Back in my day, there was no teen undie line.

I am well aware that the older I get, there is more potential of cranky, "I didn't have that in my day" proclamations.  I am happy that Laurel has the Internet.  I didn't start using the Internet until 1998 when I was 26.  Years prior I would sit in a musty, cat smelling public library looking through out of date Encyclopedia Britannica's.  In college, my resources were either books listed in the Dewey decimal system or microfiche.  Laurel will never have that...she can go on any search engine and type in her question.  Today I did this a couple of times, wondering the Popes of the Past or the 1996 NBA draft.  Again, not bitter.  My years of searching made me more creative or perhaps a little smarter.

Laurel will never have to worry about having a quarter to use the payphone.  She will have her own phone...probably at some point, the size of a quarter.  She will never know the clunkiness of a Walkman or the whirring of a rewinding cassette tape.  What I consider innovative in technology will appear old school in a few years.  Again..not a problem.

But I had to do a double take when I saw that Victoria's Secret was launching a teen undie line.  Really?  First of all, growing up, my undies were plain.  I remember wanting something fancier as I matured into my teen years.  My mom would ask--"Why?  Who is going to see them?" Keep them plain and out of sight...(she never said that last part but it may be something that I will stress to Laurel).  When I got older, still wanting fancy drawers, there was something taboo about pawing through the bin of big girl undies at a department store...so I kept to the three in a pack package, paid for them and got the hell out of there.  Then Victoria's Secret happened...back when I thought it was cool...when Victoria actually had a secret.  The stores seemed private...nicely sorted undies or the catalogue.  Granted you still had to call your order in if you used the catalog but the help was so nice..(except that time I got a dude.)  It seemed like such a right of passage.  Now they are offering the duds to younger girls...girls who shouldn't know the either the pain or discretion of a thong.  Are fancy undies just going to become commonplace?  Are three in a pack going to be no more?

God help me but I am acting like a bitter old woman.  "Back in my day, there was no teen undie line."  So Laurel will wear her three in a package undies as long as her childhood deems possible...even if they are Hello Kitty undies.  (Yes, I will bury my head in the sand with that one and ignore the undertone.)

Thank you to my sister Jess for pointing out this subject.  I am hoping her daughter is more mature than mine and she will have to deal with fancy undies first.