# Whoa, that was a long time ago! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 3, 2005, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-that-was-a-long-time-ago/319887 "2005-09-03T12:39:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-that-was-a-long-time-ago/319887/61 "2005-09-07T22:41:32Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > No No, you’re twenty eighteen. 😃 Doesn’t that sound better? Or I’m celebrating the seventeenth anniversary of my 21st birthday. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-that-was-a-long-time-ago/319887/62 "2005-09-08T00:43:12Z")
I’m about (in a couple months) to celebrate the 27th anniversary of my 21st (which is odd in itself since I’ve had more anniversaries than birthdays…). I’ve only recently realized that I’m actually a “veteran” employee - I’ve been there 15 years and know all the people who are retiring these days. And, because I have 20 years of service credit, I’ll actually be eligible to retire in just over 10 years at the most. And I’m actually starting to think about it in detail. And then there’s my Mom, who admired pictures of my friend’s younger cousin and her parents. Cousin had just graduated and Mom’s remark was: “Her parents look so young.” My reply: they’re my age. I think I made **her** feel old, since her only grandkids are much younger. (My brother was 40-ish when they were born.) But really, I’m just a kid!!! GT ---
**Author:** ![SpectBrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@SpectBrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpectBrain)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-that-was-a-long-time-ago/319887/63 "2005-09-08T02:18:07Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Egads, life is rough on a Dirty Old Man. > > I was in a Subway over the weekend. There were three drop-dead beautiful young women in the next booth. They apparently had all celebrated their 18th birthday last week. I’m chowing down on my sandwich and thinking typical D.O.M. thoughts about the lovely young ladies when the thought occured to me: I’m older than all three of them added together. > > :eek: :eek: :eek: > > ☹☹☹ I know the feeling. The other day, I was eating lunch, with a couple of my younger co-workers, in a restaurant in Savannah called Gator Burgers. My friends were ogling the very comely young waitress and I found myself thinking, “I wonder if her mom is hot?” I used to tell my daughter that back in the black and white days of my youth, before color came to the world, we used to watch television by candlelight. and lastly, when I was seven or eight, my mom bought me a subscription to a monthly science magazine. The first issue came with a chart of all of the satellite launches to date. I believe that, at the time, the Echo satellite was the newest one in orbit. ---
**Author:** ![TygerDralion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e19adc/32.png) [@TygerDralion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TygerDralion)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-that-was-a-long-time-ago/319887/64 "2005-09-08T02:49:42Z")
> [@Hoopy Frood](#): > > Got you beat. I got my first visible gray hair at 21. Although, 8 years later I still have very little gray hair (you still won’t see it at casual glance, but a longer look will make it apparent, particularly at the temples). My father started going gray in his 30’s and it took him about 3 years to be completely gray. Actually, you don’t! I said that they started becoming visible at 21. My first one was at 16! The bad thing about them - they will not color no matter what kind of color I use. The good thing - They are a nice snowy white, so they’ll actually be pretty when I’m ready to accept them and stop pulling them out. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-that-was-a-long-time-ago/319887/65 "2005-09-08T02:58:14Z")
> [@Spiff](#): > > So … did you sign up for the “DIE YOUNG” option then? 😉 No, No, you don’t understand. I always knew I would have birthdays, adding a number to my age each year, but it never occurred to me that I’d get _old_! I had the vision of maybe _looking old_, that doesn’t bother me. Its the joint pain the heartburn, the insomnia you know, OLD. Well, I’m old. I want a rewind. Just back to 40 would be plenty… ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-that-was-a-long-time-ago/319887/66 "2005-09-08T04:28:28Z")
Say, any old nerds, here? Do you remember what you were doing in 1962? Playing…[Spacewar](http://agents.www.media.mit.edu/groups/el/projects/spacewar/), maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-that-was-a-long-time-ago/319887/67 "2005-09-08T05:07:17Z")
Okay, okay, I’m only 19. But I was watching the TV yesterday, and a commercial comes up–for Toy Story’s 10th Anniversary Edition. Kythereia: “Aww, that’s sweet, I remember when that film first came out… wait, wtOg??? Ten years ago! I’m old! I’m _old_!” :eek: ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-that-was-a-long-time-ago/319887/68 "2005-09-08T05:54:09Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Egads, life is rough on a Dirty Old Man. > > I was in a Subway over the weekend. There were three drop-dead beautiful young women in the next booth. They apparently had all celebrated their 18th birthday last week. I’m chowing down on my sandwich and thinking typical D.O.M. thoughts about the lovely young ladies when the thought occured to me: I’m older than all three of them added together. > > :eek: :eek: :eek: > > ☹☹☹ Not to worry. You undoubtedly were Totally Invisible to them. I know I am, anyway. DD ---
**Author:** ![DataZak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@DataZak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataZak)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-that-was-a-long-time-ago/319887/69 "2005-09-08T06:20:59Z")
I remember when Michael Jackson was black. ---
**Author:** ![Pixiesnix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Pixiesnix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixiesnix)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-that-was-a-long-time-ago/319887/70 "2005-09-08T06:27:50Z")
> [@](#): > > Kids these days think Space Invaders is boring. I hear ya. I’m 28, and I recently bought a third-party video game system that plays old NES games. To me, _Zelda_ and _Super Mario Bros._ are just as much fun to play as these newfangled games. But try telling that to these kids today, with their PSP’s and X-Box 360’s. Whipper snappers! My father, however, says that he only had a rock and a stick to play with. And he was happy to have it! As for the 80’s coming back…that was my childhood! It can’t be retro! It just can’t! And those layer-cake dresses were just as ugly in 1985 as in 2005. Blech. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-that-was-a-long-time-ago/319887/71 "2005-09-08T06:56:22Z")
I am NOT turning 50 in less than three months. NOT NOT NOT. In fact, I will be turning 19 … and some months. 372, to be exact ---
**Author:** ![Thalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f475e1/32.png) [@Thalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thalion)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-that-was-a-long-time-ago/319887/72 "2005-09-08T07:00:54Z")
I arrested a kid for burglary a couple of years ago. He was about 12 at the time, and he and two friends broke into a vacation home, broke a few things and stole some stuff. Among the stolen property was a stereo with a turntable. As the kid is giving me his confession, he describes the stereo that they took. “It was one of those old ones, that play those really big CDs”. I considered asking the Judge to give him an extra-long sentence for hurting me like that! ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-that-was-a-long-time-ago/319887/73 "2005-09-08T07:13:23Z")
> [@KCSuze](#): > > I hear ya. I’m 28, and I recently bought a third-party video game system that plays old NES games. To me, _Zelda_ and _Super Mario Bros._ are just as much fun to play as these newfangled games. But try telling that to these kids today, with their PSP’s and X-Box 360’s. Whipper snappers! “What, you don’t think this is amazing? The first time I saw _The Oregon Trail_ I nearly crapped by pants!” ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-that-was-a-long-time-ago/319887/74 "2005-09-08T07:50:14Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > My bowling partner, who isn’t that much younger than me ( I tend to think she is my age because she is so level headed and mature.) has never used a rotary phone and didn’t know that women’s pads use to come in the belted variety. > > Her mom is the same age as my oldest brother. I still remember how to use a rotary phone. I never had to use a belted pad, but we read about them in sex ed in school, which led to my confusion/relief when I got my first period and was told I’d only need an adhesive pad. Sometimes I imagine about when I’m elderly, telling stories to the young’uns like, “When I was your age, we had phones with _cords_ in 'em!” and watch them gasp in horror. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-that-was-a-long-time-ago/319887/75 "2005-09-08T13:29:31Z")
I frequently ruminate on these things. Here are two that scare me: For my first two years as an undergrad, I used a slide rule for all my courses. Calculators were available, but full-function ones were too exoensive. My wife, Pepper Mill, went to lunch with my mother and got a senior discount. Mind, she’s not old enough to qualify, and the fact that she was with my mother predisposed the waiter that way. But still… ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-that-was-a-long-time-ago/319887/76 "2005-09-08T14:32:46Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Not to worry. You undoubtedly were Totally Invisible to them. > I know I am, anyway. > > DD Probably a good thing. If I had made a move on them, the chorus of squealed "Eeeeewwwwww"s would have totally flattened what little libido I have left… ---
**Author:** ![Otanabi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Otanabi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otanabi)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-that-was-a-long-time-ago/319887/77 "2005-09-08T14:36:56Z")
I remember… We really were the first on our block to have a TV. 8" screen. Black & white. No remote. TV antennas. Rabbit ears. My brother and I had a 45rpm player. So cool! Elvis! (well, the early years were cool…) Frankie Avalon. Fabian. Connie Francis. The Everly Brothers. American Bandstand. Rock-n-roll shows. Not single entertainer concerts, shows. I went to one that included Frankie Avalon, Chuck Berry, and 6 other acts. We had delivery men! Bread, eggs, milk, dry-cleaning, potato chips. Street peddlers (this wasn’t in a big city, it was just a neighborhood of single houses.) The popcorn man. The knife-sharpener man. The rag man. The picture-on-a-pony man. Door-to-door sales. Not kids. The Fuller Brush man. The Watkins man. Much later the Avon Lady. All the stores made deliveries, free. You could have anything delivered. I once sent home a single pair of gloves. Small grocery stores. Butcher shops. Department stores downtown. And it was cool to take a bus after school and go downtown to hang out. (prehistoric Mall Rats?) Alterations on clothes was included, free. Stockings with seams. Then, stockings without seams. What excitement when panty-hose came out! Forget angora sweaters and poodle skirts. What we really had to have: Saddle shoes. Stuffed ankle socks. T-strap shoes. Full skirts with crinolines. Fur-blend cardigan sweater, buttoned up and worn backwards. Circle pins. A boy’s class ring worn on a chain. Spaghetti strap dresses. Bermuda Shorts. “Blue jeans”. Not “levi’s”, or “jeans” or “denims”. Certainly not worn tight, and we rolled up the bottoms. And wore them with Dad’s white dress shirt. And with plain white tennis shoes. OK, that’s enough. Gotta go take my arthritis medicine. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-that-was-a-long-time-ago/319887/78 "2005-09-08T15:16:17Z")
> [@Otanabi](#): > > Stockings with seams. Then, stockings without seams. What excitement when panty-hose came out! Just last weekend, my mom mentioned how she and her friends were certain that pantyhose where a fad and would never be marketable in the long term. “Why, what a waste!” she said, 'you get a run in just one leg and you have to throw them both out!" Took me awhile to parse that. 😃 > [@](#): > > Stuffed ankle socks. 😕 I know the rest, but what, praytell, are stuffed ankle socks? For the record, WhKid and his friends love the old video games. There’s some newer games which have old games hidden on them as “bonus levels” or rewards for beating the actual marketed game, and they love 'em. (He’s 12.) But when I described my favorite text-only computer games (Zork, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) he was quite perplexed. He doesn’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![Otanabi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Otanabi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otanabi)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-that-was-a-long-time-ago/319887/79 "2005-09-08T15:45:10Z")
Re-thinking the socks in question, I should have called them stuffed bobby sox. On these, the cuff part had elastic and was long enough to be rolled over twice. You put on the socks, but before rolling them down, you slipped on this thing that looked like a foam donut. Then you rolled the cuff down over it. Voila! Very cool fat ankles. Today they would look like you were trying to hide electronic ankle retraints. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-that-was-a-long-time-ago/319887/80 "2005-09-08T15:47:16Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > I am NOT turning 50 in less than three months. NOT NOT NOT. In fact, I will be turning 19 … and some months. Don’t worry, I’m not turning 30 in December, either. For Christmas last year, I bought a friend one of those joysticks you plug directly into the TV, that came with Pac-Man and Pole Position. His kids watched us play for about twenty minutes, with many cries of “Oh, that looks _stupid_!!” and “That game is so _easy!_” Then we made _them_ play it. When I left the day before New Years’, they were still trying to get past the first board on Pac-Man. And they did not appreciate the way we made fun of them and then got to level 5 in about ten minutes. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-that-was-a-long-time-ago/319887.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-that-was-a-long-time-ago/319887.md?page=5)