5 Things You’ll Probably Have To Explain To Your Kids
No, this isn't about the "the talk". This is more about how life was growing up during the good old days. You know, when you were a kid. The world has changed around us. There for certain skills are no longer needed. Your kids will probably laugh, then be totally unimpressed when you tell them about how hard it was being a kid of your generation. a
- 1
Folding A Map
With today's GPS a map from a gas station is seldom needed. I remember car rides with my family in which my Dad would drive, my mother would navigate with the map in her lap, and we kids would shut the hell up. There were usually a few wrong turns, some foul words exchanged, and a sigh of relief when we arrived at our destination but not once did we follow a map into a lake or an ocean. Then came the task of refolding the map to fit in the glove compartment. This usually created more frustration than driving for three hours.
- 2
Getting Pictures Developed
At our house we had a basic Kodak camera. It was used for vacations, excursions, graduations, and any big life event that required long pants. My Mom would stock pile rolls of film and maybe twice a year remember to take them to the drugstore to be developed. A week or so later when the pictures came back there was often a discussion as to what was actually supposed to be depicted in the photograph. With today's digital cameras in telephones gratification is instant and accidental pictures of feet can be deleted moments after they are taken.
- 3
Getting Song Lyrics
We were a generation that sang the wrong words to many songs we heard on the radio. We could only guess what the correct lyrics were because we couldn't look them up on the Internet. Unless the band or artist provided a lyric sheet in the liner notes of the album or cassette you had to trust your ears if you wanted to sing along. That led to some of the most ridiculous translations of lyrics you could ever imagine. We worked with what we had and what we had was desire.
- 4
Actually Answering The Phone To See Who Was Calling
Caller I.D. it was like a veil of secrecy had been lifted from a ringing telephone. You no longer had to actually talk to a person and then create a reason to not talk to them anymore. You could see who was calling and just let them go to voice mail. Back in the day answering the phone was like playing the lottery. Sometimes you got a call you wanted and sometimes you got a call from someone you didn't want to hear from. By the way back then, long distance was a big deal. The world stopped when we got a long distance call at our house. It usually meant a death in the family.
- 5
Playing Songs On The Wrong Speed
As a disc jockey this was an embarrassing moment for your professional life. The only thing worse than playing a Barry Manilow song was drawing attention to it by playing an album cut at 45 rpm and making him sound like a chipmunk. The transverse of that was playing a 45 rpm single at 33 rpm and making him sound like Satan's third cousin. All three instances weren't good. They were funny but they weren't good. Kids today will always play songs the way they were meant to be heard and they will never have a song skip or the needle get stuck. I think they are missing one of life's great joys.