One of the reasons xkcd is so great is that Munroe is so good at getting the perfect mix of amusement and the things that make you think. It’s comforting that someday we’ll forget about silly things like New Coke or VH1’s I Love the 80s. It will be a sad day when other things on the list are forgotten, like like the fall of the Berlin Wall or the Columbine shootings. Then there are the things on the list that we shouldn’t forget, like Chernobyl or Hurricane Katrina.
There are things there that we won’t forget. Sure, the kids may be too young to remember them, but we’ll share the biggest events of our lives with our children. I was in the English classroom in 6th grade with as many other people that could fit in the room to watch the verdict of the O.J. Simpson trial. That’s not something that matters, so if I don’t ever get around to telling my children that story, I won’t feel bad about it. When I was a kid, I learned that there were 9 planets in our solar system. Since my daughters will be learning something different, I’ll probably share that story with them.
One thing I will not neglect to tell my daughters about is what happened on September 11th, 2001. From the first report my mother and I heard on the radio on our way to school to the final peaceful hour of the day that I had during Calculus class to wandering the hallways later in in the day, fear and helplessness washing over me. And they can tell their children, even if it’s nothing more than “Grandma was a little girl when that happened.”
There will be things that we’ll never forget. And thankfully, there are lots more things that we will forget, like the final and most comforting thing on Munroe’s list: “2047: Anything Embarrassing You Do Today.”
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