Have you ever thought about what kind of stories future generations will be told? When you ponder where this world is headed and where it has been, it feels strange to think about the crazy things we are currently doing that won’t even exist in the lives of generations to come.

For an example: telephone booths.  There’s a good chance everyone has had some type of encounter with a telephone booth – whether to make a call, look up a phone number, or (my favorite) see how many people you can cram in the little box. Now, maybe I’ve been oblivious to the phone booth realm as of late, but I can’t seem to recall the last time one was seen. 

This is likely due to our lack of need for privacy.   We no longer have issues with discussing personal problems on the phone in public.

Without a doubt, the disappearance of the booths could also be attributed to the popularity of cellular phones. I have a slight hunch that there probably will be no need for these little booths anymore.  Keep in mind this is a mere prediction, but I have a very strong instinct. So can you imagine trying to describe this in a number of years to an 8-year-old?

"Well, hunny, we used to have these cell phones – well, we didn’t call them cell phones back then, we called them telephones – but anyway, these telephones were mounted on a wall inside a 2×2 little box with an accordion door that people would close behind them.  When you inserted quarters into the phone, you were able to make a phone call." 

"That’s, like, so weird, Granny-ma! Wow, you must be, like ancient. So when you were a kid, did you ever get to see a dinosaur!?" the younger generation will reply, as she waits to receive a package from Ebay she ordered from her phone three minutes prior to her making you feel prehistoric.

What about pouring gas in our cars? Hopefully this will be something we’ll all be shaking our heads at in a few years:  "Remember way back when we were stupid enough to use gasoline to power our vehicles?  Oh, man. What a waste! Yep.  We’d just pull up to what we called a gas pump and pour it into a tank that was installed in every vehicle made back then.  You’d pay for it, and when we burned it all, we’d go fill up again."

Navigating will likely be different.  With the absence of any type of map or atlas – there won’t be any family arguments about getting lost or who is at fault, unless your GPS system fails – in which case you’d have OnStar to back you up.

Anyway, it’s hard to imagine what else will change over the next couple of decades, but it is fun to think about. If only we knew now what we’ll know then…

Shootin’ the Wit is a weekly column about everyday life that should never, ever be taken too seriously.

laura.m.stoneburner@gmail.com

I’m a writer and photographer who loves old cars, big dogs and trying stuff for the first time. I believe everyone should have a bucket list because life isn’t about working, paying bills and having the latest and greatest. It’s about experiences. Achieving goals. People. Adventures. Travel.

I’ve never dyed my hair, broken a bone, or watched a Star Wars movie, and I don’t plan on doing any of these.