Better in my day.

I noticed a couple of teenagers - a guy and a girl - walking down the street, yesterday. They were both talking on cell phones. I assumed, maybe incorrectly, that they weren't conversing with each other. I immediately thought of myself being a teenager, in the 70s, walking down the street with a friend or girlfriend. We would be talking to each other, the person we were with. The person we were sharing an experience with. We would be in our own little world where we could ponder god, the universe, the meaning of life - or what kind of bug is that? Look at that car, dog, bird, cloud. We didn't have the technology we have today, we had each other.
Thinking about all of that made me realize something: It has finally happened. I'm old. There are certain inevitabilities about being old (even though you think it will NEVER happen to you), like believing that things were better in your day. And, guess what, whether erroneously or not, I believe that.
I had carved out a niche for myself as a guy who knew a lot of little facts - trivia, if you will. I had knowledge of these things because I sought them out. I had to make an effort to know. I would often know about books or music years before anyone else I knew knew. Growing up in a small town, that was both hard and easy. Today, we are bombarded with information. Everyone knows a little about everything - without even having to work for it. It's handed to you. No, it's shoved down your throat as soon as you turn on a computer, TV, or whatever electronic gadget you possess. Try springing some trivia on someone today. They read about it online, yesterday. And yet, with all of this common knowledge, we're alienated.
Can there be such a thing as too much information (or TMI)? That brings to mind Pandora's box and the Tree of Knowledge - variations, as I see it, on a fascinating concept. When Eve offered the apple to Adam, though, he didn't have to text "OMG."