Old
One of my students last year said that her utopia would be a place without cell phones, computers, or the ongoing threat of global terrorism.
Seemed legit to me, albeit a bit surprising coming from a kid who regularly updated her Facebook page in class (yeah, I notice this stuff even if I don’t do anything about it), but what occurred to me at the time (and I mentioned it in passing) was that she pretty much described what my life was like what I was her age.
And what has occurred to me subsequently is that this is pretty much my utopia, too, at least in terms of sorts of activities I enjoy most of the time.
Except for sitting with my laptop on my knees and writing electronic text that I then post to cyberspace, everything I really like to do I could have done (and did!) when I was a wee lad of 14, way back in anno domini 1971.
Consider: bike riding on a steel bicycle with friction shifters and a leather seat. Reading books published in the early part of the 20th century, or even earlier. Yoga. Watching the Pittsburgh Steelers on TV. (Okay, HD is nice, but not critical, and I’m almost just as happy to listen on the radio.)
I’m perfectly satisfied eschewing the contemporary high-tech world in these pursuits; I don’t need the latest and greatest, newest and shiniest whatchamacallit to enjoy myself.
But then, again, I’m old.
Not ancient, mind you, but it’s going to be a long time before I’ve lived even half my life in the current century, so I suppose it’s no surprise that I’m used to doing things that were available to people way back when.
Had I been born a caveman, I’d enjoy nothing more than hunting and gathering, and painting pictures on the walls of caves.
Come to think of it, old is also probably why I prefer beer in a can.
Seemed legit to me, albeit a bit surprising coming from a kid who regularly updated her Facebook page in class (yeah, I notice this stuff even if I don’t do anything about it), but what occurred to me at the time (and I mentioned it in passing) was that she pretty much described what my life was like what I was her age.
And what has occurred to me subsequently is that this is pretty much my utopia, too, at least in terms of sorts of activities I enjoy most of the time.
Except for sitting with my laptop on my knees and writing electronic text that I then post to cyberspace, everything I really like to do I could have done (and did!) when I was a wee lad of 14, way back in anno domini 1971.
Consider: bike riding on a steel bicycle with friction shifters and a leather seat. Reading books published in the early part of the 20th century, or even earlier. Yoga. Watching the Pittsburgh Steelers on TV. (Okay, HD is nice, but not critical, and I’m almost just as happy to listen on the radio.)
I’m perfectly satisfied eschewing the contemporary high-tech world in these pursuits; I don’t need the latest and greatest, newest and shiniest whatchamacallit to enjoy myself.
But then, again, I’m old.
Not ancient, mind you, but it’s going to be a long time before I’ve lived even half my life in the current century, so I suppose it’s no surprise that I’m used to doing things that were available to people way back when.
Had I been born a caveman, I’d enjoy nothing more than hunting and gathering, and painting pictures on the walls of caves.
Come to think of it, old is also probably why I prefer beer in a can.
posted by Professor Dave at 11:05 AM
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