Ch...Ch...Ch...Ch...Changes

So, my recent foundiversary post made me think of all the things that I faced in the early days of my new existence. As I sit here an write this post, I think of the biggest, most profound change of all.....computers.

When I was still in the hospital, part of my memory therapy was looking at pictures. Of course, in my brain, looking at pictures was having a big box of photographs with names and dates (sometimes events) written on the bottom, gotta love those old polaroids, or back to remind you what you were actually looking at. Not so much. My parents walk in with a laptop. I didn't even know what a laptop was, let alone how we were supposed to look at pictures on that thing. To me computers were a rather foreign concept. What computers I did vaguely remember, were not sleek, little, one piece devices. They were big bulky thing, with big bulky screens.

Still, once I got the concept, I enjoyed looking at pictures.....until my mother invited me to touch the computer. I was sure I was going to break the darn thing. She showed me how to use the mouse pad, I touched it, the screen changed, and I jumped like a killer clown had stepped out of the shadows or something. It was pretty strange. Still, obviously over time I grew more confident with computers. Once I got my own stuff back from the police from the investigation, I got my laptop back and promptly taught myself how to use it, all the software already installed, how to type (so I could do things like this), and basically how to survive in today's society where nothing is done without computers anymore.

Then there was the cell phone. Oh the dreaded device!! I'd seen my parents talk in their phones and asked them about what they were. I knew there would have to be a day when I would talk into one of them since, apparently, no one had regular sturdy house phones anymore. You know the kind, with the cord that you play absentmindedly with while you talk to the person on the other end, or that annoyingly tangles up the second you try to walk anywhere away from the base that it's attached to. The first time my mother put her phone in my hands, all I could think was "So......breakable...." I didn't even want to touch it to my face for fear it would snap in half. That wasn't a phone, it was a teeny, tiny, fragile piece of plastic that voices magically came out of.

Here's one I'm sure no one thought about.....tvs. The one in the hospital wasn't too bad, lots of channels (way more than we ever got with OUR antenna) but at least it was a tube television. My tv was the one that boggled my mind. Flat screen, super clear image, extra bright colors, and cable was awesome!!

Lack of manners was horrifying as was the price of...well, everything. Most shockingly was that people had to be reminded to get up and move, including kids, and eat healthy. Having grown up on a farm, fruits and vegetables were a staple and I realize I wasn't exposed much to how unhealthy people ate even back then, but the fact that healthy was expensive and hard to afford for most was challenging to accept. Light bulbs were oddly shaped sometimes, cars were fascinating (and far more numerous than I remembered), and anything I wanted to learn about, I could. Just ask Google. The internet was a wonderful thing to learn how to use, because it allowed me to learn about nearly anything else and connect with people on a level that never existed before.

So many changes, both for the better and the worse. I periodically lose my fascination of the world and how much there is to learn, see, do, taste, experience, etc., etc., but whenever I get that passion back I go crazy with it. Mostly because Google is still my friend.