I had a dream that I was sitting in Mrs. Holt's English class at Oak Ridge High School in Orlando, Florida in March of 1965. Mrs. Holt gave us a weekend homework assignment to write a 1000 word essay entitled,"How The World Will Change in Fifty Years". Here is my essay that I would have written then. I would love to read yours.
"How The World Will Change In Fifty Years"
In fifty years, the thought of an un air conditioned classroom in Florida would probably be considered cruel and unusual. Probably a dirt parking lot would be considered unsafe. The world will have become so safe that the Strategic Air Command will no longer be necessary. The McCoy Air Force Base will be closed. Oak Ridge will survive and thrive. We have all heard rumors that Gene Autrey or Roy Rogers or Walt Disney or some other millionaire is going to open an amusement park near here. This will probably create enough jobs for Oak Ridge High School to continue to have students.
Within fifty years, the new Interstate 4 will probably be extended beyond Lee. Road, maybe as far as Sanford. There will probably be another shopping mall just like the new Colonial Plaza Shopping Mall at the corner of Bumby and Colonial.
I think television will change a lot in the next fifty years. Color television will become common in fifty years. Instead of three channels, we will probably be able to get fifteen channels. What we see on television will change. Sexual scenes will be common even on ABC and NBC. We will see couples naked in bed together in prime time. There will be more commercials. There will be commercials for things we don't see commercials for now. There will be advertizing commercials on the CBS evening news for products to make sex better. K Y will be advertising products to make sex more exciting. Trojan condoms will be advertising products to make sex safer. There will be commercials from lingerie companies for push up bras to make sex more likely. I also believe that television will start going out of style in fifty years. Much like radio went out of style fifteen years ago when television came along to replace radio. There will be something more exciting than television.
I think telephones will also go out of style. I believe a device will be invented that will allow us to communicate instantly and almost telepathically . The telephone will be too slow for the fast paced world fifty years from now. Speaking of being too slow, I believe that ovens will also go out of style. A faster , better way to cook will be invented in the next fifty years. Restaurants will become faster and better and cleaner. Many people will eat half their meals from fast restaurants.
I think that people will distrust the government even more in fifty years than they do now. People will also start to take a bigger stand against the government. Some of those marches and demonstrations that the Negros are doing now is just the beginning. In fifty years, people will be aghast to know that that we used to have "colored" rest rooms and water fountains at the court house. There will probably be a law against that someday. Probably in fifty years, the word Negro will be considered a pejorative word. To use such a word in public could probably cause a person to be socially ostracized or even fired from their job. The president of the United States could even be a Negro. We would never use that word to describe him.
Words and polite vocabulary will probably change during the next fifty years. Words like Wops and Japs and Spics and Pollocks will probably cease to be used by polite society. We probably won't call homersexuals queer anymore. Homersexuality probably won't even be considered unusual in fifty years. As homersexuality becomes more common, it will no longer be required to kept a secret as it is now. We will probably have men marrying men in fifty years.
Speaking of marriage, I believe marriage in general will take on a new connotation in fifty years. Having children out of wedlock will not have any social prohibition as it does now. If a woman chooses to have a child without a husband, she will. People may or may not choose to get married. Unmarried people of the opposite sex sharing a home will be common in fifty years.
Are women going to change in the next fifty years? You can be certain of that. Leadership by women in political roles and corporate roles will be common in fifty years. Women will probably still be fighting for equal pay for equal work. Female entrepreneurs will be common in fifty years. The mayor of Orlando may even be a woman, maybe an Oak Ridge High School graduate.
Have you read the book,"1984" by George Orwell? Mister Rubenstein assigned us that book to read for his class. It was written in 1947. It is not about history. It is about the future. In this book Orwell tells us that by 1984, the government will have a camera on every corner. Every move you make will recorded on a movie camera. You could even get a traffic ticket for running a red light because the camera saw you do it. I believe this will surely come to pass.
I think money will become obsolete in fifty years. The president of the United States, Lyndon Johnson, just last year did away with silver to back our money. Today our money is just paper. In fifty years, I think we will just have an account with our money in it. We will pay for things by giving the merchant a plastic card with our account number on it. Thieves will no longer use a gun to rob you. They will just figure out a way to get your money out of your account and into the thief's account. Merchants will love this system because they can keep records of what you buy and advertise to you based on what you buy. The government will also keep track of where and on what you spend your money.
I do have some good news. I think war will go out of style. The government will no longer force young men to go into the military when they turn eighteen.
Travel will be so much easier and less expensive in fifty years. Jet airplanes will make a trip to Atlanta as easy as a trip to Lakeland. Air travel will be considered safer than riding in a car. Tourists will be going to the moon. Lots of tourists will be coming to Orlando.
Cars will certainly be different. Almost all cars will have air conditioning and an automatic transmission and a FM radio. Cars will also have a map on the dash that tells us how to get where we are going. All cars will have seat belts. The government will require you to wear them.
Modern medical research will have cured most diseases. People will live much longer in the 21st century.
Books will no longer be published on paper. Books will be stored on vinyl discs like music is today. When you want to read, the words will be projected onto a screen. The government or whoever has control will be able to change books. If they find the language in a book like "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain offensive to modern society, they can just change it. I suppose they could also change history books.
Fifty years from now, lots of things will change. There is one thing that will never change. That is our memories of the wonderful time we have spent here at Oak Ridge High School. Fifty years from now when someone asks me,"Ron, Who was your favorite teacher at Oak Ridge?", I will tell them Mrs. Holt , my English teacher.
Here is Mrs. Holt's reply Ron I am giving you a B- . I had decided on a C but your last paragraph was brilliant. Have you considered a career in selling? I think you should learn to type. When you turn your paper in handwritten, it just does not look neat. When you get to college or the military, enroll in a typing class. This is a skill that will enhance your career. I like your use of sophisticated words like pejorative and ostracized. The only misspelled word you had was homosexual. Use your dictionary. Misspelled words make the author look foolish. Maybe in fifty years, someone will invent a typewriter that spells the words for you. I was concerned with some of your ideas about sex and marriage You mentioned sex a lot. I was so concerned that I have made you an appointment to see the school guidance counselor, Mr. Mayfield next Thursday at three. Be on time.
Fellow Pioneers, if you have an article that you could have written then, leave us a link to it in the remarks .
If you live or are visiting anywhere near Hendersonville, North Carolina, don't miss these beautiful waterfalls in this magnificent state forest. It is a very nice day hike. Wear your hiking shoes.
