The Future!
The Teen said to me, “Wow Mom. When you were a little girl, didn’t 2013 seem like The Future? What did you used to think everything would be like by now?”
Wow! What a good question! From a 1970s perspective the 21st century did seem like The Future. We were expecting all kinds of Utopian things to have happened by now.
Wouldn’t it be interesting if I could hop in a time machine and go tell my little girl self what the future was really like? I’m thinking it would go something like this…
POOF!
Little Suzanne: (Drops her Barbie.) “Who are you?”
Me: “I am a time-traveller from the year 2013, and I am here to answer all your questions about The Future!”
Little Suzanne: “So why aren’t you wearing silver? If you’re from The Future, aren’t you supposed to be wearing lots of silver clothes? You’re wearing jeans and a T-shirt.”
Me: “Oh. Well we really only do that at Christmas parties.”
Little Suzanne: “Oh.’
Me: “Look, I really am from The Future. Look at what I have! It’s a phone that I can carry in my pocket, and I can watch movies on it, and it takes pictures, and I can check the weather and I can play games on it! And I can talk to people all around the world anytime.”
I don’t think anyone would have predicted this…
Little Suzanne: “Ooo! Cool! I like this one with the birds and the piggies!”
Me: “A lot of people like that one.”
Little Suzanne: “Can I call my friend?”
Me: “Um, no, I can’t get bars here in the 1970s.”
Little Suzanne: “What does that mean?”
Me: “The Future Phone only really works in The Future. You have to have bars to pick up a signal…oh, never mind – it’s complicated.”
Little Suzanne: “Oh. So what about flying cars? You have flying cars, right?”
Where’s my flying car?
Me: “Um, no. No flying car. But the cars have a good sound system and they warm up your bum on a cold day. They can even see behind you so you don’t back over things or hit other cars.”
Little Suzanne (after she stops laughing): “Do people live underwater?”
Me: “There’s an underwater hotel somewhere, I think.”
Little Suzanne: “Do people live on the moon?”
Me: “Well no, a politician brought that up recently and everybody laughed at him because it would be too expensive, and nobody wanted to vote for him…”
Little Suzanne: “Hmmph! That’s dumb. So did they at least get rid of colds and bad diseases and stuff?”
Me: “Um, well, sorry no. We still catch colds. And um, we have some really bad diseases.… You know what? Let’s talk about fun stuff instead! You know we have 3D movies?”
Little Suzanne: “Cool! What else?”
Me: “And really amazing toys! All kinds of learning toys with little computers in them, dolls that can change color, toys that can fly, dance and sing songs…”
Architect Barbie (complete with blueprints and pink blue-print carrying case, professional-looking eye glasses, and a cute dress with a sky-line motif
Little Suzanne: “Now you’re talking! What about Barbie? What are future Barbies like?”
Me: “Ummm… Like Barbies… I guess. She has way more clothing. And more stuff. And a job.”
Little Suzanne: “Hmmph. Okay. So what else?”
Me: “We do a lot of multi-tasking. And we have computers at home! Lots of them!”
Little Suzanne: “And robots? What about robots? Do you have some like in the Jetsons that make lunches and clean the house?”
Me: “Umm, sorry no. Somebody invented one small robot that vacuums, but that’s about it.”
Little Suzanne: (Sighing heavily) “Didn’t you guys invent anything really good yet? I mean besides Time Travel?”
Me: “Well, about the Time Travel thing, it really only applies in cinematic or fictional circumstances. You’re going to see some great movies about it!”
Little Suzanne: “What does all that mean?”
Me: “Sorry, no time to explain. Can I have my phone back? Gotta go!”
POOF!
At least we have time travel in movies… in 3D!
