Microwave Popcorn

Have you ever had one of those moments where a thought pops into your head that just makes you laugh? I had one last night over microwave popcorn.

As I stood in front of the microwave waiting for the popcorn to finish I started thinking about kids today growing up with technology and how it’s difficult for older generations to realize just how much technology is a part of their daily lives.

I remember when my dad brought home our first microwave. It had to be 1982 or so. I remember how HUGE of a deal it was, this ‘thing’ was going to change everything. I remember when I was really little making popcorn with an air popper and in 1982 never imagined that the microwave one day would replace the air popper along with many other appliances.

My generation grew up with microwaves; we have evolved with it, learning how to utilize it to make everything from TV dinners to popcorn, to defrosting the nightly dinner. We don’t think about using the microwave, we just do. Why? Because it has been around all our lives, we know how to use it and how to run it without thinking about it.

Computers and the Internet are the same with today’s kids. They won’t know how to live without it because it has always been there. It keeps improving, making life easier to the point, like the microwave, you don’t know how to function without it. Nobody had to show me how to use a microwave, in fact today I can walk up to a microwave and within a minute or so know how to run it. Generations that did not grow up with the microwave, might find this frustrating. Kids and computers today are the same. We don’t need to teach kids about computers, they already know how to use them (something I’m reminded about on a daily basis with my 5th graders) we just need to utilize the tool, like we have the microwave, to use it to its fullest potential.

Just thinking out loud