So GOOD it hurts

Remember when all your aunts and uncles would be at the Family Reunions talking about 'How Good' kids these days got it, and how EVERYTHING they did was so old school and dramatically difficult? We've all heard the stories: "In my day we didn't have school buses; we had to walk 10 miles, up a hill barefoot in snow, carrying a mule, and our books just to get to school!" And my mama used to ALWAYS tell us, "Ya'll really don't know how good ya'll have it!" Meanwhile I'm looking around thinking, "We live in the Ghetto, what's good about this?" Well it's funny how the tables have turned!

Now in 2010, I find myself saying the exact same thing that elders used to say to me! Seriously though, the kids these days HAVE IT MADE (in some respects). Their biggest gift/curse is the Internet! Everything you wanna know about ANYTHING is just a mouse click away! I used to have to go to the library, pull the card catalog, then comb through thousands of books to find out what I needed to know. My mother remembers growing up without a TV and thought we were spoiled to have basic cable. Well the kids these days have High Def TV's, with DVR's that pause live TV, TV's in each room of the house AND several 24hr cartoon networks! Hell the only time my brother and I got to watch cartoons was from 7am-10am on Saturdays. LOL!  Wasn't no iPods and downloading music either. It was cassette tapes and sitting around a radio all day to hear your favorite song. And if you wanted to record it you had to stuff the tissue paper in the lil holes at the top then press play & record at just the right time! Remember that?

Kids these days get cell phones at 10 years old and spend all day texting somebody who lives next door. Hell, I didn't even get a cell phone until I was in grad school, and nobody I knew had one either so to call home we had to: 1) make collect calls 2) use calling cards or 3) use a calling code like 10-10-220 etc. LMAO! Remember those? I kinda thought to write this blog because of an email a friend forwarded me but mostly because of a situation I had with my son. One day I was getting dressed to take him to the beach and of course children have no patience, so instead of rushing me, I told him to go play on the front patio and he replied, "Play what?" I was taken aback that a little boy his age needed guidance or instructions on what to play! He was lost without his PSP, LeapFrog, or Nintendo Wii (Yes, he's not even old enough to start school but has all those games). AND he has a computer in his bedroom.

I guess long gone are the days of "Duck, Duck, Goose", "Freeze Tag", and "Simon Says." Instead it's Sponge Bob Marathons, text messages, and TiVo'd TV shows. Notice the latter activities require NO movement, NO imagination, and NO human interaction... Not good. WHEN I was growing up, we played outside ALL DAY until the street lights came on! Hell, my mother damn near kicked us out the house during the day. WHEN I was growing up, there was ONE KID in the entire neighborhood who had a game console, and thats where we all played... TOGETHER. WHEN I was growing up, there were NO social networks! We had to go out into the world to socialize with our peers! WHEN I was growing up, all I wanted to do was play with my friends, but sadly that seems like the last thing on the minds of children these days. Guess I sound like an old man now, but the kids these days definitely have it good... But is it so good that it's bad?