What happened to our youth? I took a good, hard look at Google Maps to see.
It's not just Richardson Square that's gone...
Of all the malls we went to, Richardson Sqaure was the most convenient,
(especially for simple after-school pleasures)
Valley View was second in convenience, and pretty nice,
Of course, the Galleria... nuff said...
but I always liked Prestonwood best.
Now it's a Wal-Mart. A set of strip malls. And, if you'll believe it, an airport. I feel pretty sure that wasn't there, before.
I also looked on maps over by Big Spring Elementary - did you know there's a lake just the other side of the "nature trail," now? I guess it's been there for years, but it's got piers, and everything. Boats 'n stuff. And that big field across the street from the school is mostly a swamp, it looks like. I used to play with friends, there, during recess. We'd play "G-Force." Yeah, the old "Americanized" version of the anime "Gatchaman."
Richardson Junior High is still there, but it's got a new name now. At least it's still a school. A Math and Science Magnet school, but that's ok. I wonder what they use the old band hall for, now? The days of Mr Costellano directing band are long gone, I guess.
It's weird to look back on all these places, even just with Google Maps & with street view. Places where Home used to be, and is no longer. Places that were so important to our lives that even decades later, fill our memories more than most of what's happened since.
It's not so much that I'm brought to wonder what happened to our youth, as: What happened to make such important places less valuable than a parking lot? Is it online shopping? Cell phones? What was it?
Most of us didn't have computers in our homes. When I graduated in '89, there was just the one set of computer labs in the school. There were the TI based MS-Dos machines, and the IBMs. I learned some Basic and Turbo Pascal on the non-IBMs. I didn't even really consider that I'd get my first computer shortly before graduation (a 80286 briefcase portable with monochrome EGA graphics, 512k ram, 1.2m 5 1/4 floppy, & a 30 mg hd). I never, ever considered that computers would be such a huge part of everyone's lives only a decade later, let alone how much they've taken over our lives today.
There are times when I wish we could just go back to those days. Days before email. Before Facebook. Before cell phones were disposable, let alone common. Before we had to be connected, every single second of the day. Sometimes I consider leaving my phone at home when I drive to the store, just so I can disconnect for a few minutes... but then I bring it along, anyway. The days when phones were attached to our homes by wires are gone; the days when getting in the car meant nobody could reach us are gone. "Call us when you get there," is gone, replaced by status updates and tracking software.
Is it possible, do you know? If it's possible to disconnect, and live life actively, instead of under the direction of all of our wonderful, powerful, all-consuming technology? Are things really better? Or, are we simply distracted from reality by our new toys? I really would like to know if it's possible to get out there, and live without being in constant, total contact, or if it could only mean coming in last for the rest of our lives. After all... there are new sets of kids out there, today, growing up with their sets of favorite places... but more and more, their favorite places are on the couch in front of the X-Box and Playstation, instead of at the mall or riding bikes with their friends.
I guess in part, I just miss what we got to have when we were young. And I wish that the youth of today could experience that for themselves, too. I guess when they grow up, they'll be nostalgic about playing online games with friends who they only ever knew as voices in their headset, and shopping online at Amazon.
