Back in My Day

Recently, I was driving the boys somewhere, and the topic of video games came up. I imagine it was probably because they were making a play for a new one.

When they realized I wasn't going to buy them a game, Diego was silent for a while. Then, out of the blue, he asked, "Daddy, what was your favorite Wii game when you were my age?"

"We didn't have Wii back then," I answered, feeling immediately old. I explained that the only video game, as such, was a game called "Pong," in which you hit a ball back and forth with an opponent, until somebody missed.

Both boys were silent, as they tried to wrap their minds around this. They were quiet for so long, I considered using this as a strategy in the future: Whenever they get too loud, and I want quiet, I can just reminisce about my childhood.

"And that was a Wii game?" Diego asked.

"No, there was no Wii. It was an Atari game."

"Atari."

I was getting nowhere. "We didn't have a lot of the stuff you have now," I said. I could almost feel my grey beard growing as I spoke.

"What else?" Jackson asked.

"Color TV. We had a black and white TV when I was a little boy. It was a big deal when we got our first color TV."

"Black and WHITE?" Diego asked incredulously, scrunching up his face, as if the notion were offensive to him somehow.

Again, they were quiet for a time, and I thought, "Hey, this really works."

Jackson broke the silence.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, son?"

"Did you have roads?"