Fighting Extinction

First the demise of the Twinkie and now this! Hasbro has eliminated the beloved iron token from the Monopoly set and replaced it with a cat.  A cat! I know, right? And they let the PUBLIC vote via a Facebook page.  Do they think that’s a representative sample of the Monopoly-playing public?

Okay, that’s not the reason I’m irritated. I’m irritated by change. It unsettles me. I feel a part of my worldview is altered. I feel less and less connected with people born before 1990. (Let’s forget for a moment that I write young adult fiction.)

I’m not against progress. Hell, I experienced the horror of “Sun In” hair lightening spray. It’s just that whenever I meet someone who doesn’t remember something I remember, it feels like another part of me has gone extinct.

So, today is my tribute to outdated things that hold a place in my memory…and will until said memory falters with old age.

• Interchangeable IBM typewriter balls for different fonts
• Tab soda
• The smell of mimeograph paper
• Push-button transmissions (like the one on my ’64 Valiant)
• Flashbulbs for cameras
• The old Monopoly set that had wooden pieces