Published: March 24, 2008 05:12 pm            

Ms. Takes: Today’s kids are living their ‘good old days’

A week or so ago, I attended a production of the South High Drama Club. In all honesty, the principal draw was the on-stage appearance of Number One grandson. But I was struck by the talent and enthusiasm of all the kids who are at least three generations younger than I.

The production could not be called a “play”. It consisted of a series of skits or vignettes assembled loosely under the title of “Class Action”. The young actors and actresses portrayed kids very much like themselves — type casting? Maybe. It made it all very natural and believable. But the miniature bits also provided insight into the joys and sorrows of being a teenager today — divorced parents, responsibility for younger siblings, the class geek, an abusive boyfriend, the class clown, the absolute necessity of having an attractive date for the prom.

One of the class sponsors spoke to me during the intermission and observed that he could relate to my columns about “the good old days”. It occurred to me that THESE are the good old days those kids on stage will look back on some 40 or 50 years down the road.

I was a weird kid — not exactly the class geek, but hardly in the van of the “in” crowd. I treasured time alone while I adjusted not only to my biological changes, but also to the changes in my immediate world.

I welcomed television, frozen food, air conditioning and other innovations which provided creature comfort. On the other hand, I saw high school classmates off to war — some of whom never came back to take advantage of the GI Bill.

Inventions and innovations came faster and faster. I’ve only partially adjusted to the computer and while trying to decide whether the cell phone was a boon or a boondoggle, progress handed me a new adjustment in the form of the iPod and the Blackberry. Shall I incorporate these goodies into my “must have” or merely “must accept and adjust” list?

Heaven only knows what inventions, changes and innovations those kids on the South High stage will face in the next 30 — or even 20 or 10 — years. Some they will reject, some they will accept and some will be relegated to the “wait and see” category.

Still, all added up, these are the good old days they will remember. I hope they will remember them fondly. The kids I saw certainly deserve that — maybe all kids do.

Liz Ciancone is a retired Tribune-Star reporter. Send e-mail to opinion@tribstar.com.

        

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