First, I wish to acknowledge all those aging advocates who find the word dinosaur offensive. I simply ask you to ignore the obvious and embrace the metaphor without judgment.
I recently received a hand-written note from a marketer following their visit. Now, in a world dominated by emails and texts, I was delighted to open their heartfelt message. This prompted me to make a list of all the things that I still find pleasure in while the rest of the world has modernized:
- Removing a record from its album sleeve, reading the cover front to back and playing a selected song on a record player. I love the crackling sound of a worn-torn record
- Percolating coffee till the aroma fills the room
- Drinking orange juice out of a shrimp cocktail glass
- Hanging freshly washed clothes on a rack
- Carrying a handkerchief
- Saving rubber bands
- Repairing shoes if you can find a cobbler
- Perusing a Hallmark store
- Using manila folders for keeping important papers
While everyone now shops online and makes the journey to the nearest Ikea I yearn for the day I could walk into a Woolworths again and order a malt and a tuna sandwich on toasted rye.
Oh, I’m in heaven.
I tested my music knowledge and brought up the Billboard charts and I am sad to say I couldn’t even name one song performed by the top 100 artists, except for Michael Jackson.
This reminded me of Margaret, a wonderful woman who volunteered at our center and unexpectedly passed away March of 2016.
Margaret was in her late 70s, full of life and knew every contemporary artist, at the time of her passing. I remembered how excited she would get and couldn’t wait to watch all the major music award shows hoping to hear her favorites: Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, and Adele. I think the last time I watched an award show was when Patti Smith was inducted into the hall of fame.
So, in going forward, here’s how I’m willing to modernize:
- Never use a flip phone again
- Replace my 20-year-old tennis racket
- Use the dishwasher
- Learn how to use my twitter account
- And lastly, watch the American Music Awards and take notes
Thank you, Thomas, for your youthful perspective and thank you, Margaret, for your friendship! --JMD
Thomas Kearns is a contributing writer to this piece.