forever young

[wayfarer]

I reckon the last lot that didn't have it good were those growing up in the depression and WWII. Every generation since then has had it great by comparison.

The current lot have a different value set, different aspirations, different means, so to me it's almost impossible to say whether GenY are better or worse off than GenX.

PS, my ten year old son listens to Midnight Oil, Led Zep, Pink Floyd and AC/DC.

[astrid]

And lets not forget the tv shows and movies.
my kids love python and blackadder and red dwarf.
When i tell them to be careful of stuff and joke one day this will all be yours,
they chorus
"What, the curtains?" in perfect Yorkshire

Astrid

[Gingermick]

Well stop talking in perfect Yorkshire then!
The advent of mass media has assisted the proliferation of substandard art

[wheelinround]

How old is Grandpa???


Stay with this -- the answer is at the end. It will blow you away.

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 Grandfather 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 w ere 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 hadn't yet walked 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 man older than me, "Sir".
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, daycare 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 1 letter and 2 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 say there is a generation gap... And how old do you think I am?

I bet you have this old man in mind...you are in for a shock!

Read on to see -- pretty scary if you think about it and pretty sad at the same time.





Are you ready ?????

















This man would be only 59 years old!!!!

[Greg Ward]

I was worried there for a moment..... but I'm only 58, so that's OK

But the big difference is the technology, we never had communication apart from a radio, and when I was at Uni.... we used a slide rule, I was very impressed in my third year at Sydney, when the Inorganic Chemistry Dept proudly let me use it's calculator, it was the size of a shoe box....
Greg

[jerryc]

Childhood in fifties and sixties? I grew up in London in the Second World War. No ball point pens, bad news came to us via the telegraph boy on his bike because no one in our area had a thing called a phone. TV? Wassat? Anyone who had a car was someone almost to be revered. Yes we did have take away-- it was called fish and chips and was served wrapped in newspaper. And in our area the local fish shop had "frying times" None of this half cooked rubbish thrown into luke warm fat and reheated. You went there and queued at the "frying time". Oh and no wonder drugs, not even penicillin.
In the fifties I was lucky enough to discover the coffee houses in Soho long before such things became fashionable. Before "Swinging London" of the sixties we had all night jazz club sessions. No we weren't into drugs. All weekend parties relied on bringing your own bottle or on fruit punch. Mind you the fruit punch was to be feared. Several bottles of "Merrydown Cider went into the mix and then to liven it up a handful of Ritilin tablets. Ritilin is a form of benzedrin, not recommended to be taken with alcohol, but we didn't know better and in those days the tablets were openly sold by chemists.


Yes I live in a different world now. In my childhood the Blitz, followed by V1's and then V2's made life a trifle harder and more insecure, so I'm glad my grandkids are growing up now. Mind you I can't bring myself to like their music.

That's enough of "the good old days" I prefer the present.

Jerry


Everyone is entitled to my opinion

[wheelinround]

Childhood in fifties and sixties? I grew up in London in the Second World War. No ball point pens, bad news came to us via the telegraph boy on his bike because no one in our area had a thing called a phone. TV? Wassat? Anyone who had a car was someone almost to be revered. Yes we did have take away-- it was called fish and chips and was served wrapped in newspaper. And in our area the local fish shop had "frying times" None of this half cooked rubbish thrown into luke warm fat and reheated. You went there and queued at the "frying time". Oh and no wonder drugs, not even penicillin.
In the fifties I was lucky enough to discover the coffee houses in Soho long before such things became fashionable. Before "Swinging London" of the sixties we had all night jazz club sessions. No we weren't into drugs. All weekend parties relied on bringing your own bottle or on fruit punch. Mind you the fruit punch was to be feared. Several bottles of "Merrydown Cider went into the mix and then to liven it up a handful of Ritilin tablets. Ritilin is a form of benzedrin, not recommended to be taken with alcohol, but we didn't know better and in those days the tablets were openly sold by chemists.


Yes I live in a different world now. In my childhood the Blitz, followed by V1's and then V2's made life a trifle harder and more insecure, so I'm glad my grandkids are growing up now. Mind you I can't bring myself to like their music.

That's enough of "the good old days" I prefer the present.

Jerry


Everyone is entitled to my opinion

Jerry isn't Ritilin what they give ADD kids these days which is Speed???

[jerryc]

Wheelin,

Remember I'm talking about the days of the wind up 78 rpm gramophone. Even the 45 rpm hadn't come in yet.

Speed? It was a slower time then so we didn't have so much speed in our lives.
Ritilin= benzedrine=SPEED. Hard perhaps to believe but ritilin was sold over the counter as slimming tablets. Just gotta trust your good old drug companies to have a sense of responsibility, haven't you.

Mind you the parties did have a great atmosphere to them.
We wouldn't touch things like REEFERS. We were told that that stuff could send you mad with just one puff.
There was a film made in the thirties called "Reefer Madness". It was still around in the forties and fifties and it's worth viewing if you can see a copy.

The little world of the coffee houses in London's Soho at that time was unique. Even graffiti of a sort had a start there. One basement coffee house was painted white and an art student drew a line and hung washing on it. Later, another looked at the line and made it into a road with a car on it. The line extended and became waves with a ship. that line extended right around the basement and was added to regularly, each scene had to use the line either above or below but could never repeat what others had done. If customers didn't like it it was scrubbed.

So there really isn't anything new under the sun. Each generation makes a rediscovery and thinks it's found something new. I said above graffiti had a sort of start there and then I remembered Pompei.


Jerry


Everyone is entitled to my opinion

[wheelinround]

Jerry I still have an old gramaphone I want to restore and 78 records even have the needles
have a few 45's ep's and all my 33 1/3rd's

[jerryc]

Wheelin,

I imagine therefore you are in a bit of a spin.

Jerry

Everyone is entitled to my opinion

[wheelinround]

Oh Jerry can you put a stopper in it

[jerryc]

Wheelin,

Sorry about the pun. Should warn you I once beat all comers at punning over a weekend in the coffee house I referred to above. Perhaps we'd better not lock on puns or you might get the needle and become wound up.


Jerry

Everyone is entitled to my opinion

[wheelinround]

Ah Jerry guz-under and feels a little potty but gets a wet hand in the process

Pun's me never

[jerryc]

wheelin,

Dunny know we're in danger of hijacking this thread? I know you're feeling flushed with success but I'm used to puns based on my name. With your permission we'll call it evens before we're both in trouble. Agree?

Jerry

Everyone is entitled to my opinion

[wheelinround]

as I have with my disability

agreed Jerry