COMMUNICATING
WITH TODAY’S
YOUTH
MARC MENCHER
My first cellphone in the 1970s let me know that times were changing because to make
a call, I had to press a button that said, “SND.”
A s a writer, words are my stock and trade, which gets me into
trouble when communicating with those under 30 years of age.
I am beginning to become aware that a term such as “stock and
trade,” relating to business, has no meaning for that group.
They have never used a dial telephone, a typewriter or a
fountain pen. If I were to say to one of them, “Don’t touch that dial,” they
would not know what I meant anymore than if I asked them to bring me a
piece of carbon paper. They have probably never heard of a jalopy and don’t
know what I mean when I say everything is hunky-dory.
86 I’m not myself today and everybody has noticed the improvement