The Future Is Now

It is 2008. My grandparents have been dead for many years. Both of my parents have died as well as some of my friends, and I realize that I now live in a time that was once thought of as the future. In years past, but especially when I was a little girl, there was much speculation about the future, the twenty-first century. I remember magazines and newspapers that depicted futuristic transportation with imaginative drawings of sleek low cars without tires that got around by some sort of air power. I was in awe over the way they would lift up over each other and ease back down. Skinny women with severe haircuts and facial expressions to match were pictured in tight silver outfits walking along stark streets. People took pills for their nourishment instead of wasting their time preparing meals. Humanoid robots were did the daily chores while we enjoyed leisure time. Maybe we would even be communicating with beings from outer space! Alas...fifty years later, life is pretty much the same. Cars may be faster and sportier but they still have tires. People haven't changed much except for getting fatter, and cooking has made a comeback. Robots really haven't panned out. And women do not have it easier. Matter of fact, aside from new technologies, I don't see the big magazine spreads about what the future may be like. With all the potential for harm to the earth and its inhabitants one to another, I think many of us just hope there will be a future to speculate about.