In the old days…

I remember watching my action-adventure program on my Aunt’s 10-inch black and white television. In the old days, if you had a VCR with a timer you could tape your favorite show. If you didn’t, you were at the mercy of the TV Guide accurately telling you your show’s airtime. In the old days, you didn’t have VCRs, you didn’t have TV Guide, you tuned in when the network told you the program aired. You trusted the network, your pal, your confidant. In the old days, you listened to the Shadow thwart the bad guys on your radio.  In the old days, you got your news from a tangible source- the newspaper, delivered to your home daily. Your fingers blackened from the ink, if you read it long enough, filled out the crosswords with vigor, and braved the drizzle outside to liberate the truth. If you had the money. In the old days, you got your pape from the newsboys, hawking the headlines for a deuce a read. In the old days, you disseminated information by oral history, word-of-mouth, by a long-lost art of opening your maw and spinning a tale only you could tell. In the old days you drew on cave walls with the blood of the ancients in your tribe, or the juice of the berries you were fortunate enough to forage. In the old days.