Congratulations to the high school Class of 2009.
As you take a major leap in your life history, I'd like to take a step back in time, thanks to the help of Beloit College's Tom McBride and Ron Nief, who created a list about the rapidly changing world each generation faces.You were born in the early 1990s -- into a world filled with expectations very different than an older generation. You grew up within a specific cultural context that made you different, a frame of reference that was uniquely yours.You may have fallen asleep playing with a Gameboy -- even in your crib.Station wagons were something on old television shows. The idea of a bunch of kids sitting face to face in the back of a moving car, playing games and wrestling as the family sped down the highway was the ultimate family adventure. Seat belts? Optional.While my generation grew up with Disney, for you, Pixar was always making great animated films.Pay-per-view television was always an option. Paying for specific programming was no different than paying for bottled water.In your lifetime, dirty dancing has always been acceptable.Andy Warhol, Liberace, Jackie Gleason, and Lee Marvin -- who were they, you ask?Cutting and pasting never involved scissors. Who was Tom Landry and what did he have to do with the Dallas Cowboys football team?Starbucks invented the coffee house and was on every corner.Condom advertisements have always been on television. Snowboarding was part of winter sports. Skis that were long and narrow looked very, very old and even dangerous. How could you edge on those sticks?All libraries had computers.When you were born, your family could put money in a savings account for your future at 7% interest.African-Americans have always been called African-Americans. Some may use the term Blacks -- but no one used the terms such as colored or Negroes (unless they were very old or racist).There once was a time when anyone could smoke anywhere, then the anti-tobacco advocates scored major victories in the 1990s that forever changed the landscape. Your parents may have heard C. Everett Koop proclaim nicotine was as addictive as heroin.Voice mail was commonplace.American Motors has never existed.You never saw televangelists Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker preaching on television. You may have heard about their sex scandals, but may not remember Ozzy Osbourne's musical retaliation. Swaggart opposed rock, even Christian rock.Protestors always had the right to burn the American flag.Jimmy Carter was known more for his humanitarian work and an elder statesman, not for being president.The Hubble Telescope has always orbited the earth, searching for new frontiers. The Starship Enterprise had boldly gone where no man had gone before -- for numerous generations and spin offs.The federal budget was always more than anyone could imagine -- a trillion dollars and more. But who can count that high?Cars have always had great stereo systems, as good as home systems. You can't imagine going places without music -- or car music limited to just the radio. For you, at least music was always on FM -- and AM was for talk radio.Pat Sajak was known for his late night television show -- and not just Wheel of Fortune. Another icon from that time was Arsenio Hall and his No. 1 rated show (and his trademark bark with fist raised).Swimming the English Channel? Why, when during your lifetime, you could travel by train in the Chunnel.Birth control options were plentiful, including RU486, which could terminate a pregnancy up to 49 days following conception.You never watched the shuttle Challenger fly -- and may only remember vaguely images of it breaking up and disintegrating with a bright blue sky background.Supernovas were never theoretical -- scientists can now see them -- and catch them in the act.Fields of Dreams was a tourist site in Iowa.Your baby and toddler pictures may have been taken with a digital camera. Loading film and taking it to get developed sounded so very slow. You never saw a Howard Johnson's with 28 ice cream flavors. Lotus 1-2-3 revolutionized the computers you learned to count on.Police can search garbage without a search warrant -- a breakthrough for criminal investigations.You have been challenged to distinguish between news and entertainment on TV, especially cable TV.A pyramid has always sat in front of the Louvre in Paris.Congratulations, Class of 2009. This list of memories will make your parents' generation feel old and you young. As it should be.