There are two sources of inspiration for this post, which honestly, I can easily turn into a series of posts because I keep coming across things that could fit. The first source is simply that I was a teacher and principal of an elementary/middle school for 19 years. The things that would come up in my conversations with students that would cause them to stare at me with uncomprehending blank stares was astounding! I have had to explain things to them over the years that really caused me to feel that I was indeed the “boomer” they claimed I was. To be fair, I am NOT a boomer. Yet there was no convincing my students that I wasn’t. Full disclosure, technically I’m a millennial, but that is a 4-letter word to me so I prefer to identify as Gen X. But I digress…
Another source of my bewilderment at what today’s kids don’t know comes from my old journals. I’ve mentioned before that I have been reading all of my old journals. Last night I read volume 6. So far these six journals have spanned the years 1995-1998 and there are two things that I have referenced in those pages that really made me wonder if kids today would know what they are.
First, call waiting. Many times in these journals I wrote about being on the phone with someone when they “got a beep”. I don’t think I need to wonder if kids know about call waiting because I’m 100% sure they don’t know what it is. As a middle school teacher, I recall having to explain to my students what a landline and an answering machine was. So if they don’t know what those are, they won’t know what call waiting is/was.
Another thing I came across in my journal from last night especially, is the concept of a “disk”. I was writing about the traumatizing event in 10th grade when the floppy disk I was using in my keyboarding class was stolen and the journal I had been keeping on it was printed, copied and spread around school. And while I was reading this and reliving that terrible moment, I also immediately wondered if kids today would know what a “disk” is. I’m fairly certain that even thumb/flash drives are becoming obsolete given that there is now “the cloud” or Google drive saving things.
Honestly, I know kids today don’t know anything about these things. I find it amusing to say the least. Well, I say ‘amusing’, but what I really mean is, old. It makes me feel old! Nothing ages you faster than talking to people much younger than you. There is a distinct urge to say “back in my day”, which I have actually uttered before. And when the conversation ends, I want to conclude it with “now get off my lawn”. The struggle is real, y’all!
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