Back in the day . . . you know which ones I'm talking about. Walk up hill both ways, wind blowing in our faces, snow ten feet deep, bare foot, etc., etc. Life was much simpler. A couple of pencils, notebook, maybe a box of crayons, glue that you were told not to eat -- or sniff, those great erasers you could stick on the end of your pencils, and if you were older and more "mature" you could sneak in a pen. Your one electronic device in the "later years" was a basic calculator and it was pretty cool if it had a memory on it.
Remember the "trapper keeper"??? That was high tech and you were a nerd if you didn't have one. Glue sticks!!! That was an amazing invention and everyone scrambled to be the first to have one in their school paraphernalia. Not to mention the deluxe box of crayons with its own sharpener in the back.
Got the list from the school for the kids' supplies. What happened to the neat little box of crayola crayons? Now you have to have the ones that don't crumble, stain, can be erased, only mark on specially designed paper, have a computer chip in them that won't work if you take your neighbor's, sharpen by themselves, digitally tell you what colors you are creating when you mix them, have voice commands to tell you when you are running out, and downloads to a million Internet sites or nearest store for the cheapest price to purchase new ones.
A flash drive with a lanyard? What in the world is that? I realize I am a dinosaur in the space age, but what's next? Individual laptops with wireless connections to the Internet and teleport stations? What happened to simplicity?
I am sooo old school. I believe in a little elbow grease and "wrinkle" brow research. Got a subject to study? Good!!! Pull out the encyclopedias, reference books, trip to the Library, and good ole' communication. After, back it up with the Internet. Math problem? Take it to the pencil and paper. Work it out, scratch it out, go through a ream of paper, whatever it takes. Figure out the answer and why, then take it to the calculator.
My kids are so deprived. What they wouldn't give for a "new" age mom!! Stuck in the dark ages. They should be thanking their lucky stars -- I just allowed them to have electricity. What am I going to have to give them next?
2 comments:
Well done. That was a great written piece. Cracked me up.
YES, I remember the Trapper Keeper and I was always a loser because I never got one! Nor, did I ever get the BIG box of crayons with the sharpener in the back....
I think you should indulge your punks though. Get them a shoe string, tie it around their necks with a piece of gum in silver foil attached and tell them there is their jump drive!
This coming from a mum who just payed an exhorbant amount of money for tuition for "free public school"......I still need to go and buy school supplies.....the tuition covers what?
Zip drive? Isn't that the little metal flappy thing on the front of your pants? I loved how the school sent home supply lists which me being the good mother I am, went and got. And then the first day of school each kid brought home an additional supply list their teachers didn't include with the first one. I admit that I promptly filed them in the circular file holder and went on my way. Yes, I'm that mom.
P.S. Being the youngest by 50 years I got the trapper keeper and the crayon pack and was still considered a dork. Oh well, accessories can only do so much in a high class place like Darby.
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