# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/101 "2006-06-18T22:31:02Z")
Another thing: I have am .avi file with three hours of MTV from 1983. The commercials, more so than the music, made me feel extremely old: - Commercials advertising albums. ALBUMS, not CDs. - Not a single URL mentioned. Call 1-800-HOT-ROCK! Also, most of the programming was actual music videos, with almost R&B or rap. Enjoy. Remember, this is just as current to teenagers of today as Ed Sullivan was to us. [http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/5237/mtv08it.jpg](http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/5237/mtv08it.jpg) [http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/3392/mtv11qj.jpg](http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/3392/mtv11qj.jpg) [http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/9236/mtv28vw.jpg](http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/9236/mtv28vw.jpg) [http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/6366/mtv36sv.jpg](http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/6366/mtv36sv.jpg) [http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/4067/mtv44uf.jpg](http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/4067/mtv44uf.jpg) [http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/5717/mtv57fx.jpg](http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/5717/mtv57fx.jpg) [http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/7263/mtv68tk.jpg](http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/7263/mtv68tk.jpg) [http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/9559/mtv71es.jpg](http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/9559/mtv71es.jpg) [http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/8086/mtv88ww.jpg](http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/8086/mtv88ww.jpg) [http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/8471/mtv97yy.jpg](http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/8471/mtv97yy.jpg) [http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/291/mtv101xu.jpg](http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/291/mtv101xu.jpg) [http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/3093/mtv111jr.jpg](http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/3093/mtv111jr.jpg) [http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/4342/mtv125rz.jpg](http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/4342/mtv125rz.jpg) [http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/9585/mtv131ri.jpg](http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/9585/mtv131ri.jpg) [http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/8258/mtv144lr.jpg](http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/8258/mtv144lr.jpg) [http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/9910/mtv153vy.jpg](http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/9910/mtv153vy.jpg) [http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/8052/mtv161th.jpg](http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/8052/mtv161th.jpg) [http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/4070/mtv179wn.jpg](http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/4070/mtv179wn.jpg) [http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/9751/mtv188ou.jpg](http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/9751/mtv188ou.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2006, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/102 "2006-06-18T23:47:13Z")
I feel old when college-freshmen-to-be come to my office for academic advising and call me ma’am. I’m 26. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2006, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/103 "2006-06-19T02:20:17Z")
Let’s put it this way- if you grew up as a rock fan in the Seventies, as I did, guys like Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey seemed like ancient history. I mean, “Chatanooga Choo Choo” was 38 years old when I was a senior in high school. Well, guess what- 1968 was 38 years ago. Which means that, for a current high school senior, Led Zeppelin is the equivalent of Glenn Miller (and equally cool and relevant). ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2006, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/104 "2006-06-19T02:26:27Z")
That’s so depressing. Excuse me while I put on “Dazed And Confused.” ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2006, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/105 "2006-06-19T05:44:47Z")
[QUOTE=astorian] Let’s put it this way- if you grew up as a rock fan in the Seventies, as I did, guys like Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey seemed like ancient history. I mean, “Chatanooga Choo Choo” was 38 years old when I was a senior in high school. [/QUOTE] A huge difference between the young Baby Boomers/old Generation Xers and our parents, I think, is that we realize this. I don’t think that any of our pre-Baby Boomer parents, when listening to Glen Miller or Bing Crosby in the 1970s, thought “You know, this music is as relevant to the kids of today as ragtime was to us.” They seemed to accept the fact that they were turning old, while we try to keep up with youth pop culture into our 40s and 50s. I’ve heard it said that Generation Xers were supposed to be the first generation to bring youth culture into middle age. That’s true for the most part, but I feel so depressed when I meet a woman a few years my junior, and she’s got mom hair – a layered pear-shaped mound of hair piled above her ears – along with a minivan and a stack of smooth jazz CDs on the center console. I went to high school with women like this? ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2006, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/106 "2006-06-19T06:02:34Z")
If you want to feel real depressed, consider these MTV screencaps from 1983. [http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/2122/output412617mm.jpg](http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/2122/output412617mm.jpg) This was a commercial for Cody cologne. The actors are probably in their mid-40s now. [http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/7954/output1305445dk.jpg](http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/7954/output1305445dk.jpg) A scene from some video. She’s approaching 50. [http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/918/output1307315eo.jpg](http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/918/output1307315eo.jpg) She’s probably 50 now. [http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/7834/output1144046kb.jpg](http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/7834/output1144046kb.jpg) Annabella Lwin of Bow Wow Wow. She’s 40. [http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/6397/output248304fq.jpg](http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/6397/output248304fq.jpg) Stevie Nicks. She was 35 in this video. Today she’s 58 years old. Want to feel real depressed? Remember Toni Basil? [Mickey](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfB-nyRERw0&search=toni%20basil)? 63 years old. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2006, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/107 "2006-06-19T06:43:36Z")
_Now_ I feel old. I turn 63 in July. I was making it just fine until that last post. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2006, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/108 "2006-06-19T06:52:19Z")
> [@](#): > > **5que** 2. Gray chest hairs (had them for a while) > > 1. Gray moustache hairs (crowding out the red) – recent. Ugh. Yeh. Me too. And I’m a _girl._ > [@](#): > > **E. Thorp** : my uncle still has his first-edition copy of Kind of Blue. So I’ve got miles to go. So does your uncle. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2006, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/109 "2006-06-19T09:42:42Z")
On the erasable-ballpen thing, I saw 'em on the shelves of my local supermarket only on Saturday. Also a four-colour pen, one of which I bought. (But I remember when they were made out of metal!) ---
**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 19, 2006, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/110 "2006-06-19T12:24:30Z")
[QUOTE=elmwood] Want to feel real depressed? Remember Toni Basil? [Mickey](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfB-nyRERw0&search=toni%20basil)? [/quote] Huh? That video will always retain its mystic power to cheer me right the f\*ck up. ---
**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 19, 2006, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/111 "2006-06-19T12:26:35Z")
…ah, I haven’t swallowed my coffee and didn’t have the strength to scroll all the way to the bottom of the post. Jesus Christ. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2006, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/112 "2006-06-19T14:49:54Z")
[QUOTE=elmwood] I have am .avi file with three hours of MTV from 1983. [/QUOTE] You are kidding. Any chance you can share it? I would pay money for 3 hours of MTV from _anytime_ in the 80s. ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2006, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/113 "2006-06-19T15:49:48Z")
[QUOTE=Zoe] So does your uncle. 🆒 [/QUOTE] 😃 ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2006, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/114 "2006-06-19T16:17:10Z")
[QUOTE=Athena] You are kidding. [/QUOTE] I am _not_ kidding. The problem is that the two files with the video are large (588MB and 673MB). I’m going to try to upload one of them to a file sharing service; few handle files over 500 megs. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2006, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/115 "2006-06-19T16:33:34Z")
Okay … I’m uploading one of the files – about an hour and a half of video – to an old Web hosting account I no longer use. (It’s got about four hours left to go over DSL.) If someone has unlimited hosting, and can take it off my hands, please send me an email, and I’ll give you the URL. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2006, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/116 "2006-06-19T20:20:57Z")
Okay, I’ve got it up on the server. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2006, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/117 "2006-06-19T20:40:32Z")
I looooove you elmwood! But, um, how do I get it? ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2006, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/118 "2006-06-19T21:23:54Z")
[You kids who never played Nintendo NES games](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7498603&postcount=24), get off my lawn! ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2006, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/119 "2006-06-19T23:38:06Z")
First 50 people to write me at mtv1983(at)[gmail.com](http://gmail.com) get the URLs. I’m only going to have the files up for about a day. I’m removing them if I’ve burned through more than 75 GB of bandwidth. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935/120 "2006-06-20T04:31:38Z")
I first started feeling old when I had my first conversation with an adult who was born after Star Wars came out. More recently: In the morning, I took a dump. In the afternoon, I got a blowjob. In the evening, I found myself thinking, “man, that was a great dump.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-events-that-make-you-realize-how-old-you-are/360935.md?page=7)