Norwich District Highschool Reunion

This is me about a hundred years ago. Well, not quite that long but exaggerating makes me feel a little bit better about how much time has passed since my highschool graduation picture was taken.






A lot has changed in the world since 1975:

• Computers no longer fill an entire room and I don't have to drive to the University of Waterloo to use one


• Tobacco is no longer picked by hand and processed by a table gang, a stick shaker and a kiln hanger


• Communication - we had to go through an operator to make a local call, then we had a dial-up phone but were on a party line, then we had our own line! Now my daughter and I text each other from anywhere in the world, talk on MSN or Facebook - instant communication (though I still often forget I have a cell phone which annoys her immensely!)


• I no longer weigh 108 lbs. or anywhere near that amount which annoys ME immensely! I used to be able to eat endless Snack Bars and Passion Flakeys from the tuck shop after a Doughtery lunch of macaroni and cheese (soooooooo goooooood!)


• But I still play volleyball - that's one thing that hasn't changed:)


• I used to sass my teachers, now I AM the teacher (and I 'm still sassy!)


• My hair has changed rather dramatically - from long and wavy and auburn in Gr. 12 to a shorter cut in Gr. 13 to a salt and pepper brushcut now (looks sassy!)


• Weirdly enough clothing is going through the previous decade's styles all over again (but I just can't put myself back into leggings a second time and PLEASE OH PLEASE I never want to see stirrup pants again!)


• Prices: remember the 5 and 10 cent bags of chips? The 2 cent licorice sold singly, and the penny licorice shoelaces? Comics were 10 and 25 cents, bread was a quarter and delivered to your door by Scholtens Bakery, a chocolate bar was 10 cents, a pack of ciggerettes was around 50 cents and a gallon of gas was 53 cents the day I bought my first car. You could put $2.00 worth of gas in and drive from Norwich to Woodstock and back again...several times! (Of course we didn't earn a lot - my first job as a bank teller paid me $6,250.00 a year - I cleared $98.00 a week. But it was still enough to puchase my first brand-new car, a metallic gold 1978 Datsun410 hatchback- man I loved that car! Cost me $4,100.00.


• Coffee: I remember the first Tim Horton's in Woodstock though the only coffee I bought was from a machine in the old Royal Bank in Tillsonburg. Don't remember how much it cost - 10 or 25 cents? Now I fork out $4.75 for a decaf soymilk grande latte - how did I ever get to this amount of decadence in my life?


• In 1975 I could stay awake past 11:00pm; I could work in tobacco all day, go out rollerskating at night then go for pizza and still be up at 5am and ride my bike 5 miles to the tobacco farm. Right now it's 5pm and I'm in my "comfy" clothes, typing this post and watching the olympics. As long as I sit upright I'll stay awake.

I'm sure there are many more differences between 1975 and now and I will add them as they occur to me. Suffice it to say that some changes are good (wireless internet), some I'm not so sure about (bottled water), while others I could do without (double chin)!