# How are things THE SAME as when you were a kid? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 5, 2026, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-things-the-same-as-when-you-were-a-kid/1029041 "2026-04-05T15:26:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2026, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-things-the-same-as-when-you-were-a-kid/1029041/42 "2026-04-06T16:57:05Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Although certainly treated differently, there were gay and trans people. There’s also a weird belief that there were very few fat people back then. But growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, I distinctly remember _lots_ of fat people. My 7th grade English teacher must have weighed at least 250 pounds, and she was in her 30s and short-statured. Yet we didn’t give it a second thought. ---
**Author:** ![VanillaHazelnut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5daacb/32.png) [@VanillaHazelnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VanillaHazelnut)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2026, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-things-the-same-as-when-you-were-a-kid/1029041/43 "2026-04-07T00:36:31Z")
Did anyone ever invite someone to hang out, but that person said no because they didn’t want to miss the new episode of [whatever show]? Or, maybe you said no to people for that reason. Seeing how we didn’t have streaming services and we couldn’t watch the new episodes at our own pace. Another example of people ignoring each other before social media/modern Internet. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2026, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-things-the-same-as-when-you-were-a-kid/1029041/44 "2026-04-07T00:43:34Z")
I remember one afternoon I told my friend I couldn’t come out to play, because I had to take a nap so Mom would let me stay up to watch Gone With the Wind. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2026, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-things-the-same-as-when-you-were-a-kid/1029041/45 "2026-04-07T00:51:23Z")
I’m visiting my mother and I’m sitting in the same dining room that I sat in sixty years ago. Of course, I’m posting on an online message board so that’s different. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2026, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-things-the-same-as-when-you-were-a-kid/1029041/46 "2026-04-07T04:16:35Z")
Table-top RPGs and Wargames are very much the same, though that’s given that individual games were always changing. But many of the settings (Grayhawk, Forgotten Realms, Warhammer 40k) are still the same, given a never ending release of whatever the New Hottness Edition / Mini / Setting was. And new an exciting games/settings come up with novel rules, grow big, and then maybe bust and die only to be reborn. But while I haven’t had a local TT-RPG group in years, when my friends play (without me, bad cess!) or I see an online group playing, I could swap myself in from 40 years ago and it would feel the same, even if the rules had evolved. Maaaaybe a bit healthier towards girl gamers, though that did then, and does now, vary a lot by the group. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2026, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-things-the-same-as-when-you-were-a-kid/1029041/47 "2026-04-07T04:31:54Z")
Confirmed today: Chocolate milk is still completely awesome. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2026, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-things-the-same-as-when-you-were-a-kid/1029041/48 "2026-04-07T04:54:24Z")
I wake up in the morning to a clock radio, as I have since I was eight years old. The only change to that is, in 1988, when I was in graduate school, I switched from the analog General Electric clock radio my parents had give me, to a digital General Electric clock radio; I’ve been using that same radio for 38 years now. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2026, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-things-the-same-as-when-you-were-a-kid/1029041/49 "2026-04-07T22:00:28Z")
I don’t remember having a GE analog clock but I do remember having a digital GE clock radio. In fact, it worked perfectly fine until 10 or so year ago when the numbers started to fade. I bought a new one (not GE, I couldn’t find one), but the alarm on it started to not always work in like a month. So now I have to choose between telling the time or getting up when I need to. I am shy of getting another one in case it too breaks in a month. So now when I really need to get up on time, I set my alarm clock but also set my cell phone alarm. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2026, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-things-the-same-as-when-you-were-a-kid/1029041/50 "2026-04-07T22:16:32Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I don’t remember having a GE analog clock but I do remember having a digital GE clock radio. In fact, it worked perfectly fine until 10 or so year ago when the numbers started to fade. I’m fortunate that mine hasn’t suffered from that yet, though there is one LED in the clock face (the “ones” digit for hours) which flickers and dims a bit when I turn the alarm on. I will be sad when this clock radio finally gives up the ghost – the picture below is the model I have, though the printing along the controls is largely rubbed away on mine. [![](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/pKoAAeSwvwZpshgr/s-l1200.jpg) ](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/pKoAAeSwvwZpshgr/s-l1200.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2026, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-things-the-same-as-when-you-were-a-kid/1029041/51 "2026-04-07T22:34:23Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I don’t remember having a GE analog clock but I do remember having a digital GE clock radio. I had an analog. It looked like this: [![](https://img.tpt.cloud/nextavenue/uploads/2024/07/clockradio.inside.1280x800.jpg) ](https://img.tpt.cloud/nextavenue/uploads/2024/07/clockradio.inside.1280x800.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2026, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-things-the-same-as-when-you-were-a-kid/1029041/52 "2026-04-07T22:36:38Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I had an analog. It looked like this: If that’s not the exact model I had from ~1973 to 1988, it’s close. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2026, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-things-the-same-as-when-you-were-a-kid/1029041/53 "2026-04-08T03:49:30Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I’ve been using that same radio for 38 years now I’ve used the same ones for years and years on end but that’s a grandpa of a clock. It’s always the same cause of death: the buttons stop working reliably over time. My previous one had wires hanging out by the end where I’d soldered in a snooze button bypass. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2026, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-things-the-same-as-when-you-were-a-kid/1029041/54 "2026-04-08T07:23:21Z")
I’ll say it again: there’s a little man with bright, red eyes living inside your clock/radio and at one minute past ten o’clock he’s looking out at you. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2026, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-things-the-same-as-when-you-were-a-kid/1029041/55 "2026-04-08T10:24:36Z")
I was watching a recent TV show. It was in a high school gym and it had collapsible wooden bleachers that were pushed up against the wall, and the character was sitting on the bench (I hope that makes sense). I was thinking that the bleachers were the same as the ones in my high school gym. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2026, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-things-the-same-as-when-you-were-a-kid/1029041/56 "2026-04-08T11:04:16Z")
I watched the below stock video on the day when seatbelts became compulsory in the UK in 1983. I couldn’t help noticing that the general look and feel of the roads, buildings and infrastructure like bus stops has hardly changed. It’s only the boxy cars that are really the giveaway. Even most of the clothing would be fine now. It could just be because I’ve lived in developing countries, so I’ve seen both streets that are quite different to the UK, and which are also are in a perpetual state of upgrade. The UK…same same. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/950kIPv3f38/maxresdefault.jpg "1983: SEAT BELTS become COMPULSORY | BBC News | Retro Transport | BBC Archive") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=950kIPv3f38) ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-things-the-same-as-when-you-were-a-kid/1029041/57 "2026-04-17T16:36:53Z")
Vinyl albums were the top selling physical music format for the first decade of my life and they’re the top selling physical music format now. (There might be a bit of an asterisk to that statement) > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I wake up in the morning to a clock radio, as I have since I was eight years old. The only change to that is, in 1988, when I was in graduate school, I switched from the analog General Electric clock radio my parents had give me, to a digital General Electric clock radio; I’ve been using that same radio for 38 years now. Guess it’s not the same for me but I took a clock radio from my grandfather’s house after his passing in the early 90s, which he bought in the mid-80s. Used it until maybe ten or so years ago when my son needed an alarm so, since it’s super capable of waking people up, I gave it to him. He’s since moved out and is still using it. Photo from eBay but it’s the same model. That display has two settings: “Ok, I guess” and “Flashbang” [![](https://i.ibb.co/j9YxWbwd/s-l1600.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/j9YxWbwd/s-l1600.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-things-the-same-as-when-you-were-a-kid/1029041/58 "2026-04-17T22:25:57Z")
I cannot believe that in order to be taken seriously, you still have to loop a length of fiber round your neck to restrict your breathing. Cooking a meal hasn’t changed. Yes, I have a glass top electric stove instead of a gas range, but the act of cooking is basically the same. Chairs and tables haven’t changed. Nor have beds and dressers. A toilet is still a toilet. We have two incandescent lamps that my father-in-law built when she was a child. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-things-the-same-as-when-you-were-a-kid/1029041/59 "2026-04-17T22:44:09Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > father-in-law built when she was a child. Sounds like _something_ changed! ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-things-the-same-as-when-you-were-a-kid/1029041/60 "2026-04-17T22:55:29Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I cannot believe that in order to be taken seriously, you still have to loop a length of fiber round your neck to restrict your breathing. Huh? This went right over my head. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-things-the-same-as-when-you-were-a-kid/1029041/61 "2026-04-17T23:00:47Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > This went right over my head. I believe he’s referring to men having to wear ties. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-things-the-same-as-when-you-were-a-kid/1029041.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-things-the-same-as-when-you-were-a-kid/1029041.md?page=4)