The Times They Are A Changing.

I was thinking last night, about how I used to be able to go to the video store and rent movies for Halloween. Or how every friday I'd be able to go to West Coast Video and rent a movie. And then it got me thinking, those days are pretty much gone. Video stores are practically gone. Sure some of the big ones are left hanging around on life support. But the good old fashioned small neighborhood video stores are dead. So I started thinking of 7 things that I had growing up that are pretty much either extinct or close to it. Here they are.

1. Cassette Tapes. Ahh those days of listening to the radio. Waiting for your favorite song at the moment to come. Blank tape inside the radio, with pause and record held down, and then quickly un pausing it hoping you got the start of your favorite song on tape. Or having to fix the tape that was just eaten by your radio.

2. VHS Tapes. Keeping with the same tune as number 1. Having to actually fast forward through previews and scenes you didn't want to see. No skipping to the next chapter, none of that. Hey I still have some VHS tapes.

3. CDs. Yup they are still in stores. Their prices have dropped. (I can get some of my old favorites for 5 dollars now a days) But they are going going gone. Now that we can download music, cds are a dying brand. You don't need to go out and buy them, just download the song. Hell you can even sample the whole album and just buy what you want. Or download for fee :)

4. Floppy Disk. They don't even give you that option with your computer, unless you still have Windows 95. Kids in school today probably don't even know what they are. I remember if you didn't look at a floppy or save something to it in a certain amount of time it was no good.

5. Home Telephone. Let's face it, nobody has a home phone no more. E.T. is phoning home with a cell phone now, maybe even texting home. So many people are dropping the home phone for their camera, I mean music player, I mean computer, I mean cell phone. I mean really, even using a phone for calling is almost becoming extinct.

6. Satruday Morning Cartoons. And for that matter, waiting for your show to come on. Times have changed. You used to have to set your vcr to record your show or wait for reruns if you couldn't catch. Now just go on demand and boom you got it. It's sad that kids don't get Saturday morning cartoons any more. They were the best, and of course every generation will claim that theirs were the best. This generation can't argue that because they don't have them.

7. The Local Video Store. Ahh the small local video store. Everyone knew each other. Hearing that tape bounce up as you opened that huge case. Making sure you get to the store in time to drop it off. Wondering why the adults were going through those bar room doors at the "adult section."