You've got mail, my kids, & calling the internet. #aol

I often pull from my real life when I am on the road, and perhaps my favorite moment of all time happened less than a year ago.

We, like many families, own streaming devices and have all the things (Netflix, Prime, Hulu) - so our kids enjoy watching the occasional "old movie" - except to them old movies are 90s romantic comedies.

Quite possibly my favorite movie of all time was You've Got Mail. Those 3 little words. They brought joy to me as a teenager. Instant Messaging, chat rooms, and being able to find out the latest "news". Flash forward to a Gen... Z(Not sure what we are calling my kids these days) and having to explain the movie as it unfolds really makes me laugh.

As an "elder millennial" this cracks me up to no end. I can't believe it.

You see friends, the smartphone is 11 years old- and the first website was built around 26 years ago. My kids sit and pause the movie, they ask "Why is the computer is making a phone call?" I explain that in the "old" days we used to have to call the internet. The kids ask, "But what about the Wifi?". I explain there was no Wifi. They ask for clarification of how we used to make the computer call the internet, so I explain that you used your landline. I get blank stares.

It's then I realize we don't have a landline and haven't had one in sometime. More importantly, they are expressing sympathy and concern because we didn't have wifi in my day. My daughter suddenly looks at me- "Like the phones in hotels?" Yup, I nod.

"But what if you needed to call someone?" they ask I respond simply - "You Waited."It makes me think- when was the last time you had a busy signal?

"Wow mom, it must have been so hard in the old days." I laugh.

I sit now and think about it. The early days of the internet were a mix of excitement and energy. I'm sad that the kids will never hear the sound of a modem connecting to the internet, or the pain of getting that grainy webcam image of your cousin in another city, waiting as it loads line by line.

They'll never get to experience the thrill of 3 little words that could make you awesome and feel so important "You've Got Mail".

I still miss that.

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Maresa Friedman is a Strategist & Speaker who spends her days on the road and time with CEO's helping them refine strategies to GSD. The mix of academia & action- she is on a mission to get businesses over their Marketing PTSD.