Do you want to feel old?

So you don't think you are getting old?  Well I have news for you.  You probably will feel old after you read this year's Beloit College Mindset List.  This list provides a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college this fall, like my one grandson.   For this generation of entering college students, born in 1994, Kurt Cobain, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Richard Nixon and John Wayne Gacy have always been dead. (1)  They should keep their eyes open for Justin Bieber or Dakota Fanning at freshman orientation.  (2)  They have always lived in cyberspace, addicted to a new generation of "electronic narcotics."  (3)  The Biblical sources of terms such as "Forbidden Fruit," "The writing on the wall," "Good Samaritan," and "The Promised Land" are unknown to most of them. (4)  Michael Jackson's family, not the Kennedys, constitutes "American Royalty."  (5)  If they miss The Daily Show, they can always get their news on YouTube. (6)  Their lives have been measured in the fundamental particles of life: bits, bytes, and bauds. (7)  Bill Clinton is a senior statesman of whose presidency they have little knowledge.  (8)  They have never seen an airplane "ticket."  (9)  On TV and in films, the ditzy dumb blonde female generally has been replaced by a couple of Dumb and Dumber males. (10)  For most of their lives, maintaining relations between the U.S. and the rest of the world has been a woman's job in the State Department.  (11)  They can't picture people actually carrying luggage through airports rather than rolling it. (12)  There has always been football in Jacksonville but never in Los Angeles.  (13)  Having grown up with MP3s and iPods, they never listen to music on the car radio and really have no use for radio at all. (14)  Since they've been born, the United States has measured progress by a 2 percent jump in unemployment and a 16 cent rise in the price of a first class postage stamp. (15)  Their folks have never gazed with pride on a new set of bound encyclopedias on the bookshelf.  (16)  The Green Bay Packers have always celebrated with the Lambeau Leap.  (17)  Exposed bra straps have always been a fashion statement, not a wardrobe malfunction to be corrected quietly by well-meaning friends. (18)  A significant percentage of them will enter college already displaying some hearing loss.  (19)  Women have always piloted war planes and space shuttles.  (20)  Outdated icons with images of floppy discs for "save," a telephone for "phone," and a snail mail envelope for "mail" have oddly decorated their tablets and smart phone screens.  (21)  Star Wars has always been just a film, not a defense strategy. (22)  They have had to incessantly remind their parents not to refer to their CDs and DVDs as "tapes." (23)  There have always been blue M&Ms, but no tan ones.  These are just some of the items on this year's list.  Maybe you aren't feeling any older after reading this.  If that is the case, you may not want to join me as I go read the newspaper and listen to a few 45 rpm records hoping that my telephone doesn't ring to disturb me.