(OT ?) Just in case you weren't feeling too old today....

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This was forwarded to me from a friend in academia. Makes one wonder about the feasibility of "going manual", and doing things "the old way", and perspective regarding history/world events. This is not meant to antagonize the younger demographic segment.

 

------------>% SNIP

 

Just in case you weren't feeling too old today, the stamp collector's latest contribution will certainly change things. Each year, the staff at Beloit College in Wisconsin  puts together a list to try to give the faculty a sense of the mindset of that year's incoming freshmen.

Here's this year's list:

  1. The people who are starting college this fall across the nation were born in 1980.
  2. They have no meaningful recollection of the Reagan Era and did not know he had ever been shot.
  3. They were prepubescent when the Persian Gulf War  was waged.
  4. Black Monday 1987 is as significant to them as the  Great Depression.
  5. There has been only one Pope. They can only really remember one president.
  6. They were 11 when the Soviet Union broke apart and do not remember the Cold War.
  7. They have never feared a nuclear war. "The Day After" is a pill to them, not a movie.
  8. They are too young to remember the space shuttle blowing up, and Tiananmen Square means nothing to them.
  9. Their lifetime has always included AIDS.
  10. They never had a Polio shot, and likely do not know what it is.
  11. Bottle caps have not only always been screw off, but have always been plastic. They have no idea what a pull-top can looks like.
  12. Atari pre-dates them, as do vinyl albums.
  13. The expression "you sound like a broken record"  means nothing to them.
  14. They have never owned a record player.
  15. They have likely never played Pac Man and have  never heard of Pong.
  16. Star Wars Episodes  3- 5 look very fake to them, and the special  effects are pathetic.
  17. There have always been red M&Ms, and blue ones are not new. What do you mean there used to be beige ones?
  18. They may have heard of an 8-track, but chances are  they probably never have actually seen or heard one.
  19. The Compact Disc was introduced when they were 1  year old.
  20. As far as they know, stamps have always cost about 32 cents. (Accurate until recently.)
  21. They have always had an answering machine.
  22. Most have never seen a TV set with only 13 channels, nor have they seen a black-and-white TV.
  23. Most have always had cable.
  24. There have always been VCRs, but they have no idea what BETA is.
  25. They cannot fathom not having a remote control.
  26. They were born the year that Walkmen were  introduced by Sony.
  27. Roller-skating has always meant inline for them.
  28. The Tonight Show has always been with Jay Leno.
  29. They have no idea when or why Jordache jeans were  cool.
  30. Popcorn has always been cooked in a microwave.
  31. They have never seen Larry Bird play, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a football player.
  32. They never took a swim and thought about Jaws.
  33. The Vietnam War is as ancient history to them as WWI, WWII, or even the Civil War.
  34. They have no idea that Americans were ever held hostage in Iran.
  35. They can't imagine what hard contact lenses are.
  36. They don't know who Mork was or where he was from.
  37. Most never heard the terms: "Where's the beef?",  "I'd walk a mile for a Camel," or "de plane, de  plane!" 38. They do not care who shot J.R. and have no idea who J.R. is.
  38. "The Titanic was found? I thought we always knew where it was!
  39. Kansas, Chicago, Boston, America, and Alabama are places, not groups.
  40. McDonald's never came in styrofoam containers.
  41. There has always been MTV.

Carlon Ann Elton
Graduate Secretary
Department of Astronomy
University of Florida



-- Tim (pixmo@pixelquest.com), June 18, 1999

Answers

1. They were born in 1980. (!) That's the year I got married!

-- newbiebutnodummy (Linda@home.com), June 18, 1999.

G thanks Tim! Didn't realize I'm practically ancient..........think I'll go home and have a nice warm cup of milk.......:-)

Deano - who is definitely feeling a little older now........

-- Deano (deano@luvthebeach.com), June 18, 1999.


I thought I was young before I read that. I'm now required to hate you!

-- nowiknow (i@m.old), June 18, 1999.

Got Geritol?

-- Thinman (thinman38@hotmail.com), June 18, 1999.

Hummm.

What about Mighty Mouse and Howdy Doody?

*Sigh*

Time for a latte, laced with something... cocoa... ovaltine?

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), June 18, 1999.



Don't feel so bad. As I was formatting the list to html, I could relate to every single line, especially #28. I really miss watching Johnny Carson. Haven't watched much late nite since he left.

-- Tim (pixmo@pixelquest.com), June 18, 1999.

"N-E-S-T-L-E-S... Nestles makes the very best..."

All together now!

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.hid), June 18, 1999.


How about

'that's another story Little Adam.'

Remeber that one?

Deano

-- Deano (deano@luvthebeach.com), June 18, 1999.


#42. They think a "Dos prompt" might be some kind of stage directions in German theatre.

-- Debbie (dbspence@usa.net), June 18, 1999.

Yes,

They were born in 1980 (or 1981 as is the case for the two in our house who will enter college this fall). We had a discussion at the dinner table the other night about the Dioxin (sp) in the Coke in Belgium. I pointed out that this was a poison that persists for decades and it was the active chemical in Agent Orange. This got nothing but protests from the "Biology" crowd at the table.

"Poison in the Coke will not last for Decades!" They did not know what "Agent Orange" is... They have heard of Gulf War Syndrome....

Their comment was "I refuse to live in fear!" (She does not even drink carbonated beverages, much less Coke)

Well I guess I have to give them that, I like that attitude! May all of us refuse to live in fear, and face the new year with hope, hope that we are ready...

I remember the cold war... I guess I am showing some grey.. Seize the day....

Keep the faith

Helium

-- helium (heliumavid@yahoo.com), June 18, 1999.



I know that a bunch of you REALLY old foggies out there can top this, however:

I was 8 before we had a TV. At that programs were only broadcast part of the day.

Our phone number only had 6 digits.

I graduated High School before the first comercially available hand- held calculator was offered. (I paid $350 for a 4 function version that you can get in boxes of cereal now.) Quick check: Do you know what a skip stick is?

I really thought Poodle skirts looked good. On others that is, I was way to heavy.

I do have a Small Pox vacination scar.

I still have my polio shot card.

And last of all, why in the world am I doing this to myself?

-Greybear, who thinks he'll go take a nap.

-- Got Crutches?

-- Greybear (greybear@home.com), June 18, 1999.


I rememhber the depression years,WW2, ballroom dancing and my kids were born in the fifties! I think I had better go lie down.

-- Lumber Jack (johnsellis@webtv.net), June 18, 1999.

I remember the depression years,WW2, ballroom dancing and my kids were born in the fifties! I think I had better go lie down.

-- Lumber Jack (johnsellis@webtv.net), June 18, 1999.

As Portnoy said, "I am a man of eight team leagues."

-- GA Russell (ga.russell@usa.net), June 19, 1999.

ummmm Greybear:

that should be "SLIPSTICK" not "skipstick"

and my phone number growing up was 166W and we answered on the one ring, not the two.

Chuck

-- Chuck, a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), June 19, 1999.



Greybear.

Poodle skirts??? We're about the same age group and I don't remember them...I think. I'll bet they looked good on others....sounds like a reminsence by the fire kind of thing.

Diane....add some cognac to that latte. Won't help but YOU'LL feel better and won't care.

-- Lobo (atthelair@yahoo.com), June 19, 1999.


Poodle skirts...yep! it took me more than a season to talk my mom into buying me one and even then she simply would not cave to the five petticoat standard. Only kid on my block with a half bloomin' poodle skirt. It was humilating.

On the other hand when polyester returned to the stores a few years ago I got to chide my granddaughter...what?! you're wearing that stuff?! I hated it the first time around.

-- Shelia (Shelia@active-stream.com), June 19, 1999.


Poodle skirts and saddle shoes ! World War 11 and saving cans (that weren't aluminum!).

Oh my, time for a nap.

-- sue (deco100@aol.com), June 19, 1999.


LOL Lobo.

Good idea.

As a bonafide "baby boomer" I still remember telephone party lines. (Early lurker's anonymous).

My 'ole mother still has my 1960's go-go boots in the garage along with the stacks of musty 1950's "Good Houskeeping" magazines. What do ya DO with those thingys?

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), June 19, 1999.


Hey, I know I'm old, but the memory is still mostly intact. Number 16 should say Star Wars Episodes 4-6!! The very first one shown was Episode IV, and was called something like "A New Hope." (Now I gotta go rent the thing and see if I'm "losing my marbles!") :-)

-- Gayla Dunbar (privacy@please.com), June 19, 1999.

We got our first TV in 1948. We had a party line phone. We wore poodle skirts, white buck shoes and went to sock hops. Rememer sock hops? Remember the real Rock& Roll and dancing the boop? Those were the good old days. Kids could go anywhere and nobody ever bothered them. They didn't dare.

-- Homeschooling Grandma (mlaymon@glenn-co.k12.ca.us), June 19, 1999.

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