My kids are tripping nostalgically on Tamagotchis.
And they’re not the only ones.
The reason that my kids are tripping (nostalgically) is that they found out that lots of other kids like them are too (tripping) (nostalgically) (on Facebook).
So, just like “we” used to trip nostalgically in the high school playground about the “silly” programmes that we watched as nippers – Roobarb & Custard, Cloppa Castle etc – they now do the same about “silly” retro technology on Facebook.
(Fuck me. Roobarb and Custard are on Twitter and Facebook!)
TV programmes => Technology
Playground => Facebook
I don’t remember rushing from the playground to the shops to buy a nostalgic VHS copy of Cloppa Castle.
But I have watched three of my kids bid, fail, bid, fail, bid, buy secondhand Tamagotchis on eBay. They use my iTunes account on their iPods so that I can keep an eye on their app purchasing. And last week my iPhone kept lighting up with “you’ve just been outbid” push messages.
They have spent roughly £7, £7 and £9 of their own pocket money on toys that they almost certainly won’t be playing with this time next month.
Plus ça change and all that.
The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint. They talk as if they alone knew everything and what passes for wisdom with us is foolishness with them. (Aristotle - or possibly Peter The Hermit apparently - a long, long time ago).