# Tiny Events that Make You Realize How Old You Are **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 16, 2006, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935 "2006-06-16T15:39:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2006, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/181 "2006-06-24T05:59:51Z")
[QUOTE=tiny ham] We got a new stock of office supplies today (I have an unnatural and unabiding love of office supplies) and included were dry erase markers with the eraser attached. I declared them ‘cool’ and then said to the receptionist “remember those eraseable bic pens that were all the rage in highschool? They were blue with a black eraser and they worked like crap but we all tried to erase stuff just because we could?” She looked at me blankly and said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” And yesterday, as I saw three kids in the open back of a pick up truck, laughing and standing up, I yelled in my car “We’ll see how funny it is when you break your necks!” Truly, I am no longer a child. [/QUOTE] A very good idea for a thread, Mr ham, I’ll have to rack my brains for some other examples. ---
**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:** [June 27, 2006, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/182 "2006-06-27T06:40:13Z")
Grey hair in unmentionable places? Check. Hitting on folks, then realizing they were born since you started having sex? Check. But what makes me feel really old? When two admins quit in quick succession, and leave me the Old Man of the Datacenter, and in the top five oldest people in the company. The idea of a computer with ram measured in kilobytes is alien to my co-workers, a great deal of them do not actually remember running a computer without a windowing system before this job. Thankfully, one of the aforementioned admins came back, and now I am second oldest in the datacenter, and sixth oldest in the company. Not a bad spot to be, I guess. Yeah, I do sound like the guys who used punch cards…sigh. Oh, and explaining to an adult that Ozzy Osbourne was in a band before he had his solo carrer was very, very, odd. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2006, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/183 "2006-06-27T13:18:29Z")
Recently in a thread here about stupid advertising, someone mentioned Ricardo Montalban’s Cordova commercial and “fine Corinthian leather,” prompting another poster to thank them for providing the context for jokes their parents had made years ago which they had never understood. …it’s not just that I remember when the ads were on the air — it’s that it seems to me that “fine Corinthian leather” achieved such a saturation point and was parodied for _years_ in various high-profile places for _years_ after the ad’s run had finished. > [@scabpicker](#): > > Hitting on folks, then realizing they were born since you started having sex? Check. Ha. Try **having sex** with folks, and _then_ realizing they were born after you started having sex. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2006, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/184 "2006-06-27T18:48:28Z")
\ When I realized that I learned about transistors 21 years after they invented, and more than 21 years had passed since I had learned about them. And that was a long time ago. My (younger) daughter’s high school history book had lots of chapters about stuff that had happened after I went to high school. And I say humph to the Area Code discussion - I remember before there were area codes (and zip codes) and I remember the Alan Sherman song about them- the **Let’s all Call Up AT&T and Protest to the President March**. ---
**Author:** ![think\_quick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3da27b/32.png) [@think\_quick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/think_quick)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/185 "2006-06-28T06:15:56Z")
[QUOTE=matt\_mcl] I remember those, and I’m 24. How old is the receptionist? [/QUOTE] heck, i remember them and i’m 22! really, how old is the receptionist? ---
**Author:** ![Testy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@Testy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Testy)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/186 "2006-06-28T09:47:14Z")
**Voyager** My first electronics instructor (1972) considered transistors to be a passing fad. 😛 The thing that really irked me was buying a Paul Simon CD in the late '80s that I had originally bought in the mid '70s on vinyl. The CD was marked “Historic Re-issue.” Testy ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/187 "2007-04-19T19:54:39Z")
[QUOTE=E. Thorp] High school?? I was in my second year of grad school! I remember consoling myself by thinking “by the time they get around to reinstituting the draft, I’ll be too old for it.” I’m glad my parents’ generation are still around. My mother saw _Singin’ in the Rain_ on its first run when she was 12, and my uncle still has his first-edition copy of _Kind of Blue_. So I’ve got miles to go. (On preview…I have 2 years on **Cervaise** , share his general outlook, and hope I can achieve his level of optimism.) [/QUOTE] “Miles to go?” Heh. And my phone number when I was a kid was BEacon 4-0708 ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/188 "2007-04-19T21:48:37Z")
Last week. I was given the Senior discount and I didn’t ask for one. AND I’m not old enough for one yet! ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/189 "2007-04-19T22:04:06Z")
Y’all think that’s bad? I remember this thread when it was new! ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/190 "2007-04-19T22:09:41Z")
Riding in the car with my son. Remake of Last Kiss by Pearl Jam on radio and I sing along a bit. Son, “I didn’t know you liked Pearl Jam.” Me, “That song fist came out in 1964.” Son, “No way!!.” Me, “Way.” He had to Google when we got home. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/191 "2007-04-19T22:12:37Z")
I am 59. I felt really, really old last week when my doctor (who’s in his 30s) gave me some sample pills and recommended the dosage level for geriatric patients. Why, that whippersnapper. I woulda smacked him with my cane if only I remembered where I left it. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/192 "2007-04-19T22:18:41Z")
Seeing the ever-so-sensitive medical term “Elderly Prima Gravidas” on my chart when my daughter was born. And that was almost 10 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/193 "2007-04-20T01:30:57Z")
[QUOTE=Sarahfeena] We go every year for Oktoberfest! [/QUOTE] Its the family style chicken. Do you do the Bavarian or Zhenders? ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/194 "2007-04-20T01:47:02Z")
[QUOTE=cher3] Seeing the ever-so-sensitive medical term “Elderly Prima Gravidas” on my chart when my daughter was born. And that was almost 10 years ago. [/QUOTE] That’s nuthin’. My mom had that on her chart when she had me _at age 30_. Admittedly, that was in 1966. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Delly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Delly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Delly)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/195 "2007-04-20T02:03:57Z")
I had hearrd a couple songs by Panic! at the Disco so I decided to download the album last week, anyway I decided I liked it so I looked up Wikipedia to see what it said about them (hey I was bored). The lead singer is 20. That made me feel old. ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/196 "2007-04-20T03:59:17Z")
Oh, God. Let’s see… The first phone I remember using was a party line. The first Doctor Who I remember was Patrick Troughton. I was a member of the computer club at school (we used punched cards; they got shipped off to an obliging local company and run overnight; we got printout back the next day. If we were lucky) and everybody got excited when the school bought a new computer that had something called “graphics”. It was a TRS-80. That TRS-80 came with a magnificent _four whole K_ of memory. Later on, they upgraded it to 16K, and the teacher who ran the club told us, “Right. First person who uses all _that_ up gets banned.” Because now we had _so much memory!_ ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/197 "2007-04-20T04:10:27Z")
I told some kids to get off the lawn. Seriously. I didn’t even think about what I’d said 'till later. It wasn’t even my lawn. ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/198 "2007-04-20T04:18:05Z")
[QUOTE=MacSpon] That TRS-80 came with a magnificent _four whole K_ of memory. Later on, they upgraded it to 16K, and the teacher who ran the club told us, “Right. First person who uses all _that_ up gets banned.” Because now we had _so much memory!_ [/QUOTE] My family had one of those when I was a kid – TRS-80! Except we had the Model III. It had a whopping 48 K of ram. And it had the two 5 1/4" floppy drives. We were steppin’ up from the older model, which had to use the screechy cassette tape drive. Ridin’ in the fast lane of the computing world! ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/199 "2007-04-20T04:19:18Z")
[QUOTE=Larry Borgia] It wasn’t even my lawn. [/QUOTE] That part about made me choke. That was hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![mamboman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/200 "2007-04-20T10:41:56Z")
I found a Dollar Bill on the ground today at school, and then had to explain to our office trainee (a very intelligent young lady, I have to add) what it was. Paper Dollar bills were pulled out of ciculation in 1984. She was born in 1989 and has never seen one. Man, did I feel old! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935.md?page=11)