Can You Imagine Tomorrow?

This past fall while cutting my grass, the little sixth grade neighborhood boy approached me. I turned off the mower to listen to his inquiry. He said that his class was working on a project called "Changing Times." It seems each student was to interview an elderly person in their neighborhood and ask that person two things, which have been the most drastic changes in their lifetime. The boy added, "My teacher said I should pick the oldest person on my block to interview." There is one fella at the end of the street that I believe to be older but I accepted the mantle.

I told the youngster that I was born in 1939, and from my recollections, I would pick (1) electronics and (2) family unit dynamics as my two biggest changes to notice.

My goodness, I recall the telephone operator asking, "Number please," when you'd pick up the phone receiver. Today many folks carry on their person a pocket 'smart phone' that offers multiple communication opportunities plus Internet service and an unfathomable wealth of information.  My family once sat in a living room staring at a large radio called a console. We listened to a variety of programs, which certainly required one to use imagination since no visual aid was available. Today, I have hundreds of television channels that I can watch.

I remember as a small boy, my father would open the back at the supper hour and give out a loud whistle. My younger brother and I had better be at that back door in a flash because mom had the food on the table. We always shared family meal times. In recent years when visiting my childrens' home the supper hour is different. Active grandchildren have schedules...demanding schedules. That said, many families eat on the run while one parent serves as cab driver for the actively engaged kids.

When the young sixth grade boy left my front yard satisfied with his gathered information from the old neighborhood fart, I had that song verse go through my mind: "I hear babies cryin, I watch them grow. They'll learn much more than I'll ever know. And I think to myself what a wonderful world.