By Staff
I am often reminded that different generations go about things in the way they have been brought up.
Recently, when I needed to know how to spell the name of a CEO of a company for a story, I took to my phone book and made some calls.
When that proved unfruitful, I glanced over to our young reporter and saw him surfing the Internet.
Hm, I thought, the Internet.
I hadn't even thought of it as a quick way to search for the name.
I typed in the name of the hospital where the man is now working and as quick as you can say the brown fox, up popped not only the man's name, but his picture besides.
Every year I enjoy reading the Mindset list issued by Beloit College in Wisconsin.
The list tells what life has been like for the incoming freshmen class.
"They grew up with a mouse in one hand and a computer screen as part of their world view. They learned to surf the Internet as they learned to read. While they were still in their cribs, the 20th century started to close as the Berlin Wall came down, the Soviet bloc disintegrated and frequent traditional wars in Latin America gave way to the uncontrolled terrors of the Middle East," is how the class is described on the Web site devoted to the list.
Some of the items on the list brought back memories of things which have disappeared, like savings and loans, which this class of 2010 have never put their money in.
They grew up with mini-vans, green tea and everything marked with a bar code.
I love number one on the Beloit list:
"The Soviet Union has never existed and therefore is about as scary as the student union."
I still remember having drills in grade school where we got on the floor in the halls and covered our heads as we had practice drills in case of a nuclear war. I can't imagine how we could have been saved that way.
"Text messaging is their e-mail," is number 20. I still have never sent a text message. I don't even want to have voice mail on my cell phone.
My mother went from adding machines in her accounting classes to calculators and finally computers, learning each new piece of equipment with ease.
I admire her for not being afraid, but instead embracing the new technology and even becoming proficient in their use. She never did join, though, the ranks and have a computer at home. Instead of e-mail, she preferred a phone call from her children.
For her, Walter Cronkite would have always been "the most trusted man in America," not Mr. Rogers as is with these freshmen, according to the list.
If you are a fan of the show Law and Order, you will immediately recognize number 34:
"They have always known that 'In the criminal justice system the people have been represented by two separate yet equally important groups.'"
They have grown up with "small white holiday lights," which by the way don't go out if one bulb burns out.
Major U.S. airlines have been bankrupt most of their lives and these kids have "never tasted bad airline food."
I doubt number seven is true, though. "They have never heard anyone actually 'ring it up' on a cash register."
I have seen children's toys evolve along with the real equipment in stores. The toy cash register my children played with has been replaced for my grandchild with one with buttons and with a place to slide a credit card for payment.
Toy phones, which were always my kids' favorites, are now cell phones which light up, play music and beep.
I wouldn't be surprised if they soon will make available toy phones that really take photos, just like the real ones used by the Class of 2010.