My dad is 80 today.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

A while back, people were talking about the moon landing, and having grandparents who had “gone from horse-and-buggy to men on the moon in one lifetime.”

Not quite that extreme in this case, but let’s see what’s changed.

– When he was 10, a fake alien invasion was broadcast on the radio. He wasn’t fooled because it was only on one station. When he was 73, a very real terrorist attack was broadcast on TV. He had to believe it, even if he wouldn’t have otherwise, because it was on all the channels, several hundred of them.

– The year he was born, a cartoon mouse was just making his debut in films. Now that mouse is the mascot of a huge conglomerate.

– In the '50s, he worked with a computer that took up most of a room. Now he carries his computer with one hand.

– When he was 12, and snuck his dad’s car keys for a cruise around the neighborhood, manual transmission was all there was. If it was hot, you rolled down the windows. And if you didn’t know where you were going, you stopped and asked someone. Now he drives a hybrid with automatic transmission, air conditioning, a radio/CD player, and GPS.

– In 1960, he voted for the first presidential candidate who was not Protestant. Yes, that was a big deal. This fall, barring unforeseen circumstances, he will vote for the first presidential candidate who is not Caucasian.

– When he was a kid, his parents had a party line. Sometimes his mom used it to talk to more than one person at a time: get the gossip out faster. :wink: You knew who the call was for by the distinctive ring; three short or two short and one long, or whatever. And if you wanted to talk long distance (and that could be the next county, forget out of state), it was three minutes and it had better be an emergency. Now he talks with people in all parts of the US, the UK and Asia, sometimes multiple people at one time. They identify themselves by their screen names, and the cost is already taken care of in the monthly fee.

That’s all I got right now. But that’s quite impressive, eh?

2

My mother, who’ll be 87 this year, grew up with an outhouse toilet and button shoes. Her older brother would stand outside the outhouse telling her stories while she was occupied; she in exchange would button his shoes for him.

She went to a “teachers college” at the age of 17 and at 19, without a degree, became a schoolteacher for several years. She then went to graduate school, again without a college degree, by testing her way in. (Try doing that today!)

In 1952, she and my dad and sister (I wasn’t born yet) went to India to live for five years. They traveled aboard a ship; it took a month. When they were there, the only communication they had with family back home was via airmail letter – those flimsy blue single sheets that you folded up to make their own envelope. When her father had a coronary embolism, she didn’t find out for a month; same with his death.

Her life has changed in so many ways it’s nearly impossible to describe them all. She told me that 9/11 felt like Pearl Harbor; after Pearl Harbor, she had hoped she’d never feel that way again. Unfortunately, she did.

Her mother grew up in horse and buggy days, didn’t see a car till she was 19, and saw the moon landing before she died. So she’s one of the group you mentioned at first. I truly can’t imagine living in a world that changes that much in one lifetime, but of course mine has a long way to go, so we shall see.

And a very happy birthday to your father! I hope he sees many more years of changes in the world around him!

3

A very, very happy birthday to your father!

4

Congratulations to your dad!!! My own father will be 80 in November, so the things your dad experienced will be close to those of my dad. Will you have a big party?

My grandmother is 103. This year she will be voting in her 21st presidential election. If she could have voted at 18 it would be the 22nd. The first man she voted for for president was Herbert Hoover.

Medical care sure is different. Her third child died either before or just after delivery. The doctors advised her not to see the baby. Now they still want you to “bond” with the child, even if it’s dead.

Grandma and Grandpa were married in 1926, and she would have lost her job as a schoolteacher that year if they’d know she’d married. So they had to keep the wedding secret until the school year was over. Now women are almost expected to wori outside the home.

At the one room country school house where she was taught, there were several black children, and her father exchanged work with another farmer who happened to be black. She says she didn’t run into “regulated” segregation until she moved to the city as an adult. Which happened to be Topeka, Kansas.

She remembers washing clothes by hand, and when there were still outhouses in town.

She was born on the first anniversary of the Wright brother’s flight at Kitty Hawk.

5

He’s 18? Oh 80! It’s time for me to buy a new car, is that what you’re trying to tell me, eh, car salesman?

6

No, no party. Just dinner and a cake 'n’at. His brother pointed out that they’ve both outlived their father, and dad has 25 years to go to match their mom’s record.

I told him of this thread, and he has something else to share.

When he was a kid, he drank water. Or milk. That was what they had in the house besides beer. It was theoretically possible to get a coke at the drugstore, but it seemed a silly expenditure when there was candy and baseball cards to buy, and gadgets to save up for. During The War [sup]TM[/sup], orange juice was harder to get than wine. But Coke in bottles was prevalent. Later, they started putting out soft drinks in cans. Then they made diet soft drinks. Then they decided cyclamates were bad for you and replaced them with saccharine. Then they decided saccharine gives you cancer and banned it and replaced it with NutraSweet. And now? Everyone’s back to water.

7

Happy Birthday to your Dad!
he outlived real Doctors telling him that smakong a particular brand of cigarettes would help his cough…
He saw music go from Benny Goodman to 9 inch nails (even if he didn’t like either0
He saw the USA go from what it was to what it is (still pretty good)
Vacuum tubes to nanotech
There is a saying,
“I do not want a “pretty” end to life - let me arrive late, out of shape and out of breath, worn out from the wonders I have seen !” - Rumi

May he see many more healthy birthdays, may his memory be passed, and when his end comes, I hope the mortician has to charge extra to take the grin off his lips!

FML

8

Yes, indeed! Many Happy Returns! Best wishes to him.

The thing I think of when pondering such things is the career of my great-aunt. In 1932 she took a job in the accounting office of the Smith Corona typewriter company. She retired from there just over 52 years later (they closed the office she was in or she’d have stayed on until she was no longer able to work.)

During her tenure they moved from manual, to electric, to portable electric, typewriters. Later on they added copiers to the mix. They took some time off from typewriters to manufacture weapons During The War [sup]TM[/sup]. By the time she retired the Smith Corona Company had become SCM Corp and they were making Word Processors.

9

Nitpick: the first mass-produced automatic transmissions became available in 1940, when your dad was 12. :smiley:

Also, he will be voting for the first major-party presidential nominee in the fall. There have been several nonwhite candidates already.

Oh, and happy birthday to him!

10

That’s funny. My Dad’s 77 today. I’m 29. It feels odd to be under thirtyty with an almost-80 year old father. Just dissonant.
Happy birthday to both of them!

ETA: his first job was as a pin monkey. Can’t even imagine that now. He was twelve.

11

No kidding! That was my mom’s brother’s first job too!

12

Happy Birthday to your Dad!
My Dad is 74 and whenever he uses milk he’ll pick up the carton (used to be a bottle years ago) and turn it over a couple times. I finally asked him why and he said it was to mix in the cream. He also used to work on his own cars, cleaning the carborators and stuff.