Watching old movies really brings home how "advances" in technology reshape society, especially between the "mature generation" and young "know-it-alls."
The scene: 20 years from now. Thanksgiving dinner at my house. In attendance; my aged self, now 85, the ever-lovely Mrs. Beachboy, my brother and his 2 kids and 4 grandkids. Assorted nieces and their kids. After slicing the turkey with my new ultrasonic knife, dinner is served and conversation ensues... kind of.
After our relations finish blabbing about their new photosynthesis-powered personal transporters, fancy experiences spent at home in their fantasy rooms (all walls covered by huge LED screens, like an old-fashioned LED TV on steroids). Then one of the young whippersnappers notices my... bulge. "Hey great uncle Beachboy, you got a bulge in your shirt." The room becomes silent. "Oh that," I hastily reply. "That's an ostomy." "An osta...what?" the tender young miscreant replies. So I decide to tell the tale: Bygone days of operations, hospitals, intestines, and most of all: getting supplies.
"Well young Jimmy, back in the 2020s, we didn't have medical Tricorders like today that fix most ailments... No! We had to have surgeries, and treatments, and worst of all: a dadgum stoma. Getting supplies back then was tough. We didn't have an Amazab mind controller like all you young'uns have today. Why, you think of what you want and a drone drops it off an hour later. Noooo. I had to walk 30 miles, in the snow. Freezing my butt off in the cold wind. Had to fight off muggers always trying to steal my shoes. And sometimes they did. But I pressed on...barefoot. I needed those stoma supplies. And worst of all: It was uphill all the way. Both directions!"
Yes, technology changes, but tall tales of the old days remain.
