Saturday, March 28, 2009

Making a report

So my daughter, the 13-year-old, is doing reports and posters and what not. Which is fine by me. But walk with me if you will, into a time when all you had was a typewriter and a library card, that's it. No Google, no internet, no nothing. And researching a topic at the library usually involved copying the information by hand or running through microfiche after microfiche with a pocket full of dimes to print your info. I cannot make my child understand... there used to not be a computer in almost every home. There was no SpellCheck or Synonyms replacement tool. You had to do it yourself... and God help you if you made a mistake, you had to start all over again or use corrective tape. Kids these day have no idea how hard giving a report used to be. Really. No. Idea.

1 comment:

WileyCoyote said...

BOY isn't THAT the truth! And the only library that was open in the evening and on weekends was the "big" one downtown. The bookmobile only came to our neck of the woods every two weeks. If your research and report material wasn't on that big bus (it rarely was) you had to set up a time with Mom and Dad to get you to the library, or ride your bike the 25 miles into town...