# The Things For Which Kids Today Have No Context (another list of how things have changed) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 7, 2014, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035 "2014-08-07T14:43:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/221 "2014-08-08T19:11:18Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > Yes. Reminds me of an old joke that probably wouldn’t make much sense to kids today. A man takes his wife to a doubleheader\*, and along about the second inning of the second game, she gets up and starts to leave, saying “C’mon…this is where we came in.” > > \*Actually, regular scheduled doubleheaders went away several years ago. They happen now only if there’s a need to make up an earlier postponed game. And even then, it’s a day-night doubleheader where you have to pay for two admissions. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/222 "2014-08-08T19:17:34Z")
When I was in junior high school, poncho shirts were the “in” thing, they had long pointed tails and were supposed to be worn out of your pants. But our school required that the shirts be tucked in. So we “rebelled” by wearing our belts so the buckles were on the side instead of in front. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/223 "2014-08-08T19:54:10Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Why don’t we limit this to things that people under a certain age won’t have context for; a lot of these things on here are geezer-things that even people in their 40s don’t have context for- stuff that went out in the 1960s and 1970s like rollerskate keys, **full-service gas stations** , manual tuneups, etc… Bolding mine. On the contrary, I worked in two different gas stations in the late '80’s/early '90’s that still had a full-service island. > [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > Oh my God. My father _lived_ to collect S&H Green Stamps. Then he’d call us into the kitchen to wet the stamps and paste them in the book. (Zzzzzzz . . .) Then he’d bitch because he didn’t like the cheap crap in the redemption catalog. There was actually a Green Stamp redemption center in the nearest ‘big city’ that mom would redeem hers at. My contribution: The big pile of boxes in the front corner of the grocery store they would use to put your groceries in instead of bags. And they would wrap string around the flaps to keep them up so they could load them full. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/224 "2014-08-08T19:58:39Z")
I occasionally see S&H Green Stamps slot machines at casinos. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/225 "2014-08-08T20:05:08Z")
> [@Hermione](#): > > One thing “kids today” (good Lord, am I actually using that phrase?) have little conception of: the “specialness” of having certain movies and specials broadcast only once a year. Every year in December, certain movie theaters ran Fantasia! ETA: Yes, the original unsanitized version, complete with the bare-breasted female centaurs! ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/226 "2014-08-08T20:33:31Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > And even then, it’s a day-night doubleheader where you have to pay for two admissions. Not always. I’ve been to a few Mets single admision double-headers including one earlier this season. ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/227 "2014-08-08T20:36:23Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > My contribution: The big pile of boxes in the front corner of the grocery store they would use to put your groceries in instead of bags. And they would wrap string around the flaps to keep them up so they could load them full. We have a chain here (Bottom Dollar) that still does this. They have no grocery bags. After you take your items from your shopping cart and place them on the belt, they’re scanned and then put in another shopping cart behind the cashier. What you do with them from that point on is your headache. You either have brought cloth bags, or you load them in cardboard boxes near the door (no string, though). Or, I suppose, put the items in your car individually. P.S. It’s possible that the Aldi chain does this too. I wouldn’t know though. Once I found out I couldn’t have a shopping cart unless I put a quarter in its slot, and there was no way to get change other than (wait in line and) ask a cashier, my first visit was my last. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/228 "2014-08-08T20:48:27Z")
[Counter Checks](http://www.oklahomahistory.net/glimpsepast/fnb62co.jpg) Also, being able to put ‘City’ on a piece of mail if it was to be sent locally instead of putting the entire address and zip code. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/229 "2014-08-08T20:49:33Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > We have a chain here (Bottom Dollar) that still does this. They have no grocery bags. After you take your items from your shopping cart and place them on the belt, they’re scanned and then put in another shopping cart behind the cashier. > > What you do with them from that point on is your headache. You either have brought cloth bags, or you load them in cardboard boxes near the door (no string, though). Or, I suppose, put the items in your car individually… Many areas in CA now do not supply shopping bags, you bring your own. It’s the Law. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/230 "2014-08-08T20:56:53Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Or, it _could_ be a tube tester.😛 That’s a fond childhood memory of mine. My dad would boost me up and let me find the matching socket for the tube and plug it in. He even kept a collection of old burnt out tubes so that he could leave me at the tube tester to “play” while going and doing the grocery shopping. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/231 "2014-08-08T20:59:39Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > That’s a fond childhood memory of mine. My dad would boost me up and let me find the matching socket for the tube and plug it in. He even kept a collection of old burnt out tubes so that he could leave me at the tube tester to “play” while going and doing the grocery shopping. Yes, and that’s another thing which kids today wont see- a parent trusting his kid to play with glass tubes, a powerful electrical device, and by himself instead of one 'rent standing within 5" watching for the dread\* “Stranger danger!!!” - and mostly mythical. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/232 "2014-08-08T21:07:59Z")
Educate an old person. Those kids with the cassette player are not aware that you need headphones to listen to music. How do they listen on their iphones? I don’t have one but I thought that they also used earbud-type headphones that have to be plugged into the phone. Do the kids all just play their music out loud? ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/233 "2014-08-08T21:17:47Z")
They are talking about the actual [headphones](http://www.camvis.com/img/products/large/mwh12-99.jpeg) that came with the Walkman, not earbuds. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/234 "2014-08-08T21:26:59Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > Educate an old person. Those kids with the cassette player are not aware that you need headphones to listen to music. How do they listen on their iphones? I don’t have one but I thought that they also used earbud-type headphones that have to be plugged into the phone. Do the kids all just play their music out loud? Those “Kids React/Teens React/Seniors React” are all heavily edited and partially staged. ---
**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:** [August 8, 2014, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/235 "2014-08-08T21:31:02Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Yes, and that’s another thing which kids today wont see- a parent trusting his kid to play with glass tubes, a powerful electrical device, and by himself instead of one 'rent standing within 5" watching for the dread\* “Stranger danger!!!” > > - and mostly mythical. I’m guessing that image of modern parenting is also mostly mythical. If anything, kids nowadays probably have less parental supervision then they did when I was a child. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/236 "2014-08-08T23:02:51Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Those “Kids React/Teens React/Seniors React” are all heavily edited and partially staged. Yes, and? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2014, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/237 "2014-08-09T00:29:59Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > [Counter Checks](http://www.oklahomahistory.net/glimpsepast/fnb62co.jpg) > > Also, being able to put ‘City’ on a piece of mail if it was to be sent locally instead of putting the entire address and zip code. We used to put “Via Air Mail” on any mail that was supposed to go, uhm, pretty far. I don’t remember what the trigger was, but we did it. Also, back when we didn’t use 2 letter abbreviations for states. It took me years to write MA instead of Mass. and CT instead of Conn. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2014, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/238 "2014-08-09T00:46:10Z")
> [@Crustacea](#): > > Subway stamps > Ringtones > Texting with T-9 > Burned CDs > Napster/Limewire > Frosted tips > **SARS** Sars? The first outbreak was only 12 years ago. > [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > I loved the smell of card catalogs. [The private library](http://www.neilsonhayslibrary.com/) the wife and I belong to has card catalogs. I love them. > [@TheFaerie](#): > > Children heck, I had to explain it to my husband and he’s 61. > > Television stations that went off the air at 1am. I think some of the Thai stations still do that, but it’s been a while since I checked. Thai TV is horrible. As for antennas, you still see lots of them in Thailand, but they’re expected to disappear soon. The government is on a big push to modernize TV viewing. > [@John\_Mace](#): > > Also, back when we didn’t use 2 letter abbreviations for states. It took me years to write MA instead of Mass. and CT instead of Conn. To this day, I still don’t abbreviate states when I write to the US. I just like spelling out the state in full. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2014, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/239 "2014-08-09T01:03:29Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > We used to put “Via Air Mail” on any mail that was supposed to go, uhm, pretty far. I don’t remember what the trigger was, but we did it. And of course airmail was written on onionskin paper to save precious ounces. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2014, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/240 "2014-08-09T01:26:57Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > And of course airmail was written on onionskin paper to save precious ounces. It also could be written on the envelope, which would be folded up and sealed. For regular mail you could just use a postcard if you didn’t care if anybody saw what you wrote. I think they were 2 cents less than regular mail. And of course, you had to lick stamps. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035.md?page=13)