still waxing nostalgic

Whatever happened to

TPing someone’s house – Now, I only did this a couple of times in middle/high school. Do kids even do this anymore? I know that plastic forks in the yard became all the rage later on, but I haven’t even seen that happen in a long time. I guess, as a homeowner, I’d be pretty steamed to wake up to soggy toilet paper tangled in the huge maple tree in our front yard – interesting how our perspectives change – or maybe not…there’s one neighbor’s yard that I wouldn’t mind TPing. Now, before you rebuke remember, if you never TPed you know you wish you had, and at the moment you’re checking out the house across the street.

Common Courtesy – One would think that living in the genteel South would sustain the traditions of a person (not necessarily male) to hold the door open for someone; to say, “please,” “excuse me” and “thank you”; and to not swear in public especially in front of children.

Writing letters/thank you notes – I’m a fairly avid letter-writer. I get more excited about the idea of the recipient of my mail opening the letter than actually writing the letter. In fact, there are times when I struggle to think about what to write. I love opening a beautiful invitation to a celebration or a handwritten letter on monogrammed stationery. Aptly, I guess most people are more excited to receive a box from Amazon…with their Oprah’s pick nestled inside a bed of styrofoam…purchased with their own credit cards. (On a sentimental note, for those of you that have kept up correspondence with me please know that I have saved every single letter since childhood.)

Bowling – Do people go bowling anymore…like family-fun bowling? Just curious.

Slumber parties – I know that these still exist for the young, but I really miss them. I’m up for a good sleepover replete with good movies, crank phone calls, candy, soda pop and a (insert popular cartoon/movie/TV series) sleeping bag. Currently, I guess mine would have Dwight Schrute on it…that’s kind of creepy...I'd have to turn it inside out. Wait, that's creepier.

Typewriter – Recently, my college intern asked me what that was when I asked her to use it to fill in blanks on an application form. When I showed it to her she then asked me how to work the keys.

Zip Disks – I’m not a proponent of using them at present. I just found it amusing that another college intern had no idea what a zip disk was. Man, technology does become obsolete so quickly. I still have 20 or 30 zip disks in a drawer somewhere, granted I haven’t used them in years. Conversely, someone submitted a file to me on a 3.5” floppy just the other day. I had to search for a computer that had a compliant drive. My Mac scoffed at me.

Mix tapes – Simply express your love or friendship by presenting a mix tape to someone. Of course, does that person have a cassette player? Crap…just give them an iTunes gift card.