Thursday old-school Randoms <3

Here are some randoms about the way things have changed so we don’t forget that we used to exist without a phone in our hand 24/7.

Random #1

I was already making a list in my head for this particular topic, when our son-in-law mentioned an item that fit right in with the ones I had already gathered. 

He had done a home repair and mentioned that he was able to find how to do it on YouTube. He said now you can find how to videos for just about anything and he remembered going to the library with his dad to find car repair books. 

There we have the last generation that remembers paper and research done in books and such. 

I told him I was making a list of this kind of thing and one of my items was birthday party planning for our kids. I would go to the library and find books and magazines with ideas and even purchased one or two over the years. 

Random #2

House phones. 

Back in my day, you called the number and took your chances on who would answer. 

My best friend’s dad always answered with saying hello but it sounded like he was saying Yellow. I was never disappointed that he would answer differently. When I called the house and he was my greeter, I knew he was at the kitchen table with his cigarette and cup of coffee. 

I could hear him scoot his chair back and could picture him strolling down the hall to call up to Janie’s bedroom that “Laura is on the phone”..but all drawled out slow and southern style. 

Russ and I had multiple opportunities to talk to both our sets of parents over the years depending on who was home when we called or they called us. I miss that. I never talk to anyone by accident anymore. And we learned phone manners early on as our parents were usually too busy working around the house to answer the phone. 

Random #3

Roaming charges and limited minutes. 

Remember when we actually had the first cell phones? 

The first one I had was a complete luxury. Rachel was getting old enough to leave for a little while to watch her siblings. The phone was our lifeline in case of emergency. 

I had 15 minutes a month before we had to declare bankruptcy to make the payment. 

We learned that asking if we could put a frozen pizza in is not an emergency. Numerous times. 

Then we advanced to better options, but there were roaming charges and certain hours where your calls were cheaper and the minutes didn’t count. Our cell phone bill at this point rivaled the New York City telephone book in size. 

But I digress…who even remembers telephone books? 

Random #4

Malls.

Remember them? Full of stores like American Eagle Outfitters and Abercrombie and Fitch. Old Navy where you could get a sweatshirt and flip flops for way less than those minutes after 15 were used up. 

It was a family outing to go to the Mall. It was a social meetup place and a place of dreams where girls could spend their babysitting money on Bath & Bodyworks newest scent and boys could feast at the food court. 

You ran into neighbors and friends at the Mall. You got ideas for Christmas and birthdays. Whatever you needed, it could be found and we were all so happy. 

Random #5

Newspapers that got delivered to your door for a reasonable amount of money. 

In these we knew what the weather was going to be, who had passed away or given birth, what houses were on the market in town, what stores were having sales, how the high school teams did the night before and all the box scores for all the sports known to man. 

You could use the old papers for bird cage floors, paper mache projects, wrapping things you were going to mail or pack or store away. 

Sigh. 

I miss them. 

I miss all of those things. 

I never took the bazillion photos I take these days and while I love my photos they are sometimes a distraction from living in the present moment. 

I found out how people were doing by talking to them, not reading about them on social media. 

I read more, crafted more, had more time for walks and thinking. 

I didn’t know there was anything more to want than what was on the shelves in front of me at our local stores and shoppes. 

I actually had to communicate with family and friends  in person or over the telephone orally instead of just sending a text every time I have a thought. 

When I was out and about, no one could get a hold of me. And while it is wonderful that we can do this readily, sometimes I think we forget that not everything has to be shared and communicated in real time. 

But here I am. 

Living in and fully immersed in the times in which we live. I order online, text instead of call, use my unlimited data to the full extent and snap photos of anything that captures my attention. And yes, I immediately post and send it to anyone I think might enjoy the moment. 

But I do have fun remembering when…