# In which I am made to feel old **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 1, 2004, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-am-made-to-feel-old/277469 "2004-12-01T08:23:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-am-made-to-feel-old/277469/41 "2004-12-01T20:34:43Z")
I’m only 26, but sometimes, I still feel old. A couple of years ago at SAAN, I started an “Oldies” thread, since I like oldies, (and no, nothing after say, 1975 or so). Someone listed, “I Touch Myself” by the DiVinyls. Which came out when I was about 12 or 13. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-am-made-to-feel-old/277469/42 "2004-12-01T20:47:43Z")
I’m only 22, and the 18 year old freshmen I tutor make me feel positively ancient. There’s only a 4 year difference, how can there be such a _huge_ divide? On top of that, the Classic Rock station in LA (KLOS 95.5) keeps playing Nirvana. ---
**Author:** ![badomen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c2a13f/32.png) [@badomen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badomen)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-am-made-to-feel-old/277469/43 "2004-12-01T20:54:02Z")
I have 2 stories - first one happened a few years ago. We had co-op students working at the technologry related company I worked for. One young man was in my department. I was talking with another co-worker about the computers we used to own, and I was getting nostalgic for my old Commodore 64. The co-op student had the nerve to ask what a Commodore 64 was. I realized at that point that he didn’t remember a world without the internet, without high speed cable or DSL. The second story, I was getting to know a woman, a few years younger than me, and we were talking about our hair colors etc. She had lovely long red hair, but I digress. My hair is very dark brown, but a lot of people think it’s black. So we are discussing this and she says my hair is black, and I of course go to correct her and say no it isn’t. She responds with “you are right, it is more, salt and pepper.” I’m 31. I’m not old. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-am-made-to-feel-old/277469/44 "2004-12-01T21:11:13Z")
A few months ago, when I was still 28, I stopped by my friends house. He coaches high school football, and was having a barbeque for his players. A bunch of them were on the front lawn, and as I walked up to the house, one of them asked “Whose parent are you?” I made my friend promise to destroy him during their next practice session. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-am-made-to-feel-old/277469/45 "2004-12-01T21:43:56Z")
> [@John Corrado](#): > > Chatting with a friend in a MMORPG, and he mentioned that he was listening to classic rock on the radio. > > Being a fan of classic rock, I asked which song was playing. > > “Sweet Child of Mine.” > > No! No, classic rock is for stuff made by the baby boomers before I was born! It does not include _songs that were popular when I was a senior in high school_! > > Crap. Sigh, try when you were a hip happening 28 year old divorcee’ (coulda sworn someone said that was alt 130, didn’t work for me…sniff). ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-am-made-to-feel-old/277469/46 "2004-12-01T21:56:58Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > Sigh, try when you were a hip happening 28 year old divorcee’ Thank you. My first real “I feel old” moment was when I got divorced at 27. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-am-made-to-feel-old/277469/47 "2004-12-01T22:01:24Z")
> [@Mtgman](#): > > Cool, I had been looking for SR-71’s CD’s with the song on it and hadn’t been able to find them. I guess that would explain why 🙂 > > Enjoy, > Steven However, that site _does_ have the lyrics for SR-71’s “Axl Rose” on it, which seems all too appropriate to my original post. ---
**Author:** ![lel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8797f3/32.png) [@lel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lel)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-am-made-to-feel-old/277469/48 "2004-12-01T22:13:51Z")
> [@Dung Beetle](#): > > You shoulda been there the time I informed a group of young whippersnappers that Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” was a cover of a Dolly Parton song. They were _flabbergasted whippersnappers_. And that was about ten fucking years ago! Young whippersnappers now wouldn’t even remember the remake because it would have come out when they were in preschool. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-am-made-to-feel-old/277469/49 "2004-12-01T22:27:43Z")
I got the Star Wars DVDs not long ago, and my little sister casually mentioned that she’d never seen the original trilogy. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-am-made-to-feel-old/277469/50 "2004-12-01T22:52:18Z")
_pickers,_ every one o’you. A baby I used to babysit for is an elementary school principal now. 7 years ago, I realized that people born when I graduated college could legally drink. I **knew** who “CHaro” was when she appeared on _That 70’s show_" Not only do I remember 8 tracks, my first “stereo” was a single unit (record player plus built in speakers on either side of it). I grew up watching black and white tv. I saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. the first time. I remember plate spinners. That’s something that I think is really missing as a reference for young people. The sight of some guy in a satin shirt frantically spinning plates on sticks with that particular song in the background (Saber dance?? ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-am-made-to-feel-old/277469/51 "2004-12-01T23:01:36Z")
Keep in mind that the people you are talking about are _clueless_ whippersnappers\*. _Hip_ whippersnappers (myself included, of course) know about _all_ the stuff you guys are talking about. Thanks to _Behind The Music_, _I love the XX’s_ and our parent’s attics full of junk, members of the elite _HIPpersnapper_ generation are totally plugged in with all you groovy cats. (I have a rather large collection of vinyl, thank you very much. Not to mention the 8-track in my '77 Olds.) ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-am-made-to-feel-old/277469/52 "2004-12-01T23:11:38Z")
> [@Ilsa\_Lund](#): > > (I have a rather large collection of vinyl, thank you very much. Not to mention the 8-track in my '77 Olds.) I started working in 1977. Elvis was alive then ya know. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-am-made-to-feel-old/277469/53 "2004-12-01T23:17:31Z")
> [@wring](#): > > I started working in 1977. > > Elvis was alive then ya know. Not when my car was purchased he wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-am-made-to-feel-old/277469/54 "2004-12-01T23:34:32Z")
> [@wring](#): > > I **knew** who “CHaro” was when she appeared on _That 70’s show_" Bzzzzzt. Fibber. _Nobody_ knows who Charo was. We didn’t know who the hell she was in the '60s, either. > [@](#): > > I saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. the first time. I used to have “Sorry girls, he’s married” under my picture on my web site. …but then, I used to **be** married. ---
**Author:** ![pokey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ebca7d/32.png) [@pokey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pokey)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2004, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-am-made-to-feel-old/277469/55 "2004-12-01T23:47:03Z")
> [@Ilsa\_Lund](#): > > _HIPpersnapper_ That needs just the tiniest bit more love. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-am-made-to-feel-old/277469/56 "2004-12-02T00:00:53Z")
> [@pokey](#): > > That needs just the tiniest bit more love. Hmm, maybe w **HIP** persnapper? ---
**Author:** ![pokey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ebca7d/32.png) [@pokey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pokey)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-am-made-to-feel-old/277469/57 "2004-12-02T00:06:46Z")
> [@Ilsa\_Lund](#): > > Hmm, maybe w **HIP** persnapper? No I mean it deserves more love from us the readers. Not from you the creator. Hippersnapper. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-am-made-to-feel-old/277469/58 "2004-12-02T00:09:38Z")
:d ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-am-made-to-feel-old/277469/59 "2004-12-02T00:37:32Z")
This seems to have become somewhat of an urban legend now, but I swear to Og that when my sister was 11, in 1980, she asked me if Paul McCartney was in a group before Wings. That was the first time I felt old. I saw The Beatles on Ed Sullivan, too. And JFK being assassinated. And men walk on the moon. None of the twenty-something guys at the radio station where I work have any idea what to do with our open-reel tape recorders. “What’s the razor blade for?” Some of them have never seen or used a turntable, as evidenced by the one kid who, first time he used it, pushed the tonearm across the record to get to the track, and broke off the cantilever and stylus on a $200 cartridge. Where’s my Geritol? ---
**Author:** ![MaddyStrut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@MaddyStrut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaddyStrut)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-am-made-to-feel-old/277469/60 "2004-12-02T00:59:03Z")
A group from my office ran in the Race for the Cure recently. After the race, I overheard one of my 22 year old officemates remark that she must be out of shape because it was difficult for her to keep up with “someone as old as MaddyStrut.” Yeah, I’m nearly wheelchair bound at 38 and all. :rolleyes: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-am-made-to-feel-old/277469.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-am-made-to-feel-old/277469.md?page=4)