26 October 2013

Generation gap: 5 things whippersnappers will never know or experience

whip.per.snap.per

Pronunciation
/'(h)wipǝr.snapǝr/

Noun
A young, insignificant but often pretentious and offensively presumptuous person - in short, a "smart ass kid".


Mark my words; after the mouse, the wristwatch will be next out the door.  In fact, walk into any junior high classroom today and you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone actually wearing one.  Those who do are the oddballs.  These days, they rely on Galaxies to tell the time.... and I don't mean the stellar kind.  You'll also discover (shocking, this) that hardly any of the kids can write in cursive; or have ever heard of - never mind seen or used - an italic pen.  And chances are ALL of them haven't the faintest idea why we took far less photos back then than they do now.

Whilst I'm fully aware of the cultural differences between today's young and the young-at-heart, I nonetheless feel that for all their tech-savvyness and self-confessed cleverness ("intelligence" would be a misuse of vocabulary in this instance), kids of today are missing out on something.  Something basic yet significant, simple yet meaningful.  Something no iPad, iCam or iCore could ever replace.  Here I look at a couple of bygone experiences today's kids will miss out on.... tragically.


1.  Pen pals.... who wrote with pens.  Trust me; little can compare with the joy of seeing a distant pen pal's handwriting in the flesh.  Or rather, in the ink.  The thrill of smelling that piece of paper that travelled 10,000 miles and took 5½ weeks to arrive.  That indescribable feeling of awe as we closely study (yes, study) each postage stamp from realms afar - stamps we'd proudly and oh-so meticulously arrange in our treasured stamp albums (what albums?); always eager to show them off to our chums ("chums"?) given the slightest of opportunities.  Look!  This one's from my pen pal in Illinois!  Aye, gone are those days for good.  Today it's emails, text messages and BBM's which, although have their own advantages, aren't by any measure nearly as personalised (or as thrilling to receive) as those good old paper letters - letters today's kids would be well lucky to receive.  If ever.


2.  The Walkman.  Back when everything was analog - and "digital" only came in the form of Casio watches - we listened to 8-track tapes.  Then of course came along the audio cassette; and before long, people started carrying portable cassette players - the Walkman.  To many, this gadget was their pride and joy.  It was almost indispensable - allowing them to take Kim Wilde, Supertramp or Blondie along with them wherever they went.  Everyone wanted a Walkman back then, and tales of people spending an entire month's salary on one weren't unheard of.  Totally alien to young'uns today, the Walkman was eventually overthrown by the more familiar but going-out-of-fashion Discman (which doesn't look as cool) and finally by the iPod.  I still have a Walkman somewhere in the house actually.  Must find....


3.  Books... REAL books.  The transformation of books and the way many prefer to read have been rapid - thanks (or rather, no thanks) to the internet.  The idea of spending a small fortune on the World Book encyclopedia today, for example, seems absurd in an age of free Wikipedia.  Fact is, more and more people are reading e-books these days, with sales already surpassing that of hardcovers/paperbacks in some cases.  Environmental issues aside, I much prefer the printed word and find no joy in turning virtual pages made of bits and bytes.  The day real books become obsolete, so will that mounting sense of achievement we experienced as the remaining pages grew thinner and thinner; more so when we do finally turn over the back cover and say to ourselves, "What a great ending that was".


4.  35mm film.  Now back to the question of why we took far less photos back then than whippersnappers do now.  With the old cameras, we had to concentrate on every shot because there was no such thing as a second take.  Well, there was.... but only if you had deep enough pockets to buy countless rolls of film AND have them developed.  Each shot was therefore always painstakingly composed before the shutter is depressed.  Not so today.  Today with a digital camera, the number of pictures you can take seem limitless and mistakes are erased with a mere click - all at no extra cost.  Which, from a purist's point of view, really takes the joy (and meaning) out of photography.  Know what I mean?  Anyone who's ever shot photos using 35mm films will no doubt also remember the agony of counting the hours - sometimes even days - before they're ready.  Or that overwhelming sense of relief when a photo turns out okay.  That's what I call "rewarding photography".


5.  Rotary phones.  Unless there are kids out there with great-granddads who are still holding on to old rotary phones, the chances of them ever encountering one outside re-runs of "Laverne & Shirley" (who?) are zero.  Literally.  In fact, by the time they become adults, they may not even remember ever having something called a "landline" at home.  To many of us, rotary phones remind us of a time when we used to wind the coiled cord around our index finger as we talked for hours with our friends, all the time risking our parents' wrath over the mounting phone bills.  Or of the thrill we got the first time we dialled "0" and someone at the other end actually answers.... "Operator".  We have so many good memories of these old relics it's kinda sad really to see them become extinct.  Which effectively means kids now will (sadly) never experience that feeling of overwhelming satisfaction we get from slamming the receiver in anger.  Sad, innit?







This post is dedicated to my Facebook friend, Janet H from Liverpool... you inspired this.

(Pictures courtesy of Google Images; 'cept of course for that
"Dear Vincent" letter from my adopted Scouse sis)


What are your thoughts about what I've just written?  Are you able to relate to any of the points I raised (either as a young person or one who's young-at-heart)?



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11 comments:

  1. loved this vincent brought back memories and i still have my walkman.the things the kids will never enjoy as we did,i was only talking about climbing "enog" walls the other day, i bet this generation of children have never climbed a wall in their lives, keep on writting my friend. oh and as for the note i sent it was hastily written on note paper lol, oh the shame :)

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    1. You're too right about the climbing walls bit, Doe sis. Oh the things we did when we were younger.... Thank you for dropping a line; most encouraging it is.

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  2. jeez, i still love all of that, every bit of it. hand written notes, the feeling of having a solid good book in hand etc. we can't blame kids for not knowing the 'classics', it's not their choice to be born as the Z generation. I think I can relate my days with what you have written there hahaha.

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    1. Wow, u look far to young to be able to relate, Jaclyn. One thing's for sure though, there aren't many like you anymore.... at least not from your generation. U must keep the tradition going. Having said that, surely you haven't seen a Walkman up close before??
      Thanks for dropping a line. Much appreciated.

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    2. And of course I'm not blaming the young ones. It's merely a generation gap thingy. :-)

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    3. i came from a background where walkman wasn't something affordable to us :)))

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    4. Well-said. I appreciate honesty, Jaclyn. Thank you.

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  3. I have pen pals! walkman! film camera! and i miss all those during my childhood!

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    1. haha...pen pals who wrote with pens, Sylvia? Thanks for sharing.

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  4. Loved this Vincent! We both enjoyed reading it :-) It sparked off quite a conversation over coffee. One thing we talked about was how nowadays many people just send a text, Facebook message or an e-card for birthdays and Christmas instead of a card. It's lovely to receive a 'real' handwritten card through the post... or a handwritten note as you've said. Oh and yes, there's definitely nothing like reading a 'real' book :-)
    Thanks for the memories :-)

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    1. Thank you for your kind words, Kay Dee. I'm glad you good folks enjoyed this post as much as I did writing it. There are so many other things I could write about in this regard but alas, I really wouldn't want my readers to doze off halfway through. As it is, I'm already long-winded enough. Once again, thanks for dropping a line. Most encouraging.

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