The other day, I realized I haven’t heard a sentence in years.
“Let’s buy a map.”
For some readers, that probably brings back memories immediately. For others, especially anyone under 30, it probably sounds like something from a history book.
Remember when we’d buy a road map, spread it across the hood of the car or the kitchen table, and trace our route with a yellow or orange highlighter?
Then everyone piled into the car. The driver became the pilot. The passenger became the navigator.
How many times did you hear:
“Take the exit!”
“For Christ’s sake, you missed it!”
We didn’t have some calm, sexy voice saying, “In one mile, take Exit 14.”
We had an angry, hungry, tired passenger providing real-time emotional navigation.
Then we moved on to dashboard-mounted Garmin GPS units.
I once helped lead a four-car caravan from New Hampshire to Florida using a Garmin and walkie-talkies.
Believe it or not, a four-car caravan still missed an exit.
As Kramer would say, “I let the expletives fly.”
And then there were the maps themselves.
You practically needed an engineering degree to fold one back into its original shape. Most ended up crammed into the glove box.
That got me thinking.
Why is it called a glove box?
I’ve never seen gloves in one.
I have seen almost everything but gloves and some things I could not identify in the glove box.
But gloves?
Never.
Technology has changed so much over the last few decades that it’s easy to focus on what we’ve gained. Smartphones, streaming, instant communication, and now AI seem to change the world every few months.
Everything new eliminates something we used to say without thinking.
The Last time, check out this post.
Things We Don’t Say Anymore
- “Let’s buy a map.”
- “Look it up in the phone book.”
None of these disappeared because they were bad ideas.
They disappeared because we no longer needed them.
Today, the GPS is built into our cars or sitting in our pockets. We can drive across the country without unfolding a single piece of paper.
It’s hard to believe we ever found our way without it.
Although, judging by my four-car caravan, technology didn’t eliminate wrong turns.
It just gave us a calmer voice while we made them.
So now I’m curious.
What’s something you used to say all the time that younger generations may never say—or even understand?
I’d love to hear your memories in the comments.
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