Back in the day!

More and more things are making me feel old nowadays. I never thought the world would take off at lightning speed and leave me behind, but that is precisely what has happened. Yesterday Tami and I left the world of flip phones (yes, the REALLY old kind) and joined the 21st century. We received our very first Smart Phones in the mail yesterday. Whoever named them Smart Phones knew what they were talking about because these Smart Phones sure make me feel dumb!

Last night our living room looked like something directly out of a comedy routine. I was fumbling through the early stages of trying to figure out how this fancy, hand-held computer worked. The kids were zipping through their new phones with agility and ease. It’s a humbling experience to be asking your kids for assistance every three seconds, but without their help, I wouldn’t have even been able to power the silly thing up. After much trial and error and the invaluable assistance of Abby, I was soon navigating the new phone (albeit quite clumsily).

These shenanigans led to a fun family discussion. It started as a classic “old people” discussion. With phrases like, “back in my day…” or “when your mom and I were kids…”, we informed our kids about our experiences with telephones way back in the (GASP!) 60’s and 70’s. Michael and Abby were flabbergasted to find out that phones used to be attached to the wall and a person could go no further than the short, three foot cord would allow. They were also amused when we told them how happy we were as kids when our parents got a longer cord. Yipee! We could now go 6 or 8 feet away from the phone! Big times! The discussion progressed into how we felt we were living in the space age when cordless phones came out. We were living large when we could carry the phone anywhere in the house and even maybe onto the front porch. The kids were equally amazed to hear about the early days of cellular phones. I’m talking about the ones that basically carried around in a small suitcase. Yes, they were portable all right, but hardly practical. I mean, who wants to lug around a twenty-pound telephone? We had quite the laugh talking about the old days and it’s fun to see how my kids react to the days of telephones on cords. I can only imagine what it will be like when Michael and Abby are my age and they are telling their own children about the technology of their youth. I hate to tell them, but the world is going to pass them by too.