They Really Have No Idea, Do They?

Kids these days. Can't you just you hear your grandfather’s voice in you now? 

Sometimes I jokingly remind my kids, “when I was your age, we had one TV with five channels and no remote. You had to actually get up and walk across the room to change the channel.” They feign surprise and a hint of indignation, but I seriously doubt they have a clue about the relative home entertainment hardship my generation endured. The fact that we could only watch the exciting hit shows of the time, “Happy Days” and “Laverne and Shirley”, on Friday nights at 8pm and 8:30pm respectively, and that if I had to go to the bathroom, I needed to hold it until a commercial. Mostly lost on them.

They try to understand and put things in perspective, as only an eight and five year old can do. Case in point. Yesterday, my son was asking how IBM could be 100 years old as a company when computers have not been around that long. Good point.

My husband and I gave him the background that International Business Machines is the original name and we started noting some, now defunct, “business machines.” They were really engaged when we got to the typewriter and reminded them of places they had seen old-fashioned typewriters before. They were nodding and getting it, and we felt so connected, until the older one said, “I get it! Before computers and iPads, people used IBM typewriters to send their emails.”  Sigh.

So, it is time to share.  What are some of today’s conveniences that replace the “relative hardships” of your youth that your kids probably cannot comprehend?

{N.B. I turned on Anonymous commenting so you don’t need a Google account to comment, but feel free to sign your name anyway.}