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When I was a kid...

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by silentak1, Jun 3, 2010.

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  1. silentak1

    silentak1 Since 2005

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    Good laugh. Oh memories...

    "When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning....Uphill... Barefoot...BOTH ways… yadda, yadda, yadda

    And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay     a bunch of crap like that on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!

    But now that I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia!
    And I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don't know how good you've got it!

    I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have the Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!

    There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter - with a pen!    Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox, and it would take like a week to get there! Stamps were 10 cents!

    Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents beat us. As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to kick our nice person! Nowhere was safe!

    There were no MP3's or Napsters or iTunes! If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the record store and shoplift it yourself!

    Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio, and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up! There were no CD players! We had tape decks in our car. We'd play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished, and then the tape would come undone rendering it useless. Cause, hey, that's how we rolled, Baby! Dig?

    We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called, they got a busy signal, that's it!

    There weren't any freakin' cell phones either. If you left the house, you just didn't make a damn call or receive one. You actually had to be out of touch with your "friends". OH MY GOD !!! Think of the horror... not being in touch with someone 24/7!!! And then there's TEXTING. Yeah, right. Please! You kids have no idea how annoying you are.

    And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your parents, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, the collection agent... you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

    We didn't have any fancy PlayStation or Xbox video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We    had the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids'. Your screen guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen... Forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

    You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your nice person and walk over to the TV to change the channel!!! NO REMOTES!!! Oh, no, what's the world coming to?!?!

    There was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying? We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-finks!

    And we didn't have microwaves. If we wanted to heat something up, we had to use the stove! Imagine that!

    And our parents told us to stay outside and play... all day long. Oh no, no electronics to soothe and comfort. And if you came back inside... you were doing chores!
    And car seats - oh, please! Mom threw you in the back seat and you hung on. If you were luckily, you got the "safety arm" across the chest at the last moment if she had to stop suddenly, and if your head hit the dashboard, well that was your fault for calling "shot gun" in the first place!
    See! That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled rotten! You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980     or any time before!"
     
    #1 silentak1, Jun 3, 2010
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  2. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    I grew up in the 1950s. I think we had it easier than any generation before or since.

    Tom
     
    #2 qbee42, Jun 3, 2010
  3. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

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    I'm still growing up, and it doesn't get any easier. :)

    And I think I timed the sixties just right - thanks, Dad. Any younger, and I wouldn't have any appreciation for how unique it was. Any older, and I wouldn't remember a thing, 'because I would have been there. Or not. :D
     
    #3 hyo silver, Jun 3, 2010
  4. silentak1

    silentak1 Since 2005

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    Another funny youtube link, relevant to this topic:

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOtEQB-9tvk"]Louis CK - People in Today's Society Take Things For Granted [/ame]
     
    #4 silentak1, Jun 3, 2010
  5. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    You had an Atari 2600? With games on it? I had an abacus and a slide rule. And I thought the slide rule was amazing! When I bought myself a manual typewriter I thought it was the greatest thing since cornbread. You really had it easy, bub!
     
    #5 daniel, Jun 3, 2010
  6. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    i can remember the first school report i had to do with a typewriter. it took me only one time before i found out that a single typing mistake (i had about 2 dozen) would get no higher than a C.

    but it was still so much nicer than writing it out. i have atrocious handwriting and i probably was required to re-write at least 10 of them.

    but i do identify with listening to the radio waiting for my favorite songs...
     
    #6 DaveinOlyWA, Jun 3, 2010
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  7. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    LOL! well done my friend.:)
     
    #7 bisco, Jun 3, 2010
  8. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    I have a Picket Power Trig slide rule in anodized aluminum. It was a great slide rule, with a nice leather case. For those scoffers out there, slide rules are still useful. You can reach all the way to the bottom of those big paint cans when you need to stir them.

    Tom
     
    #8 qbee42, Jun 3, 2010
  9. silentak1

    silentak1 Since 2005

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    Seems like we're trying to see who had it worse! Anyone care to tell about growing up in the great depression? :D
     
    #9 silentak1, Jun 4, 2010
  10. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    You had a typewriter in school? I was YEARS out of school before I got my first typewriter. A manual.

    GASP!!! That's horrid! :eek: What kind of a pervert are you? That's like using a picture of your grandmother to blow your nose. Or worse.
     
    #10 daniel, Jun 4, 2010
  11. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    I got my first typewriter when I was in college. It was a very expensive present from my parents.

    I was just kidding. I like to make that joke, but in truth my trusty slide rule is stored in a special place with many of my other keepsakes.

    Tom
     
    #11 qbee42, Jun 4, 2010
  12. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    Whew! That's a relief.
     
    #12 daniel, Jun 4, 2010
  13. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

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    Speaking of typewriters...boy, did I get teased for taking a typing class in about grade 9. This was long before keyboards, and it's a skill I still use everyday, which is more than I can say for many high school lessons. Turned out I was the only boy in the class. The teasing stopped pretty quickly. :)
     
    #13 hyo silver, Jun 9, 2010
  14. lunabelgium

    lunabelgium Member

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    I agree with you - LOL -
     
    #14 lunabelgium, Jun 9, 2010
  15. MJFrog

    MJFrog Active Member

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    I consider the typing class I took in HS to be the most valuable/practical class I've ever taken. That includes all the coursework for my Bachelors in Computer Science for my career in computer programming.
     
    #15 MJFrog, Jun 9, 2010
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  16. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    I moved in high school. The school I moved from didn't require typing, but the one I moved to had it as a 9th grade class. I ended up taking 9th grade typing as a senior, and complained bitterly the entire time. In retrospect I thank my lucky stars that someone forced me to learn typing.

    Tom
     
    #16 qbee42, Jun 9, 2010
  17. Politburo

    Politburo Active Member

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    You didn't have any professor mention The Mythical Man-Month?

    That was, by far, the most important thing I got out of my CS courses (there were certainly other pieces). I didn't end up getting a job using the CS knowledge I learned, but the concepts in MMM have stuck with me.
     
    #17 Politburo, Jun 9, 2010
  18. Rae Vynn

    Rae Vynn Artist In Residence

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    Mythical Man-Month? What is that? :blink: :huh:
     
    #18 Rae Vynn, Jun 9, 2010
  19. Stev0

    Stev0 Honorary Hong Kong Cavalier

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    Managers think if a programmer can write a program in six months, putting six guys on the job will mean it can be written in one month.

    Programmers think differently. Putting nine guys on a job doesn't mean you'll get a baby in only a month.
     
    #19 Stev0, Jun 9, 2010
  20. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

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    MMM sounds related to the infinite monkey theory. An inverse, maybe.

    Did you know the layout of the keys on the typewriter was designed to slow people down, so the keys didn't get stuck? There are faster layouts, but they're rare and it would be very difficult to switch.
     
    #20 hyo silver, Jun 9, 2010
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