Ever wondered what you will tell your children and grandchildren if they wanted to find out what you did when you were their age? It will sound so strange and ridiculous to them I can imagine.
I don’t know about you, but whenever mama started a sentence with “When I was your age…..” there was either something wrong somewhere, or she wanted to express how blessed I was to be of this age. No matter the place, elders will always have something to say about “When I was your age…this was that” Then you can’t imagine surviving in their age, just like the next generation will wonder how we ever made it. A tutor of mine joked that at the rate everything is changing, we’ll soon have no need to touch our screens but blow them. Our shoes will drive us. Imagine them all.
So I got caught up in the world of imagination and remembered the “When I was your age” clichés I have heard. Some made me laugh. Others made me sympathize and thank God. It seems to me that the older generation was so mannered. They worked for what they earned, they knew no shortcuts. And life was not as chaotic. I wish we could emulate their discipline and respect. Anyway, I love this age still.
I realized that when I was a teenager, my books were my friends and I knew them very well. I still remember their faces, and they knew me. Teenagers now have thousands of friends and know barely any of them.
When mama was my age;
Chewing gum in church was an abomination. I don’t know how to call our own. We can even blow it to the other person having a conversation with us. We chat when the sermon is on, some even following up on crazy stuff. It is well.
Every elder was respected and would rebuke anyone’s child when found doing wrong. Find out that now, even teachers will be in trouble for disciplining a child. Not to mention, that children will sue their parents for the same! Not wanting.
Men pursued women. They sweat to get them. It is not the same any more. Women don’t want to be left behind, with every good reason they can find. So interesting.
I also found funny clichés in my quest, as I started preparing what to say to the next generation, just in case. You can add to the list;
WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE….
My parents didn’t call my cell. They yelled my name. I played outside, not online. All I had to play with was my rocks, sticks and imagination. We had to walk to the TV to change the channel.
We took spelling tests, not pregnancy tests. Lost tooth and not virginity.
Television was called books.
We could slam the phone down when we hung up in anger. (Try it now and see)
Walked ten miles to use a computer and built web pages by hand.(I can only imagine.)
Privacy wasn’t merely a face book setting……And many more.
I dread the moral of the coming generation. I doubt they will be better than us morally. They can only take from us. How will they dress up when their mothers walk half naked? How will they embrace sexual purity when their parents call it outdated? The things we do, our children will do them better (I mean worse.)
It is a high time we considered how our present will affect our future generation morally. We could borrow a leaf from our parents.
By Liz Ekakoro:Diaspora Messenger contributor/Kenyan in Ukrain
YOU CAN ADD: WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE….
