Semantics

One day over lunch Mary Virginia and I were talking about how things were when I was a kid. I explained that we only had one phone and it was attached to the wall so we couldn’t take it into the yard or in the car. And the only thing it did was make phone calls. It didn’t send messages, play audio books, or provide driving directions. If you looked at it, it would not turn your face into a kitty cat.

There was no such thing as Netflix. There were kid shows on Saturday morning, but we couldn’t choose them. We just watched what was on.

I couldn’t tell if she fully understood me, and I get it. I remember having a hard time conceptualizing the stories my mom and dad told about their childhoods. I can’t quite remember life before I heard “Heartbreaker” by Mariah Carey.

But what was I thinking? Mary Virginia always gets it. And not only does she get it, she can articulate it better than I ever could.

“Mommy,” she said. “When you were a kid was like our house when there’s a really big storm and the power goes out.”

 

2 Comments

  1. Gayle Ann February 2, 2018

    lol…. you were not Amish!

    When the 80’s became retro, and my students started to talk about getting ready to attend an 80’s party, I understood how my mother felt when Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley aired, which ushered in a 50’s interest. She is still mystified by the interest in “mid century modern,” and “vintage,” which we agree is simply another term for “junk that isn’t old enough to be an antique.”

    In Ohio, Kings Island Amusement Park was the Hana Barbera version of Disney.

    I suppose there is no longer the market for them since kids seem to have full Saturdays of activities.

    Reply
    • amandakrieger February 4, 2018

      hahah, i know! technology has changed things so much though, even in the past 10 years!

      we have a hana barbera theme park near richmond called kings dominion! we love it! (well, it was hana barbera before the company was absorbed by warner bros.)

      Reply

Leave a Reply to Gayle Ann Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *