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Progress? ...and How Things have Changed...

WoodPeckr

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May 29, 2002
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Interesting read on the direction society has been moving....

How Old Is Grandpa?

Stay with this -- the answer is at the end - it will blow you away. This is definitely worth taking the time to read. Please share with others.

One evening, a grandson was talking to his grandfather about current events. The grandson asked his grandfather what he thought about the shootings at schools, the computer age, and just things in general.

The Grandpa replied, "Well, let me think a minute. I was born before television, penicillin, polio shots, frozen foods, Xerox, contact lenses, Frisbees and the pill. There were no credit cards, laser beams or ball-point pens. Man had not invented pantyhose, air conditioners, dishwashers! , clothes dryers, and the clothes were hung out to dry in the fresh air and man had yet to walk on the moon. Your Grandmother and I got married first and then lived together. Every family had a father and a mother. Until I was 25, I called every woman older than I, "Mam"- - and after I turned 25, I still called policemen and every man with a title, "Sir." We were before gay-rights, computer-dating, dual careers, day-care centers, and group therapy. Our lives were governed by the Ten Commandments, good judgment, and common sense. We were taught to know the difference between right and wrong and to stand up and take responsibility for our actions. Serving your country was a privilege; living in this country was a bigger privilege. We thought fast food was what people ate during Lent. Having a meaningful relationship meant getting along with your cousins. Draft dodgers were people who closed their front doors when the evening breeze started. Time-sharing meant time the family spent together in the evenings and weekends - not purchasing condominiums. We never heard of FM radios, tape decks, CDs, electric typewriters, yogurt, or guys wearing earrings. We listened to the Big Bands, Jack Benny, and the President's speeches on our radios. And I don't ever remember any kid blowing his brains out listening to Tommy Dorsey. If you saw anything with 'Made in Japan' on it, it was junk. The term 'making out' referred to how you did on your school exam. Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and instant coffee were unheard of. We had 5&10-cent stores where you could actually buy things for 5 and 10 cents. Ice-cream cones, phone calls, rides on a streetcar, and a Pepsi were all a nickel. And if you didn't want to splurge, you could spend your nickel on enough stamps to mail one letter and two postcards. You could buy a new Chevy Coupe for $600, but who could afford one? Too bad because, gas was 11 cents a gallon. In my day, "grass" was mowed, "coke" was a cold drink, "pot" was something your mother cooked in, and "rock music" was your grandmother's lullaby. "Aids" were helpers in the Principal's office,"chip" meant a piece of wood, "hardware" was found in a hardware store and software" wasn't even a word. And we were the last generation to actually believe that a lady needed a husband to have a baby. No wonder people call us "old and confused" and they say there is a generation gap.

And how old do you think grandpa is??? Read on to see -- pretty scary if you think about it and pretty sad at the same time. This is something to think about. How time has changed...

Grandpa is ONLY 54 (born 1950)
How could so much go so wrong in such a short time?
 

red

you must be fk'n kid'g me
Nov 13, 2001
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it makes you think the story is bullshit. especially if you lived through the same time as i have
 
Y

yychobbyist

red said:
it makes you think the story is bullshit. especially if you lived through the same time as i have
Or, alternatively, it's b.s. if you're living in a parallell universe and feel the need to start 1,354,587 threads a day.
 
Jan 24, 2004
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The Vegetative State
We also had to walk to school uphill both ways through molten rock.

Words cannot express how much I hate "Things were so much better in the '50s" screeds.....
 

Asterix

Sr. Member
Aug 6, 2002
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Born in 1950, eh? Maybe Grandpa is lying about his age.

Television had been around since the early 40's, with over 2 million sets in American homes by 1949.

Penicillin was discovered in the early 40's and was used extensively during WWII.

Gas was .27 a gallon, not .11.

A new Chevy Bel Aire Coupe was $1800 in 1950, not $600.

Frozen foods had been sold in stores since the 1930's.

Except for electronics, by the time gramps was a young kid in the mid/late 50's most of the material things he lists were readily available. Not nice to lie to your grandson like that.
 
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Asterix

Sr. Member
Aug 6, 2002
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So gramps would more likely be in his seventies. Like I said, not nice to lie to little Timmy.
 

red

you must be fk'n kid'g me
Nov 13, 2001
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yychobbyist said:
Or, alternatively, it's b.s. if you're living in a parallell universe and feel the need to start 1,354,587 threads a day.

bullshit I said. I never say b.s. - don't be afraid to swear
 

oldjones

CanBarelyRe Member
Aug 18, 2001
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Asterix said:
Born in 1950, eh? Maybe Grandpa is lying about his age.
…edit…
Except for electronics, by the time gramps was a young kid in the mid/late 50's most of the material things he lists were readily available. Not nice to lie to your grandson like that.
And there's two sides or more to most of the non-material things. Gay guys and pregnant teens in the fifties (birth control was illegal, so were most sex acts between the unmarried) mostly had horrible times; we've progressed some since then. If we really had lived by the Ten Commandments—or even better by the Golden Rule that Gramps doesn't even mention—where do you think all those gangstas, child abusers, cheating CEOs and wife beaters came from? Raised by Gramps and his neighbours, who maybe needed more than just 10 Easy Rules.

Look who called "made in Japan" stuff junk while the Japanese took over shipbulding, manufacturing heavy equipment, assembly line robots and a major slice of the North American car market: Honda's made the No.1 selling car for years. Never mind all those electronics Gramps seems to be sneering at. Remember the static on AM radio? Betcha' he's got more than one TV (a Samsung just maybe) as one of the privileges of living in this land, i.e. being one of the wealthiest 4% on the planet squandering 30% of its resources.

Maybe he never heard of yoghurt, but I wouldn't boast about my ignorance of a food staple that dates back as long as cheese or butter. Or about the home front history of either the US (one imagines Gramps is another US visitor to TERB) or Canada; the reason there's a draft to dodge is that not everyone has ever thought it's a privilege to die for their country (see US Civil War history), or for some foreigner's land.

But Gramps obviously had his head in the sand a lot, since he missed all the brouhaha that greeted the crooners—BobbySoxers! Horrors!—whitebread R&R—Jive dancing! Juuunngle music!—and BeBop—Tuneless squealing! The middle of the road is reached by many side paths Gramps conveniently ignores. If he'd really been a Dorsey fan he'd be aware that his idols were outsiders first, reviled and scorned by blacks for watering down 'their' music, and by whites for playing it at all, until they outlasted their critics. Besides, there hasn't been any decent music since Bethoven.

The reason Gramps thinks there's a generation gap isn't because times changed; they always do that. It's because he's still too ignorant to know where he had to come from to get where he is now. God help us, most of the pols leading us into the future are Gramps age—as am I (remember daily fresh milk and bread deliveries by horse drawn wagons? Wish we still had'em)—but fortunately they have little real influence on the great mass of folks, who will always find their own path forward, no matter how stupid their leaders. Still, one fears for the little grandson, if it's Gramps pointing out the road.
 
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