"when I was a kid..."
When I speak of being a child or even a teenager, it seems so irrelevant to my kids. The advent of smart phones, social media and technology in general has severely altered the way they exist and interact. They will not know the urgency or despair of not knowing something, or not being able to connect immediately. I had to hoof myself to a library to find things out. When I finally got dial up I spent hours on it making my own books of information I did not know about art, artists, places, history, and poetry. It was astounding.
Last week in the evening I got a phone call from Charly (16) who was trying to find a dress store.
Char: "mom, my data is out and i cannot look up where this place is, but the address is 9999 Sunset." (her data has had to be limited due to snapchat excess)
Me: "well, you have the address, why do you need to map it?"
Char: "mom, i don't have data and i need to know where this store is."
Me: "you have the address. unless you want Ezra (1) to become mall escalator travesty because I am at the mall with both babies, I cannot map the address for you."
Char: "ok, I will call someone else."
She knows how to find addresses without a phone guiding her, but it is easier to have it on an instant map. There was no internet when she was born! It is within her lifetime that this advent has taken place. I came across this picture of her on twitter.
She was visiting Texas A&M and the hurdles were out so she just jumped them and took this picture. One of her friends must have edited it to look like spider-man and now it is all over the place. My knee jerk reaction is to loathe social media and publicity, however, for these kids it is simply the was life is. Charly is becoming semi famous in the valley for her achievements. She is getting approached by coaches, schools, modeling agencies, she was even offered to have a part in a independent movie ("Highway to Havasu"...we decided it was of questionable taste and she did not do it.) So being human, I try to be a part of this human-ness. It all amazes me at times. Then I am reminded of George Saunders saying that if we are not sometimes baffled and amazed and undone by the world around us, rendered speechless and stunned, perhaps we are not paying close enough attention.
Last week in the evening I got a phone call from Charly (16) who was trying to find a dress store.
Char: "mom, my data is out and i cannot look up where this place is, but the address is 9999 Sunset." (her data has had to be limited due to snapchat excess)
Me: "well, you have the address, why do you need to map it?"
Char: "mom, i don't have data and i need to know where this store is."
Me: "you have the address. unless you want Ezra (1) to become mall escalator travesty because I am at the mall with both babies, I cannot map the address for you."
Char: "ok, I will call someone else."
She knows how to find addresses without a phone guiding her, but it is easier to have it on an instant map. There was no internet when she was born! It is within her lifetime that this advent has taken place. I came across this picture of her on twitter.
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