A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch
It’s hard to believe that July is here again. This is the time of the year when I should be thinking of taking the grandsons to a baseball game. We should be going to the park for a picnic followed by a romp in the water park. In the cool of the early morning, I should be doing my walking at the golf course. In the hear of the afternoons, I should be at the swimming pool checking out the latest fashions in bikini swimwear. July is the perfect time of year for doing so many things.
Instead, I’ve been thinking about telegrams. On July 14, the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) will be sending the last telegraph ever. The BSNL is India’s state run telegraph company. When I was much younger, the telegraph was the fastest way to get an important message to someone. Modern telegraphy really died in 2006 when Western Union discontinued their service.
Telegrams are now just another part of the generation gap between my grandchildren and me. They have been replaced by e-mail, FAX machines and electronic banking.
Of course, modern technology has relegated many other things to the generation gap junkyard. The first telephone I remember my parents having installed in the farmhouse was a box with a big microphone sticking out of the front. You had to hold another microphone shaped object against your ear. There was a small crank on the side of the box. You turned the crank several times to wake up the operator. When she came on the line, you simply told her who you wanted to call. It’s all history now. Almost everyone has a telephone in their pocket. We don’t even call them telephones any more. Just plain phone.
Today’s generation mostly listens to their music on a machine connected to the internet. There are still a few compact discs around. Cassette, reel to reel, 8-track and vinyl records are victims of the technology generation gap.
Oh well, at least I can still drive my pickup to the library. It’s time to go visit the grandchildren. We might play a game of Monopoly, or maybe some dominoes. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Thanks for reading.