I'm so old...

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Replies

  • kdeaux1959
    kdeaux1959 Posts: 2,675 Member
    When i was a kid a "bit" was what one kid did to another and a "byte" was wrong on a spelling test. I am so old that I remember when a parent was called to the school over little Johnny's behavior, it was little Johnny that got in trouble... Not the teacher. I am so old that I grew up on 25 cent gas, rode in the back of the police chief's pickup-truck, drank from a water hose and played outside until dark. we did not mind having only 3 channels on television because after Daddy got home, he made the show choices anyway... Saved a lot of getting up and changing the channels because the old black and white did not have a remote.. but it DID have vacuum tubes. I remember learning to TYPE on a TYPEWRITER since the only computer in the high school did not have a monitor and had to be programmed with punch cards. Shorthand was a class that was taught and the slide rule was a common sight in the school. I knew better than to tell mom when I got in trouble because I was in double trouble then... There WERE certain advantages to not every family having a telephone ... let alone a cell phone (which did not exist in most markets anyway... but I was really seldom in trouble anyway because getting in trouble was looked down upon rather than encouraged and applauded. A lady was to be respected and certain words were off limits around her... and NEVER did you hear her utter sailor talk.
  • vim_n_vigor
    vim_n_vigor Posts: 4,089 Member
    I remember busy signals!
    I remember party lines...
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    I remember A-bomb drills at school, we knew the Russians were out to blow us of the face of the earth and got to practice duck and cover at school (the air raid siren tests were a regular thing) . I still remember the announcement on the school p.a. the John Kennedy had been shot (even though we were in Canada Kennedy was very highly regarded and every kid over kindergarten age knew about the Cuban missile crisis - I grew up on Army bases so the Cold War was a part of our lives)

    I also remember going to the theatre for a Saturday matinee and my 50¢ weekly allowance would get me in, buy a small coke and popcorn and I'd have enough left over to buy a malted milk at the drugstore (back then most drugstores also had a soda fountain)
  • TeenaMarina
    TeenaMarina Posts: 420 Member
    Kids actually went outside to play and only came in to eat or when the street lights came on.
    Thumbs up on that one!
  • Skyyy12
    Skyyy12 Posts: 24
    Age is just a number! It's all about how you feel! There's plenty of 80 and 90 year olds who feel young and great! There's plenty of 20 somethings and teenage kids who act and feel much older than they are.


    Sooo true!!!
  • Arperjen
    Arperjen Posts: 108 Member
    I remember being kicked outside to play, but then not wanting to come back in.

    I'm glad I missed the bulk of what the youth has to go through today. I mean we had an NES, cable, and a PC (that good ole' 286) but it wasn't a 24/7 thing. I could never grow up in the social media age.

    ^^ Yup.

    Ahh, Oregon Trail Day at school. Other days it was Number Munchers.
  • BillyC96
    BillyC96 Posts: 7,560 Member
    .... I have to go to bed now.
  • jeffrodgers1
    jeffrodgers1 Posts: 991 Member
    I saw Moses come off the mountain.

    Isn't that on every Easter?

    Touche'!

    But I saw the real one. :p

    I sat next to Jesus in school. ;P

    Beat me to it...yes I looked over his shoulder.

    Only when he turned the other cheek? Lol
  • tyott995
    tyott995 Posts: 4
    Party phone lines, and when someone didn't hang up, you had to walk over to their house, knock on the door and ask them to hang the phone up!
  • pitapocket
    pitapocket Posts: 287 Member
    I remember A-bomb drills at school, we knew the Russians were out to blow us of the face of the earth and got to practice duck and cover at school (the air raid siren tests were a regular thing) . I still remember the announcement on the school p.a. the John Kennedy had been shot (even though we were in Canada Kennedy was very highly regarded and every kid over kindergarten age knew about the Cuban missile crisis - I grew up on Army bases so the Cold War was a part of our lives)

    I also remember going to the theatre for a Saturday matinee and my 50¢ weekly allowance would get me in, buy a small coke and popcorn and I'd have enough left over to buy a malted milk at the drugstore (back then most drugstores also had a soda fountain)


    I remember this also as I grew up on air force bases
  • OnionMomma
    OnionMomma Posts: 938 Member
    I remember hiding in the closet with the cord hanging out talking to my boyfriend. :heart:
  • Fat_Bottomed_Girl
    Fat_Bottomed_Girl Posts: 355 Member
    Age is just a number! It's all about how you feel! There's plenty of 80 and 90 year olds who feel young and great! There's plenty of 20 somethings and teenage kids who act and feel much older than they are.

    -Says the 24 yo. I kid, but 24 was my favorite age! :)
  • mommared53
    mommared53 Posts: 9,543 Member
    When I was growing up we only had one channel. It was KTVO, Kirksville, Ottumwa. Channel 3.

    I remember wearing the Little House on The Prairie type pinafores. I loved them!

    We sold the church type pictures to earn money for our school. One year I sold the most pictures and won a Bible.

    We didn't have running water and we had an outhouse.
  • jcjsjones
    jcjsjones Posts: 571 Member
    Drive-in movies. *sigh*

    I still have 2 within a short drive from me!!

    We have one as well! Just went this passed weekend.
  • gwduker
    gwduker Posts: 293
    When i was a kid a "bit" was what one kid did to another and a "byte" was wrong on a spelling test. I am so old that I remember when a parent was called to the school over little Johnny's behavior, it was little Johnny that got in trouble... Not the teacher. I am so old that I grew up on 25 cent gas, rode in the back of the police chief's pickup-truck, drank from a water hose and played outside until dark. we did not mind having only 3 channels on television because after Daddy got home, he made the show choices anyway... Saved a lot of getting up and changing the channels because the old black and white did not have a remote.. but it DID have vacuum tubes. I remember learning to TYPE on a TYPEWRITER since the only computer in the high school did not have a monitor and had to be programmed with punch cards. Shorthand was a class that was taught and the slide rule was a common sight in the school. I knew better than to tell mom when I got in trouble because I was in double trouble then... There WERE certain advantages to not every family having a telephone ... let alone a cell phone (which did not exist in most markets anyway... but I was really seldom in trouble anyway because getting in trouble was looked down upon rather than encouraged and applauded. A lady was to be respected and certain words were off limits around her... and NEVER did you hear her utter sailor talk.
    Amen brother! Weren't we neighbors? JK, but THAT is how it was...
  • kariebo
    kariebo Posts: 101
    listening to records.. on a record player...

    Oh

    and Beta tapes.. way better than VCR... which I do still have and use....
  • IHeartNewMe
    IHeartNewMe Posts: 150 Member
    I remember learning DOS commands on this beauty:

    300px-IBM_PC_5150.jpg

    And I used to save my files on these!:

    cooper_8floppy.jpg

    Me too!! But to top that, I remember typing many financial statements (I was a secretary for a C.P.A. firm when I was 19) on this lovely machine!

    ENidIBMselectricOriginalModelsmall-300x218.jpg
    [/quote]
  • TheRoadDog
    TheRoadDog Posts: 11,788 Member
    I'm so old, I thought to myself today, "I'm actually quite comfortable driving 55."

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyJWVw6xqY0

    I'm so old, I graduated HS the year you were born.
  • lynnprice
    lynnprice Posts: 101 Member
    HyperColor t-shirt?

    totally!!!!
  • ekz13
    ekz13 Posts: 725 Member
    candy-cigarettes.jpg
  • leslisa
    leslisa Posts: 1,350 Member
    Kids actually went outside to play and only came in to eat or when the street lights came on.

    My husband talks about the streetlight rule. I lived in the country. 15 minutes on a bike to my closest friends house, then an hour to the public pool, then 20 minutes to tasty freeze or dairy queen for a cone or slushie (and for 5 cent you could get sprinkles on the large 25 cent cone)
  • leslisa
    leslisa Posts: 1,350 Member
    When I was growing up we only had one channel. It was KTVO, Kirksville, Ottumwa. Channel 3.

    I remember wearing the Little House on The Prairie type pinafores. I loved them!

    We sold the church type pictures to earn money for our school. One year I sold the most pictures and won a Bible.

    We didn't have running water and we had an outhouse.

    One of my friends had an outhouse at her grandmother's home circa early 70's. And I hated going out there after dark =)
  • dreamingchild
    dreamingchild Posts: 208 Member
    I remember wearing 'poor boy tops' and 'hip-hugger pants and skirts' to school. We liked to 'cruise' or hang out at the drive-in. lol

    haha, we "cruised the loop" looking for things to do on a Friday night.

    we also made our own slip and slides out of black trash bags tacked down on the lawn and someone holding the water hose while the other kids went down
  • CDMAGS
    CDMAGS Posts: 150 Member
    Drive-in movies. *sigh*

    ^Still have one of these local!
  • fbmandy55
    fbmandy55 Posts: 5,263 Member
    I remember being kicked outside to play, but then not wanting to come back in.

    I'm glad I missed the bulk of what the youth has to go through today. I mean we had an NES, cable, and a PC (that good ole' 286) but it wasn't a 24/7 thing. I could never grow up in the social media age.

    ^^ Yup.

    Ahh, Oregon Trail Day at school. Other days it was Number Munchers.

    Oregon Trail!! I loved that game. I actually have in now but it's not as fun as it was in 4th grade...
  • fbmandy55
    fbmandy55 Posts: 5,263 Member
    Drive-in movies. *sigh*

    ^Still have one of these local!

    Same here. Bug spray is a must unless you want to get west nile.
  • maddiekidd
    maddiekidd Posts: 15
    I remember my mother saying "we did not have to like her, or respect her, but we would fear her". She would grab whatever was handy and knock the @#$% out of us, but we deserved it. 7 kids and none of us ever got into trouble or went to jail. Suprisingly she never did either. Parents got to be parents then and kids were kids. I acutally miss that now a days. Oh well, back to the rocking chair for a snooze.
  • TrimAnew
    TrimAnew Posts: 127 Member
    I made my dad feel really old when I reminded him that the year I was born:

    New Coke was introduced and flopped
    The Titanic was found
    Microsoft released Windows for the 1st time
    Madonna's "Like a Virgin" hit #1 on the charts
    Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls was named NBA Rookie of Year.
    The legendary Route 66 was decertified
    The song "We are the World" was released
    Shamu was born
    "The Cider House Rules" by John Irving, and "The Vampire Lestat" by Ann Rice were published
    The Holocaust documentary "Shoah" was published
    The Nintendo Entertainment System was released in the USA
    AIDS was on the cover of TIME magazine
    The first article describing the Ozone layer thinning over the south pole was published

    Having said that, I'm old enough to remember records and cassette tapes, and how "special" our family's first CD player was.
    I remember using floppy disks, diskettes, and command lines in DOS to get games to start on the family Tandy computer, which only had 16 colors.
    I remember using AOL dial up and instant messenger for the first time and knowing most of my classmates didn't have internet access yet.
    I was a junior in high school when 9/11 stuck.

    Now that I'm out of college, those things make me feel old around today's youth, even though many of them are supposedly in the same generation as me.
  • anorangie
    anorangie Posts: 975 Member
    I remember...

    ~the card catalog at the library
    ~Ding Dongs wrapped in aluminum foil
    ~tv weirdness when a picture tube started failing
    ~defrosting the freezer
    ~_Adam 12_ reruns after school
    ~Blue Law Sundays at the grocery store
    ~The USSR & nightmares about nuclear winter in junior high
    ~“I want my MTV.”
  • lrkidd
    lrkidd Posts: 74 Member
    My parents would let my brother and I walk to the store to buy them cigarettes, she would give us some money for candy if we would do this for her. I was 9 and he was 4 and we walked about 2 miles alone to get smokes !! bahahaha


    This!!!! Not the smokes part because my mom didn't smoke but I grew up in the Dilworth section of downtown Charlotte NC and would walk 3 miles just to get to the library at 8 or 9 years old! Now we live in Podunk Alabama and I can't let my 10 year old daughter go to the neighbor's house without watching her!!

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