Dear Friends,

Kids and young adults today have things a lot easier than I did when I was growing up. Look at the technological advantages they have, that we couldn’t even dream of! I look at my own daughters and often think, “If I only had that when I was your age”.

Perfect example … cell phones. Our girls have each had a cell phone since they were about 10 years old. I didn’t have my first track phone until I was about twenty, and even then it was a basic phone that only made calls. Yes, it was the time and cell phones weren’t even a thing when I was a kid, but it’s funny to think about the differences between kids today and when I was young.

I was listening to a comedy station the other day, and the comedian was talking about television sets when he was a kid. How big and clunky they were. He had 12 channels and he was the remote control, and at times the antennae because sometimes when you touched the TV, the reception was better. I was laughing so hard at his bit, remembering our family television set. We had one of those big TV sets. It was set inside a large wooden box, and it was huge! Ours was advanced and had both the turn dial and buttons to change the channel. I often served as the remote control for my dad.

This will be hard to imagine, but I was a pretty mouthy child, and I was grounded … a lot. The first thing that was always taken away from me was the television. When I was home alone, I thought I could sneak it, and as soon as I heard my mother’s car or my dad’s van pulling up the driveway, I would turn off the TV, and scatter, grabbing a book and pretending I was reading. Or sometimes make it look like I had been playing with my little sister and “oh, there’s a TV in this room?” My dad caught onto me (not sure how, I had such a flawless plan) and he would feel the back of the television set to see if it was warm and would catch me in the act. He should have been a detective.

I often think of my own children and the advantages that they have had growing up. While I can admit that they have had advantages I never did, I also feel sorry for what they are not experiencing. Those of us who grew up prior to the internet and technology explosion, had to learn things for ourselves. I have some mad skills now, and I attribute many of them to my childhood.

I have serious transcription skills. I remember my Sony double cassette/radio. I would listen to the radio station for hours, trying to catch my favorite songs, and would have a cassette tape ready to hit record the second I heard the start of a song I liked. I would listen to them repeatedly, pausing, rewinding and pausing again to write down the lyrics. Then when I thought I had it down, I would listen from the beginning and sing along.

Raise your hand if you know what a TV Guide is. Television shows and movies were not available 24/7. You had to plan your day around your favorite shows – and there was no DVR to record what you were missing.

Depending on the day of the week, that’s what we watched. Saturday mornings were for cartoons and WWF with my older brother. Weekdays were for my mom to watch soaps and talk shows. Weeknights were for my dad when he watched shows like ‘Montel Williams’, and ‘Jerry Springer’. After dinner it was ‘Wheel of Fortune’ and ‘Jeopardy’, and occasionally ‘Current Affair’ or ‘America’s Most Wanted’. Friday nights from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. was the TGIF lineup. Much of our “family time” was around that big television, but we were together.

Let’s talk about photographs. During my recent quarantine, I took advantage and did a little early spring cleaning. One afternoon, I found myself on the floor, boxes of photos spread out around me and feeling nostalgic. I thought … when is the last time I actually printed a photograph? Nearly every photo I have taken for the better part of ten years has been with my phone and is either on a cloud somewhere, or on Facebook. How sad is that? I love looking at old photos, seeing the kids when they were little, my family, and my friends in our early days. I need to get these printed somehow, and if someone is looking for a great business idea, figure out an easy way to get your photos off social media, so they can be printed. I know there are online companies like Snapfish, but it’s not an easy process. If someone knows how, please let me know!

My kids will never understand what to do if the VHS tape gets pulled out, or how to fix a cassette tape that has been “eaten” (grab a pencil and get to work). Rachael doesn’t have a stack of CD’s organized into “books” in her car, or a cool CD holder over her visor for her favorite bands. There are some major skills required to drive while searching for a CD. Forget texting and driving – this was dangerous.

Even just the ability to walk up to someone’s house to see if your friend wanted to play. Sometimes, if it was available, we could use the house phone to call ahead, but we didn’t do that. I spent many afternoons walking the “trail” between my house and my best friends house to see if she could hang out.

Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful that we have been able to provide so much for our children and the generations to come. I just think that all of these advantages and life conveniences has left something missing, and basic skills like problem solving, communication, patience and coping skills are lacking.

I am sure in twenty or thirty years my daughters will tell their kids “I remember a time when there were no house droids to do the cooking and cleaning, and cars didn’t fly.”

Be well, Chenango,

~ Kerri