I’m a just barely a gen alpha, a child of a millennial, a digital-native youth. And I was recently talking with my mother, someone who has grown up pre-digital and now exists in a world of constant social media notifications. And sometimes I wish I grew up like her. She spent her time playing in trees, exploring the backyard, or walking around the block. She had access to complete liberty, something I don’t.
She tells me stories of buying her first phone, mind you this was before smart phones. She had moved out of her parents house at 19 (without a phone!). And moved to Colorado to live with some friends. She said that her first phone was a flip phone with a pay-per-use plan. I don’t think she even had a computer. She was given a old 1986 Chevy Nova and used that to escape her childhood and drive into early adulthood.
And I think there is a common trend between her generation and mine. My friends and I talk about unplugging and rejecting social media. Especially with the rising development of AI I’m not sure I want to work in tech and am looking about learning a trade instead. AI is never going to replace plumbers! Or electricians.
Something also that I want to work on this summer is getting outside with my friends. Covid really was terrible and I miss being around people other than my mom. :/
There are all these new paddle ball courts around town, and I keep seeing them online. And maybe I’ll be even able to meet someone! I absolutely hate the apps and want to get off them. It apparently started in Mexico, way back in the 1960s. Ten years ago only 10,000 courts existed, but not that’s septupled.
I’ve played it a couple times, and I really love it. It harkons back to tennis a bit in my experience. But with out the yuppieness. It also seems like a lower barrier to entry, it’s not hard to pick up a racket and just enjoy yourself. Annnd you’re always playing with someone else. It’s a good time.
Now while earlier I ralled against technology, there’s one thing that I like about padel. It’s the ease of reservations. Sometimes I feel a bit of social anxiety when my friends and I come to a court and there’s people playing already. Apparently, it’s okay to just wait your turn. But sometimes I feel a bit weird? Or like when we’re all playing and want to go for another game, but then there’s some people waiting.
Some of these courts has a padel club management software so then we can just reserve the time we want, and there’s no social anxiety. Overall, the more I write about it, or think about it the more I want to play. I gotta get out of the house… my mother is slowly driving me insane.
