“Children of light and sound.” I was repeating what my mother had just said because I liked the way it sounded. “That’s pretty. What does it mean?” My mother, who is a semi-retired high school teacher, explained, “It’s what I call your generation. You all were the first to grow up with Sesame Street and The Electric Company. In those shows, something changes about every thirty to sixty seconds. You learn about the letter ‘A’ for sixty seconds then it’s on to the next thing. They talk about the ‘ow’ sound for thirty seconds, then it’s on to the next thing.” “Uh huh.” I said. She went on, “So there is a constant flickering on the television, light and sound, light and sound.” “Hmmm.” I said wistfully remembering the days when the Electric Company and Zoom were the highlight of my day.

“Yep.” My mother continued, “You all were a challenge to teach because you have short attention spans. A teacher standing in front of the class doesn’t flicker on and off every sixty seconds like Sesame Street, so it was difficult to hold your attention.” “Uh huh.” I said, still daydreaming. “Wait a minute!” I said sitting up suddenly, “Did you just call us f*cking dummies?” “That’s not what I said.” My mother smiled calmly. “Listen old lady, I pretend to be a writer on the interwebs so I know a euphemism when I hear one.”

“Children of light and sound.” My mother said smirking.