The other day I was listening to the song “Sylvia’s Mother” by Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show. The chorus goes:

And the operator says,
Forty cents more,
For the next three minutes.

All of a sudden I realized that if our grandchildren (and maybe some of our children) ever listen to this song they won’t know what the singer is talking about. Operators and pay phones are things of the past And then I started to think about all of the things that were part of our life that those who follow us won’t know about. Some that I could think of are:

Rotary (dial) telephones
Broadcast television
Cursive writing
Typewriters
Fountain pens
Audio cassettes
Collect calls
Land lines


And possibly these:

Manual transmissions
Cash
Checks
Shopping malls
The Post Office
Snail mail.

It’s mind blowing thinking about things that we took for granted, that our grandchildren won’t know.

How about you? What can you think of that was a part of your life that those who follow won’t know about?

 

Mindset List for the Class of 2020

Students heading into their first year of college this year are mostly 18 and were born in 1998.

Among those who have never been alive in their lifetime are Frank Sinatra, Phil Hartman, Matthew Shepard, Sonny Bono, and Flo-Jo.

Since they arrived on this planet….

1. There has always been a digital swap meet called eBay.
2. Grandpa has always been able to reach for the Celebrex.
3. They never heard Harry Caray try to sing during the seventh inning at Wrigley Field.
4. There have always been Cadillac Escalades, but they just don't seem to be all that into cars.
5. West Nile has always been a virus found in the U.S.
6. Vladimir Putin has always been calling the shots at the Kremlin.
7. The Sandy Hook tragedy is their Columbine.
8. Cloning has always been a mundane laboratory procedure.
9. Elian Gonzalez, who would like to visit the U.S. again someday, has always been back in Cuba.
10. The United States has always been at war.
11. Euros have always been the coin of the realm...well, at least part of the realm.
12. Serena Williams has always been winning Grand Slam singles titles.
13. SpongeBob SquarePants has always lived at Bikini Bottom.
14. The Ali/Frazier boxing match for their generation was between the daughters of Muhammad and Joe.
15. They have never had to watch or listen to programs at a scheduled time.
16. James P. Hoffa has always been president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
17. Surprise: There has always been sex in the city.
18. John Hinckley has always been able to get out of the hospital to go for a walk.
19. Each year they've been alive the U.S. population has grown by more than one million Latinos.
20. TV ads for casinos have always been permitted to mention that there is actually gambling going on in there.
21. Vaccines have always been erroneously linked to autism.
22. Laws against on-the-job harassment have always applied to parties of the same sex.
23. Even as the national mood gets glummer, there has always been an annual prize for the most humorous American.
24. Catholics and Lutherans have always been in agreement on how to get to heaven.
25. To greet them with some cheery news, when they were born, India and Pakistan became nuclear powers.
26. If you want to reach them, you’d better send a text—emails are oft ignored.
27. They disagree with their parents as to which was the “first” Star Wars episode.
28. “Nanny cams” have always been available to check up on the babysitter.
29. NFL coaches have always had the opportunity to throw a red flag and question the ref.
30. Bada Bing – Tony and Carmela Soprano and the gang have always been part of American culture.
31. They have no memory of Bob Dole promoting Viagra.
32. Books have always been read to you on audible.com.
33. Citizens have always been able to register to vote when they get their driver’s license.
34. Bluetooth has always been keeping us wireless and synchronized.
35. X-rays have always been digital allowing them to be read immediately.
36. Exxon and Mobil have been one company—and it doesn’t own any gas stations.
37. They have always eaten irradiated food.
38. A Bush and a Clinton have always been campaigning for something big.
39. Physicians have always had unions.
40. Some have always questioned the sexual orientation of certain Teletubbies.
41. Snowboarding has always been an Olympic sport.
42. Students have always questioned where and by whom their sweatshirts are made.
43. While chads were hanging in Florida, they were potty training in all 50 states.
44. Presidents have always been denied line item veto power.
45. Nigeria has always been a constitutional republic with a civilian government.
46. The once-feared Thalidomide has always been recognized as a cancer fighting drug.
47. DreamWorks has always been making animated creatures heroic and loveable.
48. Deceased men have always been able to procreate.
49. John Elway and Wayne Gretzky have always been retired.
50. They have never seen billboard ads for cigarettes.
51. The New York Stock Exchange has never reported its ups and downs in fractions.
52. Airline tickets have always been purchased online.
53. There have always been iMacs on desks.
54. Instant, tray-less ice cubes have never been a novelty.
55. Robots have always been surgical partners in the O.R.
56. Peregrine falcons have never been on the endangered species list.
57. Outstanding women basketball players have always had their own Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tenn.
58. Newt who?
59. War films have always shown horrific battle scenes inspired by Saving Private Ryan.
60. Michael J. Fox has always spoken publicly about having Parkinson's disease.
61. The Mars Polar Lander has always been lost.
62. It is doubtful that they have ever used or heard the high-pitched whine of a dial-up modem.
63. They have largely grown up in a floppy-less world.
64. They are the first generation for whom a “phone” has been primarily a video game, direction finder, electronic telegraph, and research library.
65. The BBC has always had a network in the U.S. where they speak American.
66. Bill Clinton has always been Hillary Clinton’s aging husband.
67. They have never seen an airplane “ticket.”
68. Their folks have never gazed with pride on a new set of bound encyclopedias on the bookshelf.
69. They have had to incessantly remind their parents not to refer to their CDs and DVDs as “tapes.”
70. There has always been a Santa Clause.
71. They watch television everywhere but on a television.
72. Genomes of living things have always been sequenced.
73. Few in the class know how to write in cursive let alone read it. The Constitution is like reading Greek to them.
74. Few can read time on an analog clock.
75. Czechoslovakia has never existed.
76. American companies have always done business in Vietnam.
77. Walmart has never sold handguns over the counter in the lower 48.
78. They have never worried about a Russian missile strike on the U.S.
79. Women have never been too old to have children.
80. Most have grown up with a faux Christmas Tree in the house at the holiday time.

 

I did not bother to read the whole list but #16 says "James P. Hoffa has always been president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters". Not likely, he died in 1982.

 

I often run into people that don't know anyone named Dean and aren't sure what I even said. I used to say "Dean, like Dean Martin". But I only get blank stares. So now I try to say "like the Dean of students".

 

Things that might go away in a few years (off the top of my head):
Boxing
Cigarette machines (One hopes)
Ice trays
MySpace
Cavendish bananas (the kind we are used to)
Spam (maybe)
Old fashions, side cars, rob roys, and a few other cocktails
Drum brakes
Necco wafers (Although they have shown remarkable staying power)
Mechanical slot machines
Polar bears (*sniff*)
Manual car windows (except in "classic" cars)
CRTs
Crisco shortening
Film cameras (except for hobbiests)
Lick 'em postage stamps
Incandescent light bulbs (except for special applications)
McDonald's counter workers

 

Slide rule. Wait, I don't know how to use one, either.

 

What a crack up! Can't believe I missed that one! Of course he really has not been found. Maybe he is vacationing in Costa Rica.

Perhaps me!

 

Democracy??

 

I hope you're wrong.

 

Wait - Myspace isn't gone yet?