Dec 13 2021
How did you picture your life as a kid versus how it turned out so far?
When I was a child, I measured the world in a different way. How high could I climb up the oak tree? How far up the hill could I pedal my bike? How far could I go in the back pasture before I lost sight of the top of the willow trees beside the house?
I remember standing in the kitchen when I was 8 or 10, trying to figure out how old I would be in the year 2000. Couldn’t make the math work. Decided it didn’t matter; I’d probably be dead by then.
What I wanted to be when I grew up changed on a regularly. I had a short-lived fantasy of being a hermit. Then I was going to be a librarian or forest ranger. It upset my high school teachers that I had no desire to get into one of the science or math fields.
It turns out that the field I eventually excelled in didn’t exist at that time. Computers took up entire rooms. I discovered my passion for ones that fit under the desk. Now we hold them in the palms of our hands and call them phones. I can see and talk to my 93-year-old mother with a simple device that allows her to bush one button to communicate with her children and grandchildren across the country. We are living in the age of science fiction.
When I was a teenager, I had an accident on my bicycle and spent nearly a week in the hospital. One of my injuries involved my left ear. A few years ago, I was undergoing a series of test for vertigo, and the technician asked about my inner ear injury. I explained it to him, and he asked “Didn’t they do an MRI?” I smiled and said “MRIs didn’t exist back then.” We are living in the age of science fiction.
Once upon a time, authors laboriously wrote their books out by hand or typed them on a typewriter. Then they repeated the process to make corrections. Once finished , they stuffed the final copies into oversized manila envelopes or boxes to mail off to an agent or a company’s slush pile. Now they can see their edits on a screen and never have to touch white-out or correction tape. Instead of mailing them, the documents can go electronically to their destination. We are living in the age of science fiction, and there’s no going back.
I wouldn’t want to, either. Go back, that is. It’s not all roses and sunshine, but I have too many friends and family members who wouldn’t be alive today if it weren’t for the advances in science and medicine. Maybe I wouldn’t have made it to the year 2000 if it weren’t for the changes. My life doesn’t resemble what I expected as a kid, and I’m good with that.
What about you, reader? Has your life turned out differently from what you expected? Tell us about it in the comments. And to see how the other authors on this loop feel, follow the links below.
As always, until next time, please stay safe!
Dec 13 2021
How did you picture your life as a kid versus how it turned out so far?
Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.
I remember being taken on a school trip when I was about 17 to see a computer, which (as you say) took up a whole room. We stood in awe, little knowing how computers would all but take over our lives in years to come.
A couple of years ago, I toured the NCAR Wyoming Supercomputing Center. It’s not just one room filled with computers working in unison, it’s an entire building. Although it’s primary focus is the weather, the facilities are used by other organizations as well. So we have come full circle.
I feel the same about the modern age. Once, six months on a ship meant no phone calls, you only got letters if you were lucky. And, if the sun didn’t shine, you couldn’t find out where you were in the vastness of the ocean.
Now the internet is available (with the right equipment onboard.)
Be sure to share the link to this blog in WE PAW Bloggers group!
My mom likes to tell the story of how all the ladies who worked in accounting were taken to this large room to view the computer that would one day do all their jobs in less than a heart beat.
Tweeted.
Great motivation, there. 🙂