How Old Are We, Anyway?

I had a conversation with Gabby today that made me feel very old, so I thought I would commiserate with my blogging buddies here so that you can all chime in and explain how vibrant and youthful we all are--even if you're outright lying.

Here's how it all went down:

I was getting ready to take Gabby to Crossler today, as I do everyday. Today was her short day: just P.E. and track practice. Normally, she tells me that she will call me from her cell phone when she is finished with track so that I know what time to pick her up. She finishes at different times each day, so this makes it easier.

Today, however, she decided not to take her book bag with her since there was nothing in it that she needed. That meant that there was no place to put her cell phone, so she was just going to leave it home for the day. I asked her how I would know when to come and get her, and she explained that it was no problem because all she has to do is yell out in the locker room, "Does anyone have a cell phone??" Literally, then, everyone comes running.

I day-dreamed back into my own middle school locker room. It was then that I realized that there really wasn't such a word as "cell" to describe a phone yet. Sure there were some car phones and the such, and maybe a couple of over-sized bricks that the rich and powerful may have talked into every-so-often, but had I yelled "cell-phone" in my locker room, I think my friends would've looked at me like I was crazy.

After telling this to Gabby, she asked what it was that "everyone had" when I was in middle school. I was stumped, so she offered: "A phone in your bedroom?" Well, yes. That was a hot commodity. I remember begging my parents for years to install a phone line in my bedroom so that I didn't have to use the kitchen phone with the 20 foot cord attached to it.

Then I realized that the reason I wanted a phone line in my own room so desperately was because cordless phones weren't readily available yet. This is the point where I started to feel horrified!

I defended my youth by proclaiming that technology literally boomed overnight. These inventions began popping up and changing society almost instantaneously. We zoomed ahead light years in a matter of months, it seemed! That, I explained, is why there are so many changes between when I was in middle school and now.

To this, Gabby said, "Just keep telling yourself that, Mom."

So now, I send this plea to all of you: affirm that we are not old!

And how do I choose to send this plea? Via a devise that was not yet invented when I was in middle school.