At Hofstra U earlier today doing another college look-see. We took a break from the information coming at us at 90 mph; the endless parades of kids and their helicopter parents; and the spectacle of hair dye, tattoos and body piercings for a quick bite to eat in their dining hall.
“Look,” I remarked, pointing to a vending machine. “Two bucks for a bottle of water.”
“I remember when it was a dollar,” Catherine, who is all of 17, said, “Less than a dollar even.
“Dad,” she asked, “What did a bottle of water cost when you were young? Three cents?”
Basil and I looked at each other for a split second before answering in unison: “We had no water bottles.”
“How did you get water?” Catherine asked. (Yes, my almost-college bound teenager asked this. Obviously, we’ve been terrific parents.)
As patiently as he could, Basil explained: “Hard to believe, but we turned on the faucet.”
Pushing on a Rope 
I remember when a slice of pizza was 55 cents in my Queens neighborhood in NYC. The price rose in tandem with bus fare.
Posted by Holistic Wayfarer | May 23, 2013, 10:53 pm! Times have certainly changed…
Posted by Terri S. Vanech | May 24, 2013, 6:56 amI know, right? I didn’t have water bottles as a kid, and I’m only 33. Now I have to carry around 3 – one for each child – and I regularly leave my own because I just don’t have enough room for all that baggage. And we turned out fine, didn’t we? It’s a funny world we live in.
Great post.
Posted by rhythm & method | May 2, 2013, 7:21 amThanks! It’s amazing how much change there is in the world in such a short time. Catherine has never had to get up to change the television channel, rely on the encyclopedia to find an answer for school work, stand in one place while talking on the phone because it was attached to the wall…..
Posted by Terri S. Vanech | May 2, 2013, 7:25 amAnd the funny thing is, city water is often believed to be better than bottled water, in some cases. Dansani water is just Seattle city water … Anyhoo … turn on the faucet darlings, that’s where the water comes from 🙂 Great post! Found you via MeloMomma Bloghop and following 🙂
Heather M, http://www.RockStew.com
Posted by Heather Stewart McCurdy | April 29, 2013, 6:10 pmThanks for stopping by!
Posted by Terri S. Vanech | April 29, 2013, 8:19 pmAt my son’s college visit yesterday….all the kids laughed when the president of the college said how back when he was in college…. he had to call his parents from a pay phone!!….collect!! And his dad wouldn’t except the charges…lol
Posted by Mike Colaluca | April 29, 2013, 12:08 pmOur grandson and I once had a discussion (I think he was 8) in the car after I asked if he wanted to go to rehearsal with me. What show? Shakespeare. No thank you, Shakespeare writes bad English.
I explained that Shakespeare wrote as they spoke then, that language evolves and meanings change. I went on to come with some words that either didn’t exist or have changed since I was 8 — gay, disc, computer, cell phone…
He said, “But, Grandma, what did you call your cell phone if you didn’t have the words?” I explained that phones were attached by a wire to the wall — and that blew his mind!
Yesterday I was watching a production that included some numbers from HAIR, with great costumes. I thought “oh, they raided their parents’ closets,” and then realized that most of their parents probably don’t remember when HAIR was new. Grandparents’ closets would be more accurate. Sigh, I’m OLD.
Posted by Karen Waggoner | April 28, 2013, 5:43 pmNot OLD — experienced! 😉
Posted by Terri S. Vanech | April 29, 2013, 7:01 amLOL! That is great. The days of no google, cell phones, gps….how did we make it?
Posted by Jacquie | April 28, 2013, 4:14 pmNo California Pizza Kitchen in the cafeteria, either!
Posted by Terri S. Vanech | April 28, 2013, 4:23 pm