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A Book I can't Wait to Read (Don't Forget)

A Book I can't Wait to Read (Don't Forget)


So I heard an interview on the radio with the author of a book that just came out. The name of the book is The End of Forgetting. And then it has some subtitle about raising kids in this day and age of social media. Of course, I promptly forgot the exact wording of the subtitle. But anybody can find it online!

As you can guess from the title, the author--who's a professor at the New School--talks about how kids growing up today live in a world that leaves no room for forgetting. Most likely, information on anyone is a simple click away. Although if you are a parent with money, she predicts that you may soon have the option to hire someone to make your digital footprint harder to find. Why would privileged parents go to such lengths? Well, if they want their kid to get into a top-notch college and their kid posted something stupid in the past (like no teenager has ever done, right?), then they wouldn't want to advertise this. 

I couldn't help thinking of an unwanted tattoo as I listened to the interview. How many of us know someone who has gotten a tattoo and regrets it now? If they have the money, they may go through the trouble of paying for it to be erased.  I think a digital footprint is even worse, in that it's virtually (no pun intended) impossible to erase completely.

I tried to get the book from the library in my own hometown. But, alas, the 11th largest city in the United States didn't have it yet and it's a process to put in a simple request for any book, old or new. I have to go through this whole process at the computer or answer a bajillion questions from the Library Assistant. And I was already juggling an armload of children's books while keeping an eye on the two girls I take care of. The one and a half year old had a stinky diaper and was smashed to my breast in a Karin Frost-designed Ergo Baby Carrier, and the 4-year-old is unsteady on her feet. 

I decided to call the small town library in Bee Cave, just up the road. Their library is a rectangle of a room in the Bee Cave Courthouse. As of two years ago, the town's population was 6739. I liked their response better: If the book doesn't show up in their boxes of new books within the next couple weeks, then I just call them back or stop by and tell them what book I want. They write it down and will hopefully order it. 

I just hope I don't forget.

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