Who would have thunk it?

'Who would of thunk it?' is an expression used to express surprise or disbelief at an unexpected event. It is often used as a humorous reaction to trivial things such as, 'Who would have thunk Tom and Janice got married?' or 'Who would of thunk I would live to be this old'? However, I will use 'Who would have thunk it?' to express my surprise at many of the changes in my lifetime.

Who would have thunk that one day people would actually go to the store to buy drinking water? Growing up in Dorchester, our home place had its own well, so our water was free. If I wanted a really good cold drink of water, I would walk to the farm down the road and drink from a hand pump in the milk house. I certainly would never pay for water.

Who would have ever thunk that one day I would pay $25,000 for a new car? In 1967, when I signed my first teaching contract for $4,200, I considered purchasing a new vehicle. However, the prohibitive price of $2,700 made me buy a used car instead. And who would have thunk that there would also be cars that would run on electricity and not gasoline. And who would have ever thunk that new trucks could cost over $60,000?

Who would have thunk that one day, we would be carrying a small electronic device in our pocket that would enable us to make video phone calls, watch movies, listen to music, and research any topic imaginable? And who would have thunk that we could wear devices to monitor our health and give us medication when needed? Who would have thunk that someday we would have enormous-sized televisions hanging on our walls? And who would have thunk that these televisions could have hundreds of channels and that we could be paying hundreds of dollars each month to watch these TVs?

I could go on and on with all my 'Who would have thunk?' examples, but the list would be too long. There are many times when I yearn for the simpler days of my youth when gadgets and technology did not control my life. But I know I cannot go back in time; I can only go forward. But it does make me wonder what future generations will be talking about when they say, 'Who would have thunk?' I think I would rather not know.

BE OUR

G UEST

BY

KEN ANDERSON “THE MAYBERRY GURU”