Today in class, I was telling the students about one of my colleagues, who has amassed a fabulous collection of slides from his trips to England over the years. Â Then a belated awareness of my audience crept in.
“How many of you have ever seen a slide projector?” Â I asked.
In my class of 26 freshmen and sophomores, about four hands went up.
It was one of those moments when I felt like an absolute fossil.   These kids have probably never seen a slide show, never used a phone with a cord, never listened to a record.  It makes me wonder if certain references — like calling someone a “broken record” — will end up getting phased out of our speech. I sure hope not, because it’ s just too good an expression to give up. ( It’s also the metaphor at the heart of my latest column, which is all about the one sentence that I say over and over to my kids … and when I say “over and over,” believe me, that doesn’t even come close to expressing it.)
Somehow, calling myself a “scratched CD” doesn’t have quite the same ring, does it?
Turntable picture found here.
