to a nearby car and spot a neighbor you haven&rsquo;t seen for weeks because you both stay in your homes most of the time.
				Of course, we still want to see the traditional multi-plexes and other venues to re-open, to see people able to gather in large crowds again. But the lesson here is valuable for future reference: Old school is not, de-facto, useless. There are times we need to adapt in unexpected ways, and new-tech solutions aren&rsquo;t automatically the best.
				Streaming everything on demand is great, but isolating. We are social animals. It&rsquo;s good that, at least in a few cases, the drive-in did not go the way of the dodo, that trains were sustained, and that we still have options beyond wireless.
				There are times, in short, when looking back can actually help you move forward.
				 &mdash; Times Leader

Our View: In praise of drive-in theaters