TIMES ARE A-CHANGIN''

My grandchildren recently visited. I have one of each kind, and they are the light of my life. They came replete with their electronic tethers, --I-Pods and cell phones. The dexterity of the thumbs of our next generation is amazing! None of them will be able to spell, of course, but they are whizzes at the art of texting shorthand. I am reminded of the old duck joke …..MRDUCKS, NOMRNOTDUCKS, SMRDUCKS, CMWANGS. To add to my confusion, their cell phones don’t ring, they just vibrate. In the midst of a conversation they will zone out, reach in their pocket, read their screen and thumb-text an answer whilst you’re left in mid-sentence. On an errand with my grandson, I was driving along imparting grandmotherly wisdom. Receiving no answer I looked his way….to find him with I-Pod in hand, earphones in place, humming merrily to the music streaming into his teenage head, hearing not one word I spoke. When my children were their age, I could hear at least one end of a phone conversation, giving me some indication of what was going on in their lives. In MY era, the only phone was on the dining room wall and we were on a phone line with eight other people. Our “ring” was a long and two shorts, and my parents (as well as all the eight other members on our phone line) could tune in to my conversation. Times they are a-changin’ ! Do U C wht I mean?