Showing my age

[quislet]

While chatting with a pal of mine online today, I came to reflect on how different life is for my children than it was for me and my generation. They have had hot-and-cold running internet ever since they could read. Music and movies come on discs and in mp3 files, not sequential tape media. "Be kind, rewind" isn't in their vocabulary. They send Daddy links to the things they want me to buy online and fear point-of-sale transactions and actually telephoning shops to make inquiries. They have never used a rotary phone or a pay phone.

I grabbed an old LP out of the closet (why we have them, don't ask me - we don't have a player anymore) and showed it to my little one.

"#2, do you know what this is?"

"That's a VINYL RECORD!" she says, as though identifying an archaeopteryx fossil.

"How does it work?"

"You put it on a 'record player,' then you lower the 'needle' and it turns and makes music." The quotation marks were visible in the air around her head as she prounounced the less-than-familiar words.

I asked her if she knew what an 8-track tape is, and if she could describe it. She nodded, rolled her eyes at me, and then made thumb-and-forefinger L shapes to frame out something the size of a cassette tape.

I feel old.

And now for an unrelated touch of techie humor that simply must be shared.

Comments

What about the telephone?

[bearbarry.livejournal.com]

In a few more years I plan to show a rotary dial phone to the students in one of my classes and ask them to make it work. That should be both educational for them and entertaining for me!

[stephantasy.livejournal.com]

At least now I know that we are not the only people on this globe with LPs in the attic and no LP-player around anymore ...

Old ? I'm not really even that old.

[dreamtigress.livejournal.com]

I have a record player and a collectiion of vinyl for the longest time, I didn't have a tape deck in my room, and so my collection of cassettes collected dust. It's interesting to be able to listen to them again. I haven't bought a new mainstream act's CD or album in over 5 years.

My "old" moment last week involved being at a punk show because my co-worker's band was playing. The music wasn't really my thing, but I was there for her. A mosh pit broke out during her set, and as I looked out over the all ages show crowd, I realized I had been moshing and rocking out to metal before some of these kids were even *born*.

I am proud to know all about 8 tracks, rotary phones, top loading VCR's, and I have a nearly ancient Zenith TV in my basement, complete with an original Nintendo box hooked to it. I also own a copy of Pink Floyd's The Wall on vinyl, along with countless others. I could do without the creaky knees, though.