Kids today

[David]

If you are 36, or older, you might think this is hilarious!

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... Bar...efoot... 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 forty, 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!

1) 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!!

2) 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!

3) 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 ass! Nowhere was safe!

4) 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!

5) 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?

6) 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!

7) 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 GOSH !!! 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.

8) 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!

9) 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!

10) 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 ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel!!! NO REMOTES!!! Oh, no, what's the world coming to?!?!

11) 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-bastards!

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

13) 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 lucky, 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 1970 or any time before!

Regards,

The Over 40 Crowd

[other dog]

yep, mostly true there- a lot of that I didn't have, but i'm over 50...pushing 60 pretty hard.

[vision386]

Truly a page out of my past! thats great David,thanks for posting! if nothing else,it sure brings back some fond memories (and some not so fond LOL!).............................Mark

[jakebrake86]

Well, I'm 27 but I wish we could go back to those days. I'd gladly trade in my iphone for the chance to buy (and pay for) a brand new R model. I'm really worried about the overall sense of entitlement that people my age and younger seem to have. Let's go back to the times when if you didn't work, you didn't eat!

[2stacksuperdog]

I hear these stories from my parent all the time!

Well, I'm 27 but I wish we could go back to those days. I'd gladly trade in my iphone for the chance to buy (and pay for) a brand new R model. I'm really worried about the overall sense of entitlement that people my age and younger seem to have. Let's go back to the times when if you didn't work, you didn't eat!

I would love to buy an original, mechanical brand new Mack

[Don Hancock]

David,

That was funny, I am 52 and back in the early 80's when I was dating my wife I was gone all week running Coors Albany to Boston everyday sometimes twice, moral of the story is I carried a coffee can in the truck filled with change to use a PAYPHONE. And also got around with just an atlas.

[Mike]

I don't remember any of that stuff. LOL

mike

[vision386]

Mike,maybe this picture will help jog your memory? anything look familiar? LOL!................................................Mark

[David]

 

David,

That was funny, I am 52 and back in the early 80's when I was dating my wife I was gone all week running Coors Albany to Boston everyday sometimes twice, moral of the story is I carried a coffee can in the truck filled with change to use a PAYPHONE. And also got around with just an atlas.

 

Was Coors still bootleg in 1980?

[vision386]

I know it was in Jersey (Coors) when i would run out west,a local tavern owner and friend of mine would always ask me to " pick-up a case or two" on my way back east. It was CHEAP in Colorado for a case,and i think he sold it in the can at the bar for something like $6.00 a can! til the novelty wore off,and it became available on the east coast........................Mark

[Don Hancock]

^{II think it was 84 or so when it came to New England, We ran out of Guilderland NY, loaded us off of rail cars, had to have a reefer at 40 degrees. I usually ran Boston all week then on Friday I delivered to Gallo Distributers in Goshen Ct, load up with empties drop my trailer and bobtail home to Stratford for the weekend.}

^{Leave the house about 5 Monday morning pick up the trailer and be in Guilderland for 8am.}

[rsb502]

Ha, I remember the first cell phone in our family it was about the size of a briefcase. The first hand held cell was that giant Motorola that weighed about 5 lbs. I had a pager till I was 21 then I got a fancy Nokia cell phone that lasted about 4 hours on a charge and had enough memory for 50 numbers as I recall. Oh and it had 1 ringtone, that's it. I remember pay phones and atlas's well I still don't trust a GPS I was taught the old way, before you leave use the atlas and plan your route. I remember playing pong on my Atari too, we got a Nintendo and thought duck hunt was the best thing ever made, now the games on my phone confuse me what happened to having 4 buttons and a directional?

[Superdog]

   

Was Coors still bootleg in 1980?

When I was a kid,alot of the local farmers would buy feeder cattle in CO,and Dad would always bring back a few cases.

[Apple dog]

When I growd up we didn't want to be in side. After school and after cartoons on saturday outside until dark. Course I was por if I wanted a bubble bath I just farted in the tub. Course that was the good ole days. Work in the hay field all summer long and on the farm after school to have beer money. I sure would love to go back to them days. I'm only 44 but those were the days.

[Dougsr]

I agree the kids have it made now days. I drove past the high school the other day and saw all the new cars and trucks out front. I know a lot of the mom and dads drive the fender flappers and the kids driving the fine rides. There is something wrong with that picture.

Doug

[hatcity]

Ahhhh, such fond memories.

Outside til the streetlites came on

Drink water from the garden hose

What was a bicycle helmet?

Shovel snow for some money

Remember when Dad got one of the adjustable TV antenaa's

Box on top of the TV. Would make a hell of a "clunk" sound as it turned

And Saturday am cartoons were "the best"

[hatcity]

Forgot to add:

Phone was attached to the wall. could only walk about 3 feet from it,

OR get a looooong coiled cord that dragged on the floor and everyone tripped over it

A dishwasher was the lady of the house and/or kids

[Freightrain]

I still have an antenna ROTOR!!! Yup, unhooked my Dish and put a stick on the roof for FREE TV!!!! Yup, the box goes clunk, clunk as it spins around LOL!!

I think of the 70's alot anymore. Maybe it wasn't "Better", but sure seems by todays standards. I still remember getting the first fax machine at work and the owners finally being able to go one a one week vacation to Florida. Though we had to fax daily reports down so they could see what was going on. Today, they go for 3-4 months at time LMAO!!! Times have changed.

I still have the company "Bag phone" in my office. Just a little reminder. Man, what the last 25 yrs have changed in the world.

[vision386]

Forgot to add:

Phone was attached to the wall. could only walk about 3 feet from it,

OR get a looooong coiled cord that dragged on the floor and everyone tripped over it

A dishwasher was the lady of the house and/or kids

When i was a kid I was the remote control for the TV,Pop would slap me in the back of the head and say "put that thing on Gunsmoke,we'll see what Festus gets into this week"...............................................Mark

[rsb502]

When i was a kid I was the remote control for the TV,Pop would slap me in the back of the head and say "put that thing on Gunsmoke,we'll see what Festus gets into this week"...............................................Mark

Thats what happened to ya, too many slaps to the head!

[farmer52]

I grew up on a farm. Up every morning to feed the livestock, off to school, and then tend the livestock in the evening. Our "vacation" was a day trip so we could be back in time to do the evening chores. We had a B&W TV and could only get one station (if the wind was blowing in the right direction). And for "entertainment" the Sears and Robust, Monkey Wards, and Jacque Penney catalogs. Original phone was a party line with a real operator to place the call. Eventually the phone was "upgraded" to a dial tone and rotary dial. I was a senior in college when the first electronic calculator (HP35) was marketed and it was $595. Until then I used a slide rule. If I could turn back the clock it would be to 1970...MUSCLE CARS!!!! A Plymouth Cuda with a real 426ci HEMI was about $4000 loaded (not to mention Road Runner, GTX, Superbird, Charger, Challenger, GTS, Super Bee, R/T, Coronet, Boss 302, Mach I, Z28, SS, etc.). Oh and we had NO air conditioning in the summer. Does anyone remember using an outhouse? Did not have "indoor plumbing" until I was in high school.

[Timothy Maikshilo]

On the farm we had a 3 seat out house and also chores in the AM before school. After school chores and help all the other farmers around who were making hay. Summer Vacation was a list from Dad two arm lenths long plus hoe 5 acres of pumkins by hand and don't hit the runners or get kicked in the ass all the way back to the house. We learned real quick what wrench sizes Dad wanted and what every tool in the shop was. Also any thing that moves or pivots has a grease fitting. Drive the lawn mower in 2 gear or else and the mow Grandma's lawn too. Tuesday night was off to town to help Dad clean the library and get a candy bar after 4 hours of work. Dad knew where we were all the time and you learned to respect your elders and a strong work ethic. Pros were we had field cars and tractors and old trucks to work and play with. All in all good times and wouldn't trade them for anything. My boy was raised with the same ideals and is ready for the real world in June.

[Green Dash]

I grew up in the suburbs and there is another form of communication I remember. It was a female voice, in high pitch and at full volume, screaming (your name here). This usually occurred around dinner time and could be heard within a several block radius, at least you hoped it could for your own sake.

Try to raise a child today under the circumstances we grew up with and you'd be considered an unfit parent, yet I can't think of another era I would've rather been born in. The 60's and 70's were a great time to be a kid.

[Green Dash]

Forgot to add:

Phone was attached to the wall. could only walk about 3 feet from it,

OR get a looooong coiled cord that dragged on the floor and everyone tripped over it

A dishwasher was the lady of the house and/or kids

We had a family of 7 sharing ONE telephone.

Oh the humanity!!!

[mack mhe9]

cruising home from high school and having sweet home alabama change half way through the track, who would think they were the good old days