PAST.............VS..............PRESENT

Our grand kids, twin boys to our son and his wife just turned 14 years old. What a great feeling watching these two guys grow from day one to 14. I can't tell you how extremely proud I am of these guys and all their achievements. The only real question I have is, are they growing faster than I did or could I have been brought up in slower times. It seems that parents have always expressed a certain desire to have their offspring's be able to accomplish more than they did and these two guys have certainly done that. It's mind boggling, when I sit down with them to try and compare what I, grandpa, did v.s. what they are doing. They just laugh at those stories as though they were all fiction. Try some of them on for size now:
You would never believe they were twins!!!

Then:



When I was growing up, I had to walk to school , only kids that lived 10 miles or more from school rode the bus.



Now:



Just about all the kids either show up at school by bus or the parents drive them to school. Very seldom do I see kids walking to school, unless they live within a two block area from the school.

Then:


When I was your age, not only did I walk to school, but in the dead of winter with temperatures in the twenties, snow so high that I had to dig a tunnel just to get out to the sidewalk, we showed up at school.



Now:

Since you go by bus, you can't wait outside in temperatures less than 40 degrees in the cold and if the snow is more than 3" high they call a snow day, since the bus is unable to go up and down the hills. No wonder your school year ends at the end of June. Both our kids were lucky enough to have to walk to all three schools........grade school, junior high and high school.





Then:

We all wore decent clothes to school, everyone seemed to be more aware of how you should look in school and found it exciting to be neat and clean.



Now:

Are you wearing that?? baggy pants, tee shirt, get that ring out of your lip! have some pride, If your wearing that what do the guys wear? I'm sorry sweetheart, but that's beach wear. Sorry Scott, even though today is picture day, I don't think your disco shirt is the thing to wear.
Son, ..............stripes and flowers do not match, Red shirt and orange pants do not match either. comb your hair and next time to the barber get another color besides blue and green and spiked.

try your natural color of..........................................brown................................ OOOHHHH! THANK HEAVENS..............that's not our son.
"Pants on the ground, pants on the ground, lookin like a fool with your pants on the ground"



(by the way, just wanted to mention that both of our grand kids dress very proper, I have even seen them going to school with shirt and tie.(seventh grade).......seems that those involved with athletics, on game days, MUST wear very proper attire..........thank goodness)

Then:



Going on vacation, happened only in the months you had no school and most vacations were within driving distance from home, unless of course you were part of the rich and famous. I remember giving up vacation for two years just to be able to fly to Florida the third year and that was for only 3 days since the hotel was so expensive.

Now:

Your going where? a 10 day cruise in the Caribbean? then off to Mexico for 2 weeks to do deep sea fishing? During winter break your skiing in Switzerland? what's winter break?


Then:

My baseball uniform consisted of a dirty pair of jeans, (if I had time to go home and change and in my case they were starched ) long sleeve flannel shirt (for sliding) ice cleats strapped to my shoes for spikes, and we literally played on a sandlot. Chose up sides, using several different methods. I remember only two........odd finger out........and flipping the bat and using the hand over hand system of who comes closest to the knob of the bat method. Sometimes the guy that owned the only bat had to go home early, so we just used a stick and a tennis ball to finish the game. A winter ski glove for a fielders glove and a glove called a mitten for a catchers glove



Now:

organized teams, three uniforms (home games, away games, practice games) aluminum bats? real spike shoes? sponsors? grass field with base markings? a real mound? your going where for an away game........Phoenix, Arizona? your home game is Snohomish , Washington?


All, I can say, at this point is WHAT THE HELL? .........These are only a few things. Just add all the technology that they have available now a days. IPhones, IPads, electronic zunes, tunes, mailboxes, fruit loops, energy drinks, energy bars, Xboxes, Nintendo (whatever that is), laptops, no tops, It's really hysterical when we get a Christmas list and have to google it to find out what half of the stuff is......... I remember one year the kids wanted a wii, well, WE could not even find one wii and had to give them an wii IOU because the stores were completely out of wii's in November. WE, finally got them a wii in January. WE were totally exhausted from running around looking for the wii, that I had to rest up to play a game with them...........................Now, since our grandkids are twins do we get them a wii wii and the little piggy said, wi -wi -wi -all the way home!!!!!!.............................................

Times certainly have changed and I must admit now that seeing all this progress has certainly explained a lot of things to me. I have no fear that leaving them with a debt for the future that they will survive, simply because progress will continue to change for the better. When we were growing up, we MADE UP THE WORD TRILLION, now that its come true and it looks like our word ZILLION is on its way. Guess after they go into that one, they will have to use another we came up with back then..........................................a GAZILLION!!!!!!!!!!