Lesson #15,122-When I Was A Kid...

Okay, so we all think that we either had it easier or much worse than our children do.  I say it all of the time. "When I was a kid, we only had cartoons from 6am to noon on Saturday morning."  "When I was a kid, we used to play outside all day long."  "When I was a kid, we didn't have video games."  "When I was a kid, our parents used to spank us."  "When I was a kid, our principal could paddle us."  "When I was a kid, I didn't have a TV in my room."  "When I was a kid, we didn't have cable TV."  "When I was a kid, if you wanted to hear a song you had to call the radio station and request the song."  Lucky for me that my dad owned the radio station so the DJ knew that they had to play the song next or Daddy would not be happy!!  Other kids had to wait their turn.  Then we had to record the song on a cassette tape.  You just hoped that the DJ didn't talk through the beginning of the song or cut off the end! "When I was a kid, we read actual books!" "We had to actually "dial" our phones." "We didn't even have ranch dressing, for goodness sake!!"

When I was a kid, I used to listen to my parents say "When I was a kid, I used to walk to school, up hill both ways, in the snow, without shoes on."  "When I was a kid, I used to get up at 5am to chop kindling for the fire every morning during the winter."  "When I was a kid, we didn't have TV so we used to sit by the radio and listen to The Lone Ranger at night."  "When I was a kid, I had to pick cotton until my fingers bled."  "When I was a kid, my school was a one room classroom with a fireplace to keep us warm."

So, what will our kids say?  "When I was a kid, our computers had actual keyboards and screens instead of holograms."  "When I was a kid, my cell phone could only call people, play games and music on it."  "When I was a kid, we had Xbox with games on HUGE disks!"  "When I was a kid,  I warmed up macaroni and cheese in a microwave oven and it took 3 1/2 minutes!  Now it takes 3 seconds!"  "When I was a kid, we had to brush our own teeth!"  "When I was a kid, we had real pets that you actually had to feed."  "When I was a kid, my mom actually cooked. Now we just have to swallow a pill to survive."  "When I was a kid, we had to travel in cars, not hovercraft." 

I used to always say that God knew which century to put me in because I would have died if I wouldn't have had air conditioning, running water and reality TV.  My grandmother is 96-years old and she remembers riding in a horse drawn wagon.  I suppose if you've never had something, you don't miss it.  In 100 years, other humans will think that we lived like the pioneers.  Wonder what they will have that we don't?  Will life be so much easier that we actually are living like pioneers now?  Are we really savages?  Are we living in the dark ages?  I guess only time will tell.