Future Shock

When I was in the 7th grade in 1972, our Life Science teacher in my little bitty home town showed us an educational film called "Future Shock" that displayed all sorts of sensational events that were occurring at the time, and their implications toward the future.

This film displayed the testing of supersonic flight (The Concorde) robotics that displayed human behavior (the first production lines in Silicon Valley), a non-traditional wedding (a minister performing a same-sex union in California) and a City-within-a-City
(Marina City in Chicago)

Flash forward 37 years

Our fiscal year ended on the last day of June in which I had to submit my quarterly-and-year-end reports and budget requests and also comprise all the Memorandums of Understanding and Rental Agreements for my staff members who provide services for individuals with disabilities in unemployment offices throughout state -- and all this was after I had completed a 900-mile driving trip around the state to supervise my staff and submit all the reports. . .

Whew!!!

I went to work at 6:00 this morning and finished close to midnight.

Thank goodness for Grubhub.com

It's a fantastic service in which a tired and hungry city-dweller can hop online, enter in their address, enter in what type of food they prefer, and up will pop all sorts of options.

Neat-o!

It was 2:20 am, I was sitting in my shirt and tie, I was dead tired and knew I wanted a Chicago deep dish pizza to sustain me through the night and next day.

Within minutes, I was able to place my order online to the nearest and fastest Chicago deep-dish delivery service:

No phone call necessary . . .

One 16-inch deep-dish pizza with anchovies.
Charged to my credit card.
With a $5.00 tip included

At 2:30 in the morning

In less than an hour, my doorman was ringing my apartment

I was one dead tired puppy. It was the middle of the night, and yet I was able to finger a few keys effortlessly on my computer (and not speak to anybody) and have a lovely, deep dish, Chicago-style anchovy pizza appear at my doorstep within an hour.
_______________

Remember those educational films we got to watch when the teacher forgot to plan anything to teach us? We'd walk into science class, there would be the unexpected film projector set up in the darkened classroom and we'd all get excited over the fact that we wouldn't have to do anything that day!

But I can still remember one educational film called "Future Shock" that was depicted possible life in the future, but featured present-day (1972) events such as:
robotics in Silicon Valley, supersonic commercial flights, same-sex unions, and having computers delivering food for us.

And . . . while living in that Marina City place in downtown Chicago!

This film actually showed Marina City in Chicago as as futuristic "City Within A City"

They made it look horrible - - like we would be automatons living in these huge non-descript dwellings having our food procured by computers.

Me?????

No way.

Not in a million years.

Oh . . . one other thing. . . .

Would you like to know who that Life Science teacher was that showed us the film, "Future Shock" when I was in the 7th grade in 1972?

That was my mom!

Yes, my mom was my Life Science teacher in 7th grade.
It was wonderful and horrible at the same time. She made me stand in the hall for misbehaving. Twice
She made me study and get A's in her class (I made a 65 on one quiz and I'll never forget her raised one eyebrow while she penned my record in her grade book - - the whole class went "Oooohh"!)

I got straight A's during the seventh grade and, believe me, I earned ever one of them through a very loving, but very stern and structured method of education.

Since then, my mom has been a very popular columnist and writer for a newspaper in South Texas since 1981. She gets her writing abilities from me, naturally. My mom's had three volumns of her columns published and sold.

My mom is a wonderful, incredible, talented, and multi-faceted woman. She is in her mid-70s and still works as a public school counselor and writes her column every week prints it, and faxes it into her publisher every week.

My mom loves to fish along the Texas Gulf Coast and she's also a very spiritual woman. She's combined these two aspects into a reflective column that has been a weekly feature in a local newspaper in South Texas.

Her weekly column is called Oceans for Emotions and has been featured every Saturday in the Victoria Advocate since 1981. I'm have to admit that I'm a bit jealous of her. She's always given that paper a column every week for 28 years. Every editor knows her. When she was incapacitated, every person I spoke to knew my mom and was able to re-run her past articles. (I even wrote one in her absence and so did my cousin, Shannon)

Here is her most recent column. It features her and her new baby great grandson. .

"Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and wonders ."

Today, due to circumstances within my control, this is going to be a very short article.

You see, a little 6-month-old great-grandson is controlling my life, and the entire world around him as only a baby can.

Joseph lives way over the ocean, near London, with Joseph, his father, who is in the Air Force and his mother, Marilyn Elaine, my grandgirl. This is the first time the baby and I have met.

Baby Joseph has flown over the ocean, but has never seen it up close and personal. Taking on my responsibility of great-grandmothership, I just couldn't have this happen on my watch.

Off to see the sea we went. That sounds easy, doesn't it? After loading up my fishing gear, which usually fills my car, we had to load up Joseph's baby gear, and believe me, it was not an easy thing to do.

If his mother had allowed me to let him ride in an empty ice chest instead of that silly baby car seat, we would have had more room.

On the road trip down, the closer we got to the beach, the faster my heart raced. I could hardly wait to see his excited reaction to his first meeting with "Gran-Granny's" Ocean. All the way down there, I imagined his baby squeals and delights and other Oceans for Emotions.

After adorning him with his swim Pampers, swimsuit, his very own fishing hat and lathering him with the slickest sun screen ever made, Gran-Granny carried him to waters edge with cell phone cameras, digital cameras, and video cameras, all focused upon us, Joseph and I slowly entered the ocean.

After a few kicks and splashes, I felt him relax in my arms and he went to sleep. I think he thought he had returned to the safety of the womb from whence he came. Isn't that really why we all love our Oceans for Emotions?

Dear Lord, Thank you for all the children that you have given me "for signs and wonders" in this life and for all the oceans you gave me to share with them.

________

Today, due to circumstances within my control, this is going to be a very short artiYou see, a little 6-month-old great-grandson is controlling my life, and the entire world around him as only a baby cHow she got this photo of her?And her great-grandson ?