Show me

We got to talking the other day, as we so often do during these times when looking backwards is a lot less scary than looking forward, about the times in elementary school when Show And Tell was the order of the day.

Some kids were not so willing to get up in front of the class and show and tell about their model cars or Howdy Doody marionette or war surplus scabbard that their father brought home from the war. Big surprise, I was not one of

those kids. Week after week, I showed up with discarded police memorabilia, bashed firefighter helmets, flip books, out-of-town milk bottles, polliwogs, an Indian blanket my mother bought from a real Navajo, a deck of marked cards, and what my grandfather promised me were real wooden shoes from Holland.

My grandfather was such an avid collector of junk that he was unable to park his car in his garage, which bulged at the seams with car parts, tools, wood, extra sinks and toilets, and literally anything one could imagine. One day my father needed an angled pipe of a certain diameter, threaded at one end, and my granddad had just what he needed. So I come by my ways honestly.

I don't even know if kids do Show And Tell anymore in school. If they ever have school again. I think it would be a good idea, even though with current equipment being what it is, the kid could just bring in a video of his home atom splitter, which is not as cool as bringing the atom splitter in for the rest of the class to use.

BUT - are Facebook and Instagram and Snapchat and Whoozit and Whatsit and all those social media platforms just the modern form of Show And Tell? "We got a new car!" "Hildegarde chose her prom dress!" "Tonight's dinner: French Dip Halibut with Axolotl Pudding!" "Our dream vacation to the Gilligan Islands!" And on and on.

Same concepts, bigger audience. Although, I am proud as punch to be on Facebook with lots of people from Show And Tell days!