My kids just got back from camp today. They were away two weeks, and they seem to have had a pretty fabulous time. I'm sure they'd like to show us pictures of the good times they had, but that's going to have to wait. About two weeks in fact. Whaaa?
The official camp rules prohibit the kids from bringing digital cameras (and many other types of electronic devices). So we sent ours with disposable ones from the drug store. I was stunned to discover, when I brought the cameras to be developed, that the store, a major retail chain, no longer processes roll film; they send it to the manufacturer, where it is developed and sent back.
Such is the fate for many who use roll film, although for the professionals who still use it, there are plenty of labs, especially in a big city, where they can get their work done right and fast. Now, some major drug store chains will still develop roll film and offer you one-hour photo services. And big warehouse stores like Costco do it, too. So all is not totally lost. But for how much longer? Let's face it, even people of my mom's generation (to give you a sense of her age: she voted for Nixon three times) use digital cameras these days. (Of course, they also remember when you'd drop your roll of instamatic film off and wait for two weeks to get it back...)
What's really annoying is that some kids at camp did in fact bring digital cameras! We could have seen pictures instantly had we done the same. But no, we followed the rules, and now we're going to wait til summer's almost over to see all the fun. It's just so funny that in an era where stuff like camp pictures can go viral in an instant, I've suddenly entered the 1970's.
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