I have this foolish notion that I am still 22 years old. One look in the mirror tells me otherwise, but in my head I still feel young. When Taylor Swift released her 1989 album, I thought, “How cool; that’s the year I graduated high school.” Then I realized that it was also the year Taylor Swift was born, and it instantly became much less cool. Still, I am often astounded by reminders of my advancing age.
Many of these reminders come from living with my children. A mere quarter century separates their childhoods from mine. Yet our experiences are so vastly different, in large part due to an explosion of technology.
In a century, what will my great-great-great grandchildren think of their own parents’ childhoods? I will be a distant memory for them, if I am remembered at all. All they will have is this theoretical time capsule that I am building today.
There is room for ten items:
1. My cell phone. It’s a pretend time capsule, because I would never actually bury my phone. I can’t imagine it would work in a century, but I think future people would get a kick out of it. It would hold the same entertainment value as a corded phone does for children today.
2. A book. Will books made of paper and ink even exist in 2115? How sad if they don’t. I enjoy e-books, but they can’t compare to holding a weighty book and turning the pages.
3. Photographs. I could include a flash drive instead, but by 2115 that technology will most likely be obsolete. Instead, I would include photos of our family and our world. These vignettes would provide a glimpse into life in the olden days. How odd will our clothes look to people in the future? Not as odd as the clothing of the 1970s:
4. A Twinkie. I’m fairly confident it would be just as edible in a century as it is now. My hope is that future humans would be horrifically fascinated by such an engineered food source, because it has been eradicated from the Earth in favor of real food.
5. A packet of seeds, in case Twinkies are king and real food has been eradicated from Earth. I’d include assorted fruits and vegetables, but no kale. I’m so tired of kale.
6. The Cards Against Humanity game. This game is so irreverent, and best played with close friends who have a liberal sense of humor. Future humans would be horrified by this game if they viewed it out of context. I think it would be funny, because I’m a little evil that way. To be less evil. I’ll include an explanation of the game. But I still think it would provide an interesting insight into our world in 2015.
7. Cash – a few coins and a few dollar bills. Cash may be nonexistent in a century, and if it isn’t, my $3.63 is going to be worth at least $20. Or maybe it will be worth $0.0046.
8. Sunscreen. The hole in the ozone layer isn’t getting any smaller, and I’d wager that by 2115 sunscreen is as vital as water.
9. A hoodie and yoga pants. It makes me sad to think of a future without hoodies and yoga pants.
10. A letter to the recipients, describing each item in the time capsule. A letter will also prove that human beings used to write with a pen and paper. I won’t write in cursive, though, because no one will be able to read cursive in a century.
What would you include in a time capsule? Have you played Cards Against Humanity?
OMG this was absolutely brilliant, Dana!! And you’re not 22? Hum. *wink* I love emails that make you smile and think….and that entice “water cooler” talk. I’m going to through this around with my buddies and see what we come up with. Great read! 🙂
I’m 23. 😉
I have not played Cards Against Humanity, but one of my clients tells me I should. She always has extremely funny stories that involve that game!
Good idea not to write in cursive for your time capsule. Sadly, you’re most likely correct in assuming that it wouldn’t be understood one hundred years from now.
I know – that is sad. And definitely check out Cards Against Humanity!
i would have totally said cell phone as well. love that you have cards against humanity. that is very telling of our day and age 🙂
It is, isn’t it? That game is so wicked and fun.
First of all, 1989. Crap. I graduated high school in 90 so we’re about the same age. And of course, I only know Taylor Swift songs because of parodies. Even worse.
Next, genius re Twinkies and Cards Against Humanity. I’d been wanting to play the game for about a year when a friend brought it by the other weekend. Haven’t laughed like that in so long.
And you’re almost certainly right about cursive. I don’t think they teach handwriting in school anymore. Definitely a Brave New World (paperback not Kindle version). So weird to think my daughter will probably have a cell phone in high school. And I remember doing my papers in college in the library. What internet?
I know! I was one of the few students with their own computer in college because my dad had an old one he gave me. That black screen with the neon green lettering – remember that?
My son didn’t learn cursive, but my daughter did (three years earlier). His signature is kinda pathetic, and he can’t read cursive very well.
This is such a fun idea. I would put some of my original paintings in them.
That’s a great idea!
These are awesome items to put into a time capsule! A cell phone and some pictures would be in mine, too. I haven’t played Cards Against Humanity, but I’m intrigued 🙂
You should check out the website – the game is so much fun!
What a fantastic list of items for a time capsule! And I’m so glad to hear I’m not the only one who’s tired of kale ;).
Played Cards Against Humanity this past weekend with my girlfriends – so much hilarity and fun! I would say it’s definitely the game of the century.
I agree! But it’s hard to play when kids are around. Definitely not for their ears.
Love your list! I said books because I wanted them to know what types of topics were popular nowadays. I never really thought that, 100 years form now, there might not even be any books until I read your and Rabia’s posts! I have heard of that game but have never played – I;m never with a group of adult sans kids, it seems. If we make it to BlogU again, it sounds like a fantastic dorm room (or hotel room) game!
For some reason, your comments always go in my spam folder, Lisa. I fish them out, but that’s why I don’t always reply quickly. Anyway…yes, you do not want to play Cards Against Humanity with any kids present!
When I saw this week’s prompt, I was thinking of including a cell phone too because OMG what will they have then?? And I’ve only played Cards once but after doing so, I bought it on Amazon because best fun ever!!!
Ooh, I’d love to play that with you, Kristi! And you can’t play with just anyone, so I mean that as a compliment 🙂
Ah, #6 is so awesome. I wonder if the cards would still be funny then. Or if people would be offended by them by then. Or consider them lightweight! (yikes)
I love the smartphone idea. My mom always says that my dad loved technology and wouldn’t it be amazing to bring him back to life for one day and blow his mind with the video games and phones and TVs of today. I think it would freak him out.
It’s amazing how much technology has advanced in the past 30 years – it’s a totally different childhood for our kids. I wonder if having a cell phone would have made things better or worse for me in middle and high school – I certainly would have gotten in fewer fights with my sister over the use of our home phone!
Isn’t it odd that, in order for the 2115 folks to see our pictures, we have to go backwards to the days when we actually printed photos? It makes me think that there will be a large gap in pictorial historic records. Or will we all have to keep updating our storage medium just as we have all had to convert VHS tapes to DVDs?
Nope, I’ve never played that game! Oh, a time capsule would be so much fun to open! I would put something in there that would let them listen to today’s music. Some Uptown Funk to get our future beings dancing!
This is a perfect time capsule. I have such a hard time with the idea of paper books becoming obsolete. Just imagine the horror of the home decorators! I might even add a day planner to the mix. I know some people love them, but I’m all about my Google calendar!
See as I reading your list I said I would write something in cursive – I love cursive and miss it too, but that is me. love your list BTW.
I can’t believe you’d give them Cards Against Humanity!! They would really hate us for sure! LOL!!
I couldn’t help it – I think it would be hilarious. I guess I would include an explanation too, but that takes the fun out of it. 😉
Fun list of things to include in a time capsule. I think I would put a cordless phone – I”m sure that those will be nonexistent soon!!!
I ordered Cards Against Humanity but we still haven’t played it yet – our group for New Year’s Eve was a little hesitant – weird:)
You don’t want to play with a hesitant group! You have to go all in and not be easily offended. And do you know I still have a corded phone? I keep it in case our power goes out, because then we lose our cordless phone. Although with cell phones, I don’t really need it anymore.
You definitely have to be careful about who you play Cards Against Humanity with. I love it but it is definitely full of offensiveness potential. Which book would you include?
I don’t know, Kate – that’s why I didn’t name one! Contemporary fiction, I think, but I can’t pin one down.
A twinkie – that’s funny! Yes, hopefully our grandchildren will think that’s the craziest thing humans every put in their bodies! I’d definitely include photographs and a letter…a very thought-provoking post!
It was thought-provoking to write – harder than I thought. If my time capsule were real, future humans would think we were pretty strange back in 2015.
This is a brilliant post in so many ways.
I would like to think that my future family has some notion about me. I have a silver trophy from 1915 that my great grandfather won in a walking race. But me? What would I leave behind? Hmmmm. I’ll work on that. Thank you.
A few years back we were staying at a motel for a swim meet. My son pulled open a drawer to find a perfectly good half eaten container of McDonald’s fries. They looked as if they were fresh. God only knows how long they’d been in there. It was chilling.
That is chilling – and disgusting. Food is meant to decompose and rot! Come to think of it, I have found the occasional french fry in my car, and it looks none the worse for the wear. Yuck.
I’ve never heard of that card game, but I’m going to check it out! My kids laugh at some of the clothing choices of years past, but then a couple years later it seems they’re wearing them and they’re back in style!
Oh Marie – that card game is obscene! But so much fun if you are with the right people.
What a fun list! I would be devastated if books – real paper books – were wiped from society. Photos and Cards Against Humanity are great things to include. And Twinkies are just hilarious!
It was nice to do a light piece for this one, Christine. I’d hate to lose real books too. What a loss that would be.
As a class of 89 alumni can I say this is NOT what our parents looked like in their 40’s? I mean, we are still cool no matter what our kids say. I played Cards for the first time the other night with some girl friends. I haven’t laughed so freaking hard in a long time. What happens if in 2115 the Puritans take over again? You will be shocking them by how permissive we were!
I know – I just think it would be funny to include the cards – how messed up would the people who opened the time capsule think we were??
Read your post on SSBE so thought I’d drop by! What a great post and very witty selection of things to put in a time capsule. LOL on not writing in cursive because people won’t be able to read it then. I’d put some traditional math-solving worksheets in there, and maybe my collection of Friends DVDs.
Thanks for stopping by, Lisa! You are right about cursive – my son never learned it and can’t read it very well. Funny, we are working our way through the entire series of Friends with the kids – halfway through Season Two! They get a kick out of the high waisted jeans and the other fashion – and that was only 20 years ago!
I have no idea why I didn’t think of money, bit glad everyone else did 🙂 Also between your twinkles and the Lieber Family chicken nuggets we are covered with regards to food that will NEVER age!!! Scary 🙂 I too would leave many photographs…. I love looking at how hip we all thought we once looked 🙂
Have a great day!
xoxoxo
Photographs would be so entertaining to look through – I get a kick out of looking at my own old ones, and I was around for those!
Do kids even learn how to write in cursive anymore?
I hope in 100 years #4 will be way more interesting than #5! And books had better still exist in 100 years. As convenient an eReader is, there is no substitute for holding an actual book!
Gwen learned cursive, but three years later it wasn’t taught to James. How sad! His signature needs some work – it’s not the same in print as it is in cursive.
Family pics are a must — I am fully convinced we will look just as crazy to our future selves as those 70s pics look now! (I actually kind of love that… I have a Christmas album where I save my Xmas card and a family photo each year and I purposefully choose the “trendiest” card style (you know… chalkboard art, washi tape, etc) just to chuckle over it later.
I love that, Sarah. It’s a great idea, so that you can really get a feel of what was popular each year.
I’m so bad at trying to think about what won’t be around… I mean, I still remember the good old days of researching at the library with the Dewey decimal system. When I was in university we didn’t use computers to research. They were foreign. Some people were using them for email and such — and we were in awe! Bcs what really was email???? My husband is away on business right now and we facetimed yesterday. Whhhaaattt???? Maybe soon he’ll be able to physically step through my phone?!? Crazy world. The good and the bad. Bcs it would be nice to open my time capsule and have a stack of love letters too:)
I didn’t use computers for research in college, either. I once applied for a job at my local library, and I had to alphabetize a bunch of cards from the card catalog as fast as I could as part of the interview. I wasn’t fast enough, so I worked at an ice cream parlor instead.
Number two – it’ll BREAK my heart if books are no longer around. Break. My. Heart. Love the family pic, too:)!
I would break my heart too. Great pic, isn’t it? I’m sure my parents love that I’m using it again…
Hahaha – definitely have to include a hoodie and yoga pants!! You know I would have to add my GPS watch (although it wouldn’t work!), running shoes and maybe some racing bibs, etc. I’m sure the athletes of the future would get a kick (pun intended) out of my running shoes and what would be considered very slow running times by then! What a great idea 🙂
Running shoes would be a great thing to add – maybe they’d be using winged shoes by then!
I graduated back in 1995 and it would be 20 years this upcoming year. Kevin recently had a college intern working for him who was born (you guessed it) in 1995. When he told me, I totally felt old. Loved your time capsule and think you picked some great items.
I know what you mean – the interns at Matt’s firm make me feel so old! Big reunion coming up, Janine – make sure you share if you go!