A Little Perspective

It's back-to-school time! Did you know that if you have a kindergartener, they are officially a member of the class of 2022?

I am a lot closer to the other end of the student spectrum. My youngest was born in 1991. I was interested to find a fascinating list of things that have always been true during the lifetimes of students born in that year. These are borrowed from The Beloit College Mindset List, an annual "look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college."

1. For these students, Michael Landon, Dr. Suess and Pan American Airways have always been dead.
   
2. The Green Giant has always been Shrek, not the big guy picking vegetables.
   
3. They have never used a card catalog to find a book.
   
4. Salsa has always outsold ketchup.
   
5. Earvin "Magic" Johnson has always been HIV-positive.
   
6. Tattoos have always been very chic and highly visible.


7. They have been preparing for the arrival of HDTV all their lives.


8. They have never had to “shake down” an oral thermometer.


9. State abbreviations in addresses have never had periods.
   
10. There has always been a Cartoon Network.


11. Women have always outnumbered men in college.


12. They have always watched wars, coups and police arrests unfold on television in real time.


13. Phil Jackson has always been coaching championship basketball.
    
14. Everyone has always known what the evening news was before the Evening News came on.


15. Natalie Cole has always been singing with her father.
    
16. Most communities have always had a mega-church.


17. For one reason or another, California’s future has always been in doubt.


18. Nobody has ever responded to “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.”


19. There has always been blue Jell-O.


20. Britney Spears has always been heard on classic rock stations.

For everyone 25 or younger reading this, you're saying, "Yeah, so?"

For the rest of us, it's good to maintain a little perspective. To remember the things that have shaped their thinking. I think it helps me to understand why they make the choices they do and where their opinions come from. I want to write a bit more about it in some future posts but I have a lot of thinking and reading to do first.

Did his parents call him Nat 'King' Cole? Why do we still not have HDTV at our house? Did Shrek really replace "Ho Ho Ho...?"