The Grandchildren Ask a Question

One of my grandchildren asked, so innocently, the other day, "Did you have cars when you were a kid?" and immediately followed up with, "Did you have television?" Suddenly I felt very old. On the other hand, I am fairly computer literate and The Lovely Joan and I have purchased and play with a Wii every night. We play the basic bowling game which, I understand is very basic, indeed. We have another set of games-activities contain a race with cows and shooting targets, aliens, balloons and some cans.

Joan and I were in bowling leagues many years ago, she bowled in the 190's with a sixteen pound ball; I used the same weight ball but had an average in the 135 range. Our grandchildren are amazed (perhaps "amused" is a better word) by our purchase of Wii, but I fell in love with the system at a daughter's home and ran out and purchased the basic system.

In any event, I have found that I am totally addicted to the darn game. I mute the television, shut off the sound on the Wii remotes and, in the middle of the night, sneak out of bed, rush to where the television set and game system have been sending telepathic messages to me to come out and play. We do not have any of the later games, Mario and his friends move too quickly for me. I do enjoy a game of virtual baseball or tennis, but it's the bowling that has my true devotion. And addiction.

Back to the grandchild's questions: Yes, we had automobiles and by the time I obtained my first Massachusetts driver's license at 16, gas had been and was forever 15 or 16 ¢ per gallon. Other things might have changed slightly, but not gasoline!

Our family, in 1952, as I was graduating Haverhill High School (Home of the Mighty Hillies", whatever that meant), purchased our first television. The set was a very, very large box, and a very, very small round screen. In our area, we had two channels that broadcast just a few hours a night. Most of the time, there was a "test pattern", a bunch of what looked like targets and a group of concentric circles. It may not have been exciting, but I remember being fascinated by the images. Joan lived outside of New York City and she could watch three channels for 5 or 6 hours every day. Wow!

Of course these small screens broadcast only in black and white, color coming much later. Both our families bought thick magnifying glass to be placed in front of the screen. One could, then, only watch the show from directly in front. My father also purchased a sheet of green-colored plastic; we then had "colored" pictures, even if all it did was turn everything green.

Then, when the children, all four, bless them, were in high school, we bought our first game: Pong. This was a very rudimentary game with, by today, or even yesterday's standards, very simple graphics. Later, we bought the first "Atari" system. These games had invisible tanks shoot at each other and a clown on a see-saw that, if one did something wrong would go "splat" and make a rude noise. Daughter Wendy became a real expert in Space Invaders.

I have two computers, one upstairs and one that resides on the dining room table, much to the annoyance of TLJ. On the other hand, I earn a vast sum of money doing this sort of scribbling. Well, maybe not that vast. One problem is that the moment I buy any computers, just as I walk out the door, the computer industry will invent the gizmo that obsoletes whatever I just acquired.

I will never keep up with progress, or that which is said to be progress. I will, I acknowledge at this point in my life, never have all of the relevant and important toys. On the other hand, I have a fantastic wife who puts up with me, daughters who will likely pick my nursing home so I have to be polite, a whole bunch of unusually brilliant, handsome or beautiful grandchildren (the last two characteristics depend on the child's gender), and close friends who also put up with my political writing. I start work in a few weeks at Jackson-Hewitt Tax Services at a kiosk at a WalMart Super Center and have a great time doing the work and meeting the people.

I am getting older; at 73 I am on the verge of becoming "middle age".

If I only were in High School and College with my life experiences, I would surely have more fun. Of course, I wouldn't have Wii. The moral of the story is that, when the time comes to die, no one wishes he or she spent more time at work.

Enjoy family, enjoy life, and play an occasional Wii game.