The set of items on Beloit College’s Mindset list for 2010 that I agree with include that: few in the class know how to write in cursive, colorful lapel ribbons have always been worn to indicate support for a cause, and a purple dinosaur has always supplanted Barney Google and Barney Fife. Items from Beloit College’s Mindset list for 2010 that I disagree with include that: they (students) never twisted the coiled handset wire aimlessly around their wrists while chatting on the phone, unless they found one in their grandparents’ closet, they have never seen a carousel of Kodachrome slides, and Czechoslovakia has never existed.
I love the first statement that few people actually know how to write in cursive. Elementary school teachers forced us to write in cursive so often that we started to hate it. They said we would have to use cursive for all writing assignments in Junior High and High School. False. I don’t remember any assignment where the teacher requiring us to turn in a paper written in cursive. Next, the colorful lapel ribbons remind me of an annual elementary event. During Red Ribbon Week, (a drug free campaign,) teachers would create a large ribbon outline in the grass for students dressed in red to stand in for our school picture. Red ribbons are for drug free lifestyles, pink ribbons for breast cancer awareness and yellow ribbons for all cancers. It is amazing how a specifically colored ribbon can demonstrate support for a cause. Finally, I agree that “Barney” alludes to the big purple dinosaur that loves me! Barney, I must admit, was my absolute favorite. I had a Barney hat, blanket and stuffed animal and would crawl up next to the TV to watch him (and would cry any time my older sister would say he wasn’t real). When reading this list I had to Google searched who Barney Google and Barney Fife because I had never heard of them.
I think that it is funny that the people who created this list don’t think students our age would remember corded phones. My house had corded phones for years. I remember talking to friends on the phone while constantly playing with the cord’s coil. I have actually disconnected the cord from the wall because I walked too far away from the wall. Also, Kodachrome slides have been a part of family gatherings for years. My mother grew up with seven brothers and sisters and they occasionally break out the slides and reminisce about whatever forgotten memory is displayed. Finally, Czechoslovakia did SOOOO exist! I’m Czech and was so upset when I learned that it had split into Czech Republic and Slovakia. Such a disappointment. Czech Republic and Slovakia just don’t have the same ring as Czechoslovakia.
This list was very entertaining and I enjoyed thinking about which ones that I don’t remember and which ones that brought back memories of growing up.
