# The old fart thread. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 18, 2000, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-fart-thread/25970 "2000-07-18T13:31:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [July 18, 2000, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-fart-thread/25970/41 "2000-07-18T19:56:59Z")
> [@](#): > > Everybody loved the Mets as they swept the Orioles for the '69 series. I’ll give you five bucks if you say that to weirddave. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-fart-thread/25970/42 "2000-07-18T20:01:39Z")
I recently heard on the radio: “And here’s another 97 Rock classic…” so I’m waiting for The Doors or something and on comes Tom Petty with a mid-80s song!?! What did I miss? I too remember when telephones had dials and Ma Bell owned the phone that came with your house. And before radio/tape players were all-in-one and you had to record songs off the radio into the microphone of a hand-held cassette player. And Sergio Valente jeans, Candie’s shoes, and velour shirts were worn in deadly earnest, not as some retro trip… ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-fart-thread/25970/43 "2000-07-18T20:20:16Z")
[quote] –I stopped staying up until 1 a.m., and started getting up at 6 a.m. –Hangovers started lasting longer, and I didn’t have as much fun causing them. –I programmed the local NPR station on my radio. –I had to start explaining references to events that occurred during my teens. –My cholesterol level hit 240. –I stopped buying comic books [/quote I hear you. I found myself explaining slide rules to one of my roommates, who had never heard of them. I remember when there were only three networks and no cable. I can still sing the Banana Splits song. I remember the fuss over Comet Kohoutek. I remember watching shows on TVLand in prime time. I watched the moon landing when I was in second grade. I was an adult(18) when John Lennon was shot. I remeber Watergate, Pat Paulsen, and the oil embargo. Geez, I need a beer. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7feea3/32.png) [@PatrickM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickM)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-fart-thread/25970/44 "2000-07-18T20:22:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bluepony \* > One of these days I’ll take him aside after we play catch and tell him a story of the old '69 Washington Senators. 🙂 > > \*\* HIJACK: Aw, c’mon Bluepony, please, please, please, tell us a story about the old '69 Senators. I’m dying to hear about about Dick Bosman, and Frank Howard, and the managing of Teddy Ballgame. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SoxFan59](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@SoxFan59](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoxFan59)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-fart-thread/25970/45 "2000-07-18T20:34:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bluepony \* > \*\*'69 was a real cool year for baseball. Mets fans weren’t assholes, they were lovable. Everybody loved the Mets as they swept the Orioles for the '69 series. \*\* The Mets made the `69 baseball season for me by first disposing of the hated Cubs, who had been in first place most of the summer. One of the most wonderful Septembers of my youth. (My team, the White Sox, were in the process of losing about 100 games that summer). ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Propski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5e9695/32.png) [@Guy\_Propski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Propski)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-fart-thread/25970/46 "2000-07-18T20:36:05Z")
Slide Rules!! Damn, I can’t even remember how to work one, and I actually learned it in school. London–okay, here’s an obscure one for you: “Science Friction.” It’s from the “3-D EP.” ---
**Author:** ![Tracie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/90db22/32.png) [@Tracie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracie)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-fart-thread/25970/47 "2000-07-18T20:36:32Z")
> [@](#): > > I too remember when telephones had dials and Ma Bell owned the phone that came with your house. And before radio/tape players were all-in-one and you had to record songs off the radio into the microphone of a hand-held cassette player. > > And Sergio Valente jeans, Candie’s shoes, and velour shirts were worn in deadly earnest, not as some retro trip… Me too! Ditto to all of it! Lawman Jans and Painter Pants looked better on me in the 70’s than they do on kids nowadays too. 🙂 All my pants had to come from Mr. Rags (or at least look like they did) or I couldn’t show myself in public. I still have some of those microphone radio recordings on tapes around here somewhere… Oh, and **Ellen** … BOO! :eek: ~Tracie ---
**Author:** ![Tracie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/90db22/32.png) [@Tracie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracie)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-fart-thread/25970/48 "2000-07-18T20:40:33Z")
S’cuse my typos… Jans = Jeans. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ChrisP\_One\_Kenobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@ChrisP\_One\_Kenobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisP_One_Kenobe)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-fart-thread/25970/49 "2000-07-18T21:08:37Z")
I farted 30 minutes ago. Does that qualify as an old fart? What? I thought this was about…oh never mind. ::backs slowly out of room while everyone glares:: ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-fart-thread/25970/50 "2000-07-18T21:45:43Z")
Why you young whippersnappers I saw Wilt Chamberlin’s 100 point game on tv Live. I was rooting for Mickey Mantle when Roger Marris hit his 61st I once had baseball cards for Nellie Fox, Gil Hodges, Enos Slaughter, Duke Snider, Warren Spaun,Mickey Mantle etc etc etc when they were playing.They wern’t worth a nickel. Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants, Milwaukee Braves were the teams to beat. ---
**Author:** ![DAVEW0071](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-fart-thread/25970/51 "2000-07-18T22:20:15Z")
41 here. I may get older, but I refuse to grow up. And dammit, I _like_ my graying hair! Just not getting around on the fastball like I used to. ---
**Author:** ![tradesilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tradesilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tradesilicon)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-fart-thread/25970/52 "2000-07-18T22:51:41Z")
Well, I may feel like an old fart around some people, but my wife assures me I’m not - “stop being a baby”, or “I have two babies here”, meaning me and our 10 year old… ---
**Author:** ![brachyrhynchos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brachyrhynchos/32/376_2.png) [@brachyrhynchos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brachyrhynchos)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2000, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-fart-thread/25970/53 "2000-07-19T00:27:04Z")
Well I may be 44 but I rarely feel it (except for right now). My bones are aching and for the first time in a long time, I woke up tired. But enough about my pissing and moaning. Onto _Things I Remember_ (favorite pasttime of the time-endowed): I remember **Crusader Rabbit** cartoons and a sitcom called **I Marry Joan**. I remember JFK’s assasination. I remember the teacher crying and it frightened me because it was the first time I saw an adult cry. I remember seeing **The Wizard of Oz** in color for the first time and being totally blown away - I didn’t know that it was in B&W for only the first 15 minutes or so. I remember when they used to show most of the athletes competing in the Olympics rather than just the top 3 or 5. They just showed the competition - no human interest stories, no tour around the town crap. Just sports. I remember getting into my brother’s 56 Buick when it was not vintage. I remember getting milk delivered to our doorstep. I remember when there were miles and miles of orange groves in northern Orange County, California. I remember that incredible smell of orange blossoms in the spring. So, if I can remember all this stuff, why can’t I remember where I put my car keys? ---
**Author:** ![rundogrun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5daacb/32.png) [@rundogrun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rundogrun)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2000, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-fart-thread/25970/54 "2000-07-19T00:42:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by xenophon41 \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by LouisB \* > > **I walked ten miles to school, through the snow, ten miles home again, more snow, uphill both ways, too, I’m telling you kids you don’t have a clue what it was like back then. I worked four hours before school started and twelve more when I got home. Kids. Think they had it rough.** > > [Monty Python reference]…All we had for supper was a lump of dry poison, and then our Da’ would kill us and dance about on our graves, singin’ Hallelujah.[/Monty Python reference] \*\* Luxury. Our dad would wake us before we’d go to bed and beat us with a stick…no wait, how does the rest of this one go? Hold on…I got it on 8-track around here somewhere… ---
**Author:** ![oldscratch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@oldscratch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oldscratch)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2000, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-fart-thread/25970/55 "2000-07-19T00:46:29Z")
Hmmmm? Should I be here or not. I don’t feel old? but, my name is **old** scratch. Well, hell, there’s liquor here. Anywhere there’s liquor I feel at home. ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2000, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-fart-thread/25970/56 "2000-07-19T01:07:10Z")
A couple of years ago, I was riding in a car with my (then) 14 year old cousin, and I was searching in vain for a decent rock station on the radio (Flint doesn’t have any). My cousin asked what I was looking for, and I told her I was looking for some rock. “Rock?” she says. “Yes, rock. Rock ‘n’ roll. I don’t like rap or country.” says I. “Rock ‘n’ roll,” she said thoughtfully. “I’ve heard of that, but I don’t know exactly what it is.” I could _feel_ the hair on my head turn gray. When I got my cousin home, I politely informed my 45-year-old uncle of his daughter’s ignorance. He looked at me, looked at her, looked back at me, and said “oh thanks a lot. I just played a hot, sweaty game of basketball, and I whipped your Uncle Kevin’s butt. I was feeling pretty good there, for a minute. Now I’m elderly. Thanks so much.” My cousin still doesn’t know what rock ‘n’ roll is. ---
**Author:** ![Monster104](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Monster104](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monster104)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2000, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-fart-thread/25970/57 "2000-07-19T01:14:19Z")
Phew! This place is starting to smell like old people… (Looks around) Oh. That’s why. (Ducks, runs like hell while plugging his nose to keep the pungent odors out) ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecccb3/32.png) [@Lord\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2000, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-fart-thread/25970/58 "2000-07-19T02:40:26Z")
Everything that **justwannano** said plus watched the Harlem Globetrotters when Goose Tatum played. Watched Yogi Berra dive into Don Larsen’s arms after the 56 World Series perfect game. And watched Jim Brown’s football career as only someone with the same name could. Watched the Gillette Cavalcade of Sports Friday night fights when Sugar Ray Robinson & Floyd Patterson were in there prime and Cassius Clay (Mohammid Ali to the ones that didn’t know him when he started) take over the world of boxing. And Howard Cosell take over sports announcing. After watching the Cuban missile crisis unfold on the news, my grandfather said we’d be in World War 3 in 24 hours. At 13 that was a scary thought. He was wrong but close. I heard of JFK’s death on the way to history class. The teacher convened the class by saying “ok, who is the president of the US?” History teachers, gotta love’m. ---
**Author:** ![OldBroad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@OldBroad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldBroad)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2000, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-fart-thread/25970/59 "2000-07-19T02:50:53Z")
Read it: OLD BROAD Bet I’m still the oldest living female poster. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2000, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-fart-thread/25970/60 "2000-07-19T04:54:29Z")
HEY, KIDS! WHAT TIME IS IT? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-fart-thread/25970.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-old-fart-thread/25970.md?page=4)