Back in my day, blah blah blah...

I heard someone typing in the library today. Actually typing. On a typewriter. After fighting the urge to find them and give them a hug, it dawned on me that most of the people in the library at that moment had no idea what that sound was. I didn't feel sad or sorry for them; it's not as if they don't know what the act of typing is. I know things change and we move on to other modernities. People who loved their pencils probably freaked out when the pen came along, and then those pen lovers cried about the fall of civilization when typewriters popped up. Ok, maybe an exaggeration. But we do get attached to our ways of doing things and the toys that help us do them. When we get all worked up about the new stuff replacing the old, is it really about the stuff? Or is it because we feel like we are getting left behind in some way? That we have to acknowledge we are growing older and maybe less relevant? Who knows. But I miss typewriters. And some other stuff, like...

• Metal Band-Aid boxes. The best part of getting a boo-boo was that tin container coming out of the medicine cabinet. The smell of a new Band-Aid is a distinct scent of youth, like crayons or Playdoh. It meant you were going to get some full-on love and attention from the grown-up on duty.
• Phone booths. Those folding doors, that little bench, that mysterious coin return slot on the payphone. What person didn't stick their finger in there in hopes of a little ten-cent jackpot?
• Since we're talking about phones, how about telephones anchored to a wall? Not only did you have to be creative with discretion so no one around would hear your conversation (which they always managed to do anyway), but you had to stay in one place for more than a minute. And that curly cord was fun to play with.
• Cars with bench seats. I know parents with more than one child are probably very grateful for bucket seats to keep those kids from killing each other on car rides, but I liked being squished in a big backseat with family, or friends as we headed to the roller rink. And there's nothing romantic about holding hands over a center console.
• Evening news and Saturday morning cartoons. I know, I know. We still have evening news. But it used to be the only way to get news besides the newspaper. And the men (not a sexist thing; that's just who happened to do it at the time) delivering the news seemed kind and honorable to a kid like me, even if they maybe weren't. I never want to know. And those cartoons made weekends right.
• Styrofoam fast food containers. Yep, I said it. I am well aware that styrofoam is evil, and so is fast food, for that matter. But before we knew all that, a Big Mac in a styrofoam box was like a little present.
• And while I'm at it, candy cigarettes. I understand we don't ever want these things to make a comeback. And I am absolutely, decidedly, most definitely anti-smoking. But what can I say? I liked 'em. Especially the ones that blew "smoke" and turned to gum.

I'm sure there's more to list. But this list is indeed making me feel old and right now my body is missing sleep more than anything, so off I go. Ooh...do they still make waterbeds?