(Jan. 9, 2016) The genesis for this post occurred when I was eating at a diner recently. Nearby was a table of ten elderly folks, all looking about 70 if i had to guess. Maybe they were high school friends who still get together weekly. I wasn’t paying them much attention other than the fleeting thought that I wouldn’t want to be the waitress cashing them out when they’re all trying to pay for their meals individually, with exact change and coupons from other restaurants. Suddenly, very clearly, I heard one sentence of their conversation uttered by one of the women. She said, “We grew up without frosting.”
thenourishinghome.com
Really? That’s her tale of woe? No frosting was the biggest hardship when she grew up in the old days? I remember my grandparents, who were born in the early 1900’s telling tales of The Great Depression and World War II. My parents told stories of growing up without television and gathering around the radio at night to listen to their family’s favorite shows. Then it occurred to me that someday I’ll be passing on my own tales of “the good old days” to my grandchildren.
Picture a beautiful brick fireplace filled with the warm glow of holgraphic fire. Imagine elderly Phil wearing a cardigan and sitting in a large, red velvet covered chair with a young child on each knee.
KSL.com
Xena: “Grampa Phil, what was it like when you were young?”
Me: “What do you mean when I was young? Are you saying I’m not? I’m just kidding you little whippersnapper! When I was young, old people said things like whippersnapper, and we didn’t have wi-fi!
Kylo Ren: No wi-fi? But how did you connect to the internet?
Me: There was no such thing as the internet when I was your age. In fact, we had to learn how to do math in our heads, or by writing on paper.
Xena: What’s math?
Me: Oh, never mind. That’s just a thing with numbers. Speaking of numbers, when I was a your age we used real numbers alot, like when we dialed a telephone.
Kylo Ren: Wow! You dialed a real telephone? Was it hard? What does “dial” mean?
Me: (ignoring last question) And our telephones were connected to the wall by a cord! We could only walk about six feet with our phones.
Xena: Why? Did they think you were going to steal them? Were you in prison?
Me: No, (chuckling) I wasn’t in prison and President Bieber was just a singer back then too. Not a good one, but…ok, there’s no buts. He just wasn’t a very good singer. He’s a much better President.
Now that Trump is President, the idea of Bieber someday being President doesn’t seem so far fetched, does it? Have a great Thursday! ~Phil
Bahaha brilliant post, Phil! Nice names, by the way 😋
Thanks Charlotte! Don’t tell the others, but I think you might be becoming my favorite flower. You always leave great comments.
Huzzah!!! *pats self on back*
Huzzah indeed!
What do you mean Someday? My grandchildren can’t believe how we had to live in the dark ages.
I don’t have grandchildren yet. I’m assuming that someday I will.
You might throw in that we took pictures with a camera and social media was at the movie theater.
“Now that Trump is President the idea of Bieber someday being President doesn’t seem so far-fetched, does it?”
I’m thinking Selena Gomez might become our first woman President.
She’ll have aged a bit by then—and be a grandmother most likely (and a former “soccer mom” as well).
A world without frosting seems so trivial compared to the woes of a childhood without the Internet and experiencing the hardship of being tethered to a wall with the glorious corded phone. 😛
I will also tell my grandchildren that when I was young we only had like 10 emojis
Haha! That ought to make them realize what a truly challenging and disadvantageous time we lived in waaaaaay back in the day. I mean, how could anyone live in a world where there’s not at least twelve different emojis to cover every single emotion/activity/word known to mankind? The horror! 😛