eye of the tiger 📝

Am I a terrible person for secretly enjoying the absolute chaos of a public meltdown over something entirely trivial? Because watching two grown adults argue over the last parking spot at the bistro today was genuinely the most entertaining theater I've seen all year.

I feel like there’s a difference between enjoying it and actively causing it, so you’re probably fine. That said, I can’t really judge because I’ve definitely had those moments where you just end up watching a situation unfold a little too invested in it. Kind of like a trainwreck, you just can't look away.

Mmhmm. It's genuinely insane how big of a difference there is and because we lived through it, it doesn't feel big, but it really was. It's either going to go full tech a la cyberpunk type shit, or it's going to be a hard shift backwards.

Yeah, I kind of lean toward the idea that it might swing back a bit in some ways, even if it’s not a full reset. Like I can see people getting tired of everything being instant and automated and wanting a bit more of the slower, hands-on stuff again. Not necessarily abandoning the tech, but just pulling it back into a more balanced place.

Do you think it has anything to do with the kind of shows and movies we saw growing up? My parents were into old movies from the 70s and earlier, probably because that was their jam. Like me, with my love of all things 80s. Then again, we didn't make a huge technological jump until maybe the late 90s and early 2000s. I heard from a buddy of mine who works on the criminal justice side that some of these kids don't know their own birthday, phone numbers, or home address without checking their phones. That blows my fucking mind.

Yeah, I think there’s probably something to that, like we still had enough overlap with older media and habits that it didn’t feel like a total break. The internet changing things in the late 90s and early 2000s was such a massive shift though that it kind of reset what normal looked like almost overnight, which is probably why it feels so different with this generation. And I can’t say I’ve heard of them not knowing their birthdays or addresses, but I have seen videos where they’re filling out forms for the first time and asking their parents what their DOB is, not because they don’t know their date of birth, but because they don’t know that's what DOB stands for.

Most haven't, so you're not wrong there, so I can sort of see the point you're making. It did and that is so weird to me. Not bad, per se, but definitely weird.

Yeah, weird but not bad feels like the most accurate way to describe a lot of it honestly. It’s just one of those things where you don’t really notice how big the shift is until you actually say it out loud and realize how different it sounds. Makes me wonder what the next version of that jump is going to look like and how soon that'll be.

Extra credit is smart, honestly. That way you won’t have a bunch of angry parents in your inbox when their precious babies fail because they write like doctors with broken hands. And yeah, obviously I don't mean their faces. But I watch plenty of teachers do that format where the camera is on them and they're mostly reacting to the crazy shit kids say these days -- you should absolutely do it.

Gotcha, and yeah I ended up going forward with it last week, just before the long weekend. Not sure if I’m actually gonna post it, might just share it with you and a few friends for a chuckle and see what you think. I also added a short reflection for them on the challenges they ran into and how it compares to how they normally do reports now, which I did let them type up as usual so it’s kind of a best of both worlds assignment. I’ll be collecting everything at the end of this week, so I’ll keep you posted on how it goes and how many actually follow through.

Admittedly, horse and buggy not entirely hard to find around here, given where we are. But I get what you mean. It really is just extremely different from how we were taught because technology evolved so fast.

True, but I figured most that use the horse and buggy also haven't ever driven a car and well, honestly it made more sense in my head I guess. But yeah, technology really did jump forward ridiculously fast once the internet took off.

Half of them probably haven't held a pen for longer than thirty seconds since elementary school. You’re going to be squinting at those papers like you're trying to decode ancient hieroglyphics by the time you're halfway through the pile. Though, the typewriter idea is actually genius. It’s "aesthetic" enough that they might actually think it’s cool for the first five minutes, right up until they realize there’s no backspace key and they have to start the whole page over because of one typo. If you actually go through with it, please record their reactions when you tell them they can't just "copy-paste" their sources. I bet it's the type of thing that'd go viral.

That's true, it's not like when we were kids. Notebooks and pens or pencils, handwritten note-passing, doodling in the margins. All on some form of technology now. Though, you do bring up a good point and I may actually just change that to an extra credit assignment. That way, doesn't count against them in any way if I can't read what they wrote. With the typewriters, I could be nice and tell them the trick of using whiteout. Still some effort in there, since they gotta wait for it to dry before typing over it. Can't really record them though, at least not their faces. Privacy laws with minors, but I could have it recording me explaining it to them and get their verbal reactions picked up on the audio, I've seen a few teachers on social media doing that.

His dad runs a record shop and his mom owns a typewriter but he definitely still tends to be confused just how different things used to be.

Yeah, and I guess we don’t necessarily have that same kind of disconnect because most of the stuff older generations used still existed in some form when we were growing up. Cars, radios, phones, record players, all of it had already been around for years before us, even if newer versions came along. We’d have to be talking to someone whose only form of transportation was a horse and buggy to be on a similar level, I think.

My god son always gets so bewildered that the internet was not always an option.

Right? It’s like they can’t even picture it being any different.

Honestly, watching them try to navigate a world without a search bar would be the highest form of entertainment. But honestly, as much as I complain, I’m not sure I’d have the patience to go back to the dark ages either. If I had to wait three weeks for a library book to arrive on inter-library loan just to finish a project now, I’d probably just quit.

Listen, I've fully seen a student attempt to "zoom-in" on a page on a book before realizing it's not gonna work that way, I can't imagine if they had to do all research for any class without google at their fingertips. Either way, Marley may have inspired me to consider giving them an assignment where they have to write it by hand, no typing it up on a computer. Maybe a typewriter, if any of them have access to one. Sure, depending on penmanship I may end up regretting it in the end, but still might at least make them appreciate how easy they've got it nowadays.

See, this would be the perfect opportunity to teach your kids about genuine research, though. Especially if you have the older kids. Give them an essay, but make it a requirement that they research like we used to. Make them go analog; heck you could even make it extra credit if they write it by hand or use a typewriter or something like that. Make the assignment research on the card catalogues or development of encyclopedias or even how research has evolved over time.

I get what you’re going for, and honestly I do think there’s value in them understanding how it used to work. I just don’t think those subjects would fully fit in with the curriculum of the class since it's essentially a beginners English Lit, maybe more if it were a history class. I could maybe work it in by having them look into context around a book or author though and I do kind of like the idea of having them write something by hand for once… or a typewriter if anyone somehow has access to one. Could help give them even more appreciation for how easy they have it now.

I didn't know what to say! I practically Homer Simpson-ed into a hedge with that one. But it got me thinking... there must be something we said to our folks that had the same kind of effect. Maybe not knowing what a gramophone was?! Or something I can't think of because I wasn't alive in the 50s haha Hell, even I vaguely remember how life was without smartphones.

Yeah, I get what you mean, but I feel like even then we still had some awareness of older stuff, you know? Like we might not have used it, but we at least knew what it was. This feels different, like there’s just zero reference point at all. It’s kind of wild how fast that shift happened. Probably something to do with being the last generation before the internet took over... which is ironic since they have access to the information in a way easier way now.

I remember the hell it was using card catalogs and I feel like I aged 40 years just thinking about it 😭The little drawers, the smell of old paper, and you’d pray the book you needed wasn’t already checked out or you were DONE... It’s kind of funny though, because we really had to work for information back then. Now they just type a question and get like 47 sources, a summary, and a YouTube explanation in 0.2 seconds. Kids just don't know how good they got it.

No, seriously, and half the time you’d finally track the book down just for it to have like one paragraph that was actually useful. But yes, and now they’ve got everything instantly and still somehow complain about having to find sources. I almost want to make them do a “no internet” assignment just to see how long they’d last before revolting.

Is it just me or does anyone else have those moments where you, like, mourn the relationships you didn't get to have? Okay, maybe not 'mourn', that sounds super overdramatic, but you get what I mean! Not your exes and people you actually dated, but the people you got close to and flirted a lot with and, for some reason or another, it just kinda fizzled out? That's literally me every time summer starts getting closer ever since a few years back this guy took me out to an amusement park for a date and then we literally kissed at the top of Ferris wheel like we were in a romcom! Not gonna lie, it's stuck with me and I just can't help thinking about it about this time. And, yeah, I know bare minimum since any guy could probably think that idea up on a date at an amusement park, but still!

Oh no, I definitely have a few of those myself. Probably because I'm usually on the dense side when it comes to girls flirting with me and I don't realize that they are. Like this one time I think it was in high school, maybe college I can't entirely remember, but this girl I was friends with would always say my name weird, like with this kind of growly voice? And I thought, hm that's odd, didn't get why but I'd just kind of laugh it off. Turns out, I find out from another friend later on as I'm telling this story to them, that she was probably referencing the movie The House Bunny and was possibly doing it as a way to flirt with me? Which, still kinda weird, but I'd also had a small crush on her too, which is why I always laughed anyway when she did it. But, went over my head cause I thought she just wanted to be friends. Anyway, sorry for the long ramble, but yeah... And hey amusement park sounds like a great idea for a date, especially a first date. I mean you've got plenty of food options and activities and probably opens things up to get to know each other pretty easily.

Call me crazy, but I miss those days. Sure, Google is awesome, and I kind of got the feeling that in, like, 20 years from now, some kid will be asking their teacher (who may or may not be a robot-type thing run by AI)... "What's Google?" Don't you sometimes feel like this whole world will fall apart if there's a major, worldwide blackout? People can't seem to function without their phones and access to the web. And that's scary.

Oh man, we really only looking at 20 years before we think the tech is gonna take over? Although, don't even get me started on AI, it's gonna be the death of me I swear. Trying to figure out a way to make sure the kids aren't using it to write their essays ever since all those chat options with it became a thing is a lot. And I hear you, that's why I like to unplug once in awhile, even go to the park leaving my phone at home and try not to rely on it as much.

I have one to add to this! I felt my life force seep away when asked but one kid couldn’t comprehend the ability to listen to music without YouTube!

No, seriously, that one hurts a little. Like what do you even say to that without sounding ancient? I feel like half the time I start explaining something and then just stop halfway through because I realize they're just gonna look at me like I have two head while simultaneously making me feel like a grandpa.