Urban Kid

I went to the nearby mall today with my aunt, MK (my 7-year-old cousin) and my mom. We went there because my aunt finally figured that it was time to give MK what he's always wanted. What is that thing? Trust me, it's no ordinary toy for a 7-year-old.

It's not a toy. It's not a book. It's not a video game.

It's an Acer laptop!

I'm 18 and I don't have a laptop yet. But he's only 7 and he beat me to it.
Talk about unfairness. Lol.

I asked my aunt today, "Isn't it a little bit too early giving him a laptop when he's still so young?"
"No, all the other friends have laptops, except him." came her reply.
I thought I'd heard wrongly. "Your friends or his friends?"
"His friends la. His classmates in school."

When I was 7 years old, all I ever wanted for Christmas was a new Barbie doll. Haha, yeah, you get my point. Little boys back then would die for a new remote-controlled car, or their favorite superhero action figure. We didn't give a damn about laptops and computers because we assumed they were for grown ups. Wait, were there even laptops in 1997? Wow, I feel so outdated XD

I remember how my dad used to complain that kids these days are "spoilt with the latest gadgets" when I got my first handphone in Form 3. It was the old monophonic one... black and white screen, without a camera or an mp3 player. And he still complained that I was too young to own a phone =.= He would start off with the commonly overused phrase, "Back then when I was your age . . . we didn't care about handphones. We probably hadn't heard of them. And today handphones are the 'in' thing among you youngsters."

And I'd go, "Oh, that's so sad. Well, everyone in my form has a handphone now."

After my cousin purchased his laptop, he was happily carrying the bulky black bag out of the shop and I told him, "You know, when I was your age last time, we didn't have laptops."

He looked at me like I'd just said the most ridiculous thing on earth. "Ha?? Serious ar? Then what you all play with?"

"Well we had dolls... LEGO... play dough... TV..." I was trying to think of all the childish games I'd played as a kid. Somehow those memories seemed so far away.

"But then hor, all my friends play computer games. They all got Internet. Last time you don't have ar?"

"Yeah." I said sadly.

Now I completely understand how it feels to be the victim of time.

I won't be surprised if the next Bill Gates turned out to be a teenager.

But thinking about it, I'm glad we didn't have laptops or PSPs and all that stuff last time. Because kids these days are missing out on their childhood with the hours they spend in front of the screen, gaming away. Hehe. At least, when we were young, we played real games. Not virtual games. We had a life. I miss my childhood =)