My Family Second Generation

Second Generation

My mother, Clarissa Jabines Tabel, is the 15^th child of my grandfather and grandmother. She was born on November 6, 1968 and grew as a kid to adulthood in the 70s and 80s (mom is not a hippie). Much has been changed since the time of my grandmother’s. Many IT developments ushered with the help of the Cold War fought by First and Second Countries. My mom and her contemporaries spent their generations’ time as the first people to experience IT revolution.

The means of entertainment evolved greatly. My mother loves listening to FM radio tuned in the local frequency 101 or the Y101FM. During her time, a song (both local and international) gets popularized easily thanks to the widespread media. My mother loves to listen to pop music, especially songs from Michael Jackson. She loves how MJ uses synthpop in his music being accompanied by high energy dance moves. My mom used to buy tapes of Michael Jackson, glam rock bands, Tiffany, and many more. To see her favorite artists perform, my mother used to buy betamax.

After class, my mother watches the television to watch her favorite drama series. At night, after completing her assignments, she would listen to relaxing music played on the FM radio. During lunchtime, my mother and her siblings are fond of watching Eat Bulaga – an entertainment show.

As a Carolinian, my mother relates to me the joy of college life. She relates me her ecstasy during the concert of Gary V. She told me that every Friday night she and her friends would hang out for the night on the disco with all the groove and funk! Dancing as loud rhythms, exciting music synchronizations, and heart beating bass lines follows their every move. They would also hang out at KTV bars and sing Karaoke songs all night long.

Communications too became widespread, but it’s gradual. During my mother’s time during college (1980s) writing letters were still very popular amongst many. The earliest form of social networking is the pen pal. My mother had her pen pal from the United States. Her friend would give her special cards during holidays and my mother would send post cards from the Philippines. Telephones are practically used domestically. My mother seldom receives calls from my father during the time my father was still courting her. The pager was also invented during my mother’s time. My mother gets her first pager at 1988 when she graduated from college.

During the 70s and 80s (when my mother grew up), information source for news progressed to a high degree. My mother and her contemporaries get more information compared to my grandmother’s. My mother would love to read the newspaper every Sunday; she loves to read the Philippine Daily Inquirer. In contrast with my grandmother’s generation, news is now aired on the televisions as well on radios. My mother doesn’t usually listens to news on the radio but she frequently watches news in the TV. There she gets information on current events.

For school purposes, information was a bit stagnant. It is quite difficult to research assignments during my mother’s generation. They have to go to libraries in order to look for the subject they must research on. My mother has her own set of encyclopedias at home so doing small assignments becomes easy to answer.

During my mother’s time, computers were not yet commercially mass produced and the killer app MS Word is yet to be created, so my mother had to rely on the use of the typewriter. My mother used the typewriter when she made her thesis. She used it in many of her school related works. The typewriter is helpful but it has bad sides too because when you make a mistake at the middle of your work you got to use a white ink to erase it, making your work dirty.