Going, Going, Gone...

A few years ago at the dance studio, I was explaining to a new student the concept of the line of dance. This is the imaginary line which runs counterclockwise around the outside of the dance floor and regulates movement in the smooth dances (such as Waltz, Tango, and Foxtrot); it keeps everyone moving in the same direction and prevents collisions. The student's reaction was interesting: he said, "You know, it won't be long before no one will understand what you mean."

It took me a minute to understand what he meant - that in a world of digital clocks, the concepts of clockwise and counterclockwise won't have any meaning. I thought that was an interesting observation, and filed it away for future use...like this morning.

Yesterday's Washington Post Magazine featured an interesting article titled, "Left Behind" that discussed 209 things that once were part of everyday life, but now are either gone or well on the way to obsolescence. Oddly enough, clockwise and counterclockwise weren't on the list, but many other things - some surprising and some not - were. A few of the things cited were:

Handwritten Letters. Not surprising in an age of text messaging, e-mails, and ubiquitous cell phones. I used to be famous among my friends for my long and chatty letters; now, most of them only get one letter per year, and it's the included-with-the-Christmas-card summary of the past year's events. I just don't have the time to write long letters any more and that's sad, because I don't think there's a simple pleasure more satisfying than sitting down to read a handwritten letter from a friend.

Mix Tapes. We all used to own cassette players, and spent hours sitting at the record player to copy individual songs onto our own personal mix cassettes. Now, of course, we download the music we want and load it directly into our digital music players. Even burning music to CDs is going away. I certainly don't miss the frequent frustration of a lovingly-assembled mix cassette groaning and shrieking as the tape was eaten by the player, and digital downloads are much easier and provide better sound, but mix tapes represented a labor of love in your music.

Stovetop Popcorn Poppers. Do you remember those: the popcorn-filled foil pans with a wire handle that you shook over the stove burner? As the corn popped, the foil top of the pan expanded until it was the size of a basketball; when it was done, you tore the foil open to eat the popcorn. I'd all but forgotten about those in this era of microwaveable popcorn.

Fashion Models Weighing More Than 110 Pounds. I may be old-fashioned, but I think a lady ought to have some substance. Rubenesque figures may be long out of fashion, but I don't think there's anything wrong with having a little meat on the bones...when giving a lady a hug feels like embracing a bag of coat hangers, something is wrong.

Telephone Booths. There was a wonderful scene in the first Superman movie (with Christopher Reeve) that showed Clark Kent racing for a phone booth in which to transform himself into Superman ... and looking dumfounded at the little bubble with the pay phone in it, hanging on a pole. In an age of cell phones and vandalism, it's hard to find a good old, simple, phone booth any more.

And finally,

Competence. Singer Billy Joel is quoted in the article as missing artistic competence in the music industry, but the idea applies across the board. As we lose accountability for actions, we lose the competence we once expected of those we deal with for goods and services. This one hurts.

So, what do you see leaving the scene? Read the article and see if it doesn't make you think differently about the world around you. Of course, there are lots of people who once lamented the demise of spats, buggy whips, and corsets...but they couldn't read about their loss on the Internet.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo