{"id":121,"date":"2010-01-20T17:52:00","date_gmt":"2010-01-21T01:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lisabravermoss.wordpress.com\/?p=121"},"modified":"2022-06-07T20:31:03","modified_gmt":"2022-06-07T20:31:03","slug":"phone-disconnect-the-perfect-metaphor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lisabravermoss.com\/phone-disconnect-the-perfect-metaphor\/","title":{"rendered":"Phone “Disconnect” — the Perfect Metaphor"},"content":{"rendered":"

how do I use a payphone – can I just put a quarter in and achieve a dialtone<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Such was the Instant Message I got from my college junior one recent evening on my laptop.\u00a0 I won\u2019t dwell on how close I was to typing back, all in caps, \u201cWhat!?\u00a0 You don\u2019t know how to use a pay phone?<\/em>\u201d and then engaging in a tedious lecture about the misplaced cell, all the while congratulating myself about how cool I am, parenting via IM.<\/p>\n

I won\u2019t rant about the cluelessness of an entire generation about a piece of equipment that\u2019s as familiar as a toothbrush to anyone over forty.\u00a0 And I won\u2019t wring my hands about how kids don\u2019t read directions anymore and how civilization must therefore be ending.<\/p>\n

Instead, let me describe what it feels like not to have the pay phone in common with my college-aged sons.<\/p>\n

Lonely.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the same way I feel lonely that, not having taken Latin in high school, my boys don\u2019t know how to parse de gustibus non est disputandum<\/em>.\u00a0 The same way I feel lonely that they didn\u2019t devour the four Salinger books as teenagers.\u00a0 That they don\u2019t want to listen to a Bach cantata\u2014or Paul Simon\u2019s Rhythm of the Saints<\/em>, for that matter\u2014while doing the dishes.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s so easy to find evidence that our kids don\u2019t know enough.\u00a0 They don\u2019t have the same skills we do, read fewer books than we did, and are easily distracted by things that strike us as unimportant.\u00a0 While we\u2019re aware that cultural literacy is constantly evolving to accommodate and embrace change, we tend to assume we know what constitutes the basics.\u00a0 We\u2019re alarmed that so many disadvantaged kids fall through the cracks in school\u2014and that even the fortunate ones just don\u2019t know what we knew at their age.<\/p>\n

But to what extent does our gnashing of teeth reflect genuine concern that our kids are missing crucial information or life skills?\u00a0 And to what extent does it mask our own future shock (things are moving too fast!<\/em>), or perceived personal failings (I didn\u2019t teach him enough!<\/em>), or sadness over the erosion of something collective that connects us?\u00a0 It\u2019s not a simple matter to sort out.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not suggesting that cultural literacy is entirely subjective.\u00a0 Young people need to master the math tables, memorize geographical data, and savor and analyze great literature.\u00a0 They need to grasp the importance of the individual vote and know how to decode a newspaper article.\u00a0 Without these basics, kids are sent out into the world at a disadvantage, both objectively and in terms of self-esteem.<\/p>\n

But that doesn\u2019t mean we can claim pure moral superiority, or even pure pessimism, when our kids fall short.\u00a0 We may well shriek if they haven\u2019t read The Great Gatsby<\/em>.\u00a0 Yet we shriek in an eerily similar tone if they don\u2019t get the reference when we quote Eddie Haskell to illustrate smarm (\u201cGood afternoon, Mrs. Cleaver\u2014my, what a lovely dress you have on\u201d).\u00a0 That we\u2019re similarly exasperated in either case suggests to me that something more complicated is at stake than our kids\u2019 knowledge base.<\/p>\n

Core literacy allows one to live a more textured, aware life and improves one\u2019s prospects.\u00a0 But it\u2019s also about being part of a narrative that connects all of us, generation to generation, even as it shifts under our feet.\u00a0 I want the narrative to permanently include Crime and Punishment<\/em> and West Side Story<\/em> and pay phones, and if it doesn\u2019t, I want to express my disorientation and alienation by kicking and screaming for awhile.\u00a0 Then I want to buckle down to work bridging the gap as best I can, with my sons\u2019 help.<\/p>\n

Truth is, I still don\u2019t know how to display a photo on my cell.<\/p>\n

Published in the Piedmont Post<\/em>, January 20, 2010<\/p>\n

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how do I use a payphone – can I just put a quarter in and achieve a dialtone Such was the Instant Message I got from my college junior one recent evening on my laptop.\u00a0 I won\u2019t dwell on how close I was to typing back, all in caps, \u201cWhat!?\u00a0 You don\u2019t know how to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[96,97,98],"yoast_head":"\nPhone "Disconnect" - the Perfect Metaphor - Lisa Braver Moss<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lisabravermoss.com\/phone-disconnect-the-perfect-metaphor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Phone "Disconnect" - the Perfect Metaphor - Lisa Braver Moss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"how do I use a payphone – can I just put a quarter in and achieve a dialtone Such was the Instant Message I got from my college junior one recent evening on my laptop.\u00a0 I won\u2019t dwell on how close I was to typing back, all in caps, \u201cWhat!?\u00a0 You don\u2019t know how to…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lisabravermoss.com\/phone-disconnect-the-perfect-metaphor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lisa Braver Moss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-01-21T01:52:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-06-07T20:31:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lisa Braver Moss\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lisa Braver Moss\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lisabravermoss.com\/phone-disconnect-the-perfect-metaphor\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lisabravermoss.com\/phone-disconnect-the-perfect-metaphor\/\",\"name\":\"Phone \\\"Disconnect\\\" - 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