Saturday, March 1, 2008

Are We Getting Old?

In honor of my husband's 39th birthday which is tomorrow... I thought I would share my thoughts on getting older.

Lately when I have been traveling, I notice young people on the plane or in the airport.  When I see them I think to myself, this person is too young to be traveling alone... and shouldn't they be in school or something. The problem is, they are NOT too young to be traveling alone.  I usually find out by striking up a conversation with them they are in college or recently graduated. Which means they are the age I was when I got married. What does that say about how old they must think I look?... not to mention the fact they call me "Mam". I'm all about manners, but... you know... it does make you feel old sometimes.

And... this really pushed me over the edge. My step sister is in college.  She is in a sorority. Tonight they are having an 80's mixer. That means they think my generation is so old they can dress up like we did for 70's mixers and poke fun at our clothes, hair and makeup. Hey... I still like big hair and I still have some clothes from the 80's, I just can't fit in them anymore. 

Then I received this email from a friend a while back.

"The Spoiled Under 30 Crowd

As 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 BOTH ways, in the snow... yadda, yadda, yadda.

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

But now that...
I am 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 dang Utopia! And I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don't know how good you've got it!

1. When I was a kid, we didn't have the internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the dang library and look it up ourselves... in the card catalog!! (Do you even know what a card catalog is? Didn't think so!)

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!

3. There were no MP3's or Napsters! If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the dang 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 mess it all up!

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

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

6. We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like Space Invaders and Asteroids and the graphics were horrible. Your guys 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!

7. When you went to the movie theater, there was no such thing as stadium seating! All the seats were the same height! If a tall guy or some old broad with a hat or big hair sat in front of you and your couldn't see that was your tough luck!

8. Sure, we had cable television, but back then it was only like 15 channels and there was no onscreen menu! You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on!
And there was no Cartoon Network or Disney Channel or Nickelodeon. You could only get cartoons on Saturday morning. Do you hear what I am saying?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons!

9. And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up, we had to use the stove or go build a fire... imagine that! If we wanted popcorn, we had to use that stupid JiffyPop thing or a pan with HOT oil and Real popcorn kernels and shake it all over the stove forever like an idiot.

10. When we were on the phone with our friends and our parents walked in, we were stuck to the wall with a cord, a 7 foot cord that ran to the phone - not to the phone base, the actual phone. We barely had enough length to sit on the floor and still be able to twirl the phone cord in our fingers. If you suddenly had to go to the bathroom - guess what we had to do - ha ng up and talk to them later.

That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy! You're spoiled!!

You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980!"

Now I pose the question to you guys... Are we getting old?

I would love to have your comments on other funny things that make today different from the 80's.

Oh...  And Happy Birthday Sweetie!!! I love you!!



14 comments:

Denise C said...

YES....I know I am getting old!!! I am 41!! I am one of those "big haired" 80's high school girls!!! How funny!!
Happy B-day to your hubby!
Have a wonderful weekend celebrating his special day!

Denise C said...

Yes Amy, that is one funny email!!! How very true!!! Thanks for your kind words on my blog...you are so sweet!
Blessings,
Denise

Missy said...

Oh, that is so funny.

I remember when I was 12, my aunt won an award in Philadelphia and we went with her and stayed in a gorgeous suite at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, and they had a PHONE in the BATHROOM. On the wall, right by the toilet. I thought it was the most fabulous thing I had ever seen.

Celly B said...

Funny post! I remember waiting around to tape my favorite songs off the radio, and yes, the DJ usually did talk over the beginning!

Kimberly said...

Oh, that whole being called "mam" thing is rough! I'm still young, I'm still happenin', I'm no "mam", thank you very much! :)

I remember when I wanted to start shaving my legs, I had to make a deal with my mom to atleast quit wearing my hair so high to church! Yep, that is sad! I had some big bangs, let me tell ya'!
Thanks for the laughs today!

DeAnna said...

Happy birthday, Greg! We all can celebrate together tomorrow. You , me and Dr, Seuss along with anyone else I don't know who shares the same day.

Amy, that was absolutely hilarious!!!! It USED to be funny to poke fun at people our age. They were so old and out of touch. What does that say about me now?! Oh, well, I guess my kids will keep me young - or maybe that's wrong. Maybe they will send me to any early grave! LOL!

ocean mommy said...

Well, Happy Birthday Greg~

And NO we are NOT getting old, just....wiser, better....NOT old :)

Carol said...

Happy Birthday Greg! Yes, I had me some florescent clothes and with the belt over the top that buckled in the back and went into the shape of a "V" in the front - frosty pink lipstick and pink and blue eyeshadow (pink on one half of the eye, blue on the other.)
"I'm like so totally there."

Jenny said...

I needed a laugh tonigt!

Thanks and have a great weekend!

Lunchrooms are much easier now, we had a choice between white milk or chocolate. Now they have water, milk, juice, gatorade, etc.
Jenny

Michelle said...

Oh, that brings back memories. Here's something to add to the email list. We also didn't have cell phones. We couldn't sneak and text message our friends in class. We had to write our message on a piece of paper and pass it in class or in the hallway. Without a cellphone, sometimes we even had to use a payphone. That's a public phone at a mall, movie theater, or gas station that you had to put actual coins in to make a call.
Enjoy your weekend!

Janet Roller said...

Happy Day Greg!
Just this week I was talking with a 16-year-old. After noticing my 5-year-old with a fake cell-phone in her pocket, I said, "Do you know even 10 years ago cell phones were in bags in the car? And then we had huge flip phones."
After she shook off the look of shock and horror, she said, "Yeah, I saw those in my Science book".
IN HER SCIENCE BOOK!!!
I felt like I was that nearly-motionless-woman on the "Wheel of Progress" at Disney World! I'll know next time not to try to start "teen chats"!

Cheri said...

This is so funny because I have been experiencing the same thoughts lately. In fact at church not too long ago I said this to Kyle, " Look honey there's all kinds of couples our age to get in a Sunday School class with." He said, " Are you in the same church I am?" As I got to actually evaluating the situation...these couples were actually about 10 years younger than us. Quite depressing! :) So, yes I too feel the pain.

I had recently received that email from a friend, too. Man, did it bring back some memories!

Darlene said...

This is funny. I remember the 8 track tapes and records we played for hours. Now the cd's are sooo much better. I am trying to fit in the new world. I got a mp3 player for Christmas. If I could just figure out how to download music on it ....I will be all set. LOL My daugher got a new car this weekend.....there are so many new gadgets on the car..like a noise going off if you don't have on a seatbelt, 6 cd changer. I remember the cassette tape and you would always fast forward to much to get to the favorite song or back to far. Now you have it at the push of a button. I agree the teens these days have it so much better. But, it makes me wonder about the children and what they will think of the teens when and how much things will be progressed from now. Scary, by then they will think I am ancient!!

elizabeth embracing life said...

This just cracked me up. Being the ripe age of 42 and looking back just cracks me up. I was an early 80's and 70's gal. Aside from the polyester I loved that time. I had to cut and paste and send it on for others to enjoy.