The 90s Gadget of a Lifetime…

My eBay package arrived in the mail yesterday.

Packages at our house are quite a big deal for one specific reason: we have a five year-old. This means that, when we arrive at home, we have a special ritual involving me unbuckling him from his car seat, him standing up and peeking out the car’s moonroof (weather permitting), closing the moonroof, pretending to drive, turning the headlights on and off no less than five times, and finally exiting the vehicle. At that point we have to go through a whole ritual which involves getting the mail from the mailbox. And maybe take a short walk around the neighborhood.

But the real fun begins when we get to the front door. That’s where the packages are left — between the screen door and the front door. Sometimes he’ll even run ahead and stick himself between the two doors and declare himself to be a package. That’s the type of excitement we’re talking about.

Yesterday was a three package day. The kid was freaking out! One package was fabric for a new quilt socKs is making. (The kid is great at not only reading the names on the packages but also asking “is it for me also?”) The next one was a Threadless t-shirt — also for socKs. But the third one was truly wonderful. Manna from heaven. Except that this was from somewhere in Ohio. And not edible.

I drive a ’97 Honda Accord that used to be my mom’s. It still has its original audio system in it, albeit not a great one, but hey — it works. There was never any need to get an in-dash CD player in her car. Her commute, by the time she and my dad bought the car, was about four miles round trip. She would listen to the classical music station or NPR.

But it had a cassette deck in it — one that was rarely used.

Now don’t get me wrong: I’ve had vehicles before which have had tape decks in them. But I’ve also opted to remove them in favor for an aftermarket CD deck (and, later, an MP3CD deck). This, I believed, was the wave of the future: people listening to MP3s on CDs.  11 hours of music on one CD! How could anyone top that?

And then the standalone MP3 players came along. Whoops…

My old cassette adapter died several months ago. There was no longer the proper amount of tension to allow the internal mechanism to turn, which played cruel games with the auto-reverse function of the tape deck.  And I finally got around to purchasing one off of eBay for about four bucks including shipping.  I’ve been listening to the radio for the past several months — and sometimes liking it. With the five-year old in the car, I would switch between the two classic / “world class” rock stations and help him identify some of the instruments and groups. If it was a song by the Beatles, Elton John or the Foo Fighters he might even sing along!

So — today I got to listen to the MP3 player in the car again. The conditions were perfect: a sunny day in the 60s. windows down, roof open, MP3 player blasting. I was singing along to mashups of cheesy 80s songs fused with rap. I was even getting some stares in traffic.  When I picked up the kid from school, we were able to engage in one more tradition that he loved: listening to mash-ups of the Beatles and Beastie Boys and singing along.

Who would have thought that such a simple relic from another decade could have such an impact on my attitude during my commute?

Thank you, O purveyor of this lovely car cassette adapter! Rest assured you’ll get positive feedback from me on the ‘Bay…