# Without saying your age, what's something from your childhood that a younger person wouldn't understand? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 25, 2021, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138 "2021-10-25T01:08:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 37
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2021, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/723 "2021-12-07T16:58:24Z")
> [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](#): > > One was a documentary on the Kennedy assassination, but it had footage I don’t remember seeing anywhere else. Part was what I now recognize as the Zapruder film, but there was a title card saying the shots came from the 6th floor of the Texas Book Depository followed by a shot of a rifle barrel being pulled back inside the window. I have no idea if that was a re-creation or was from some other person’s home movie footage. Haven’t thought about that in a long time. [The Robert Hughes film](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s_zUnKjozSA) probably shows Oswald and _would_ have shown the rifle, but as you see, Kennedy rounded the corners first. Hughes then swung the camera back down to film the rest of the motorcade. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2021, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/724 "2021-12-07T17:22:07Z")
Speaking of telephones, back in ‘81, when I was in college, my mother called and said, _“Tibby, jot down this number, it’s good for making free long-distance calls to anywhere in the world, but only today!”_ Tibby: _“What! Are you sure? Who’s footing the bill for all this?”_ Mom: _“Burt Reynolds!”_ Mom went on to explain that a friend of a friend saw Burt Reynolds on the Johnny Carson show, and he explained that he won a lawsuit against Bell Telephone. As payment, he arranged for the company to give everyone in the country free long-distance calls for one day, using his personal credit card number. Sounded legit to me, so my roommates and I made a lot of long-distance calls, and we never got billed for them. It was, of course, a [hoax.](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/09/26/A-false-rumor-that-movie-idol-Burt-Reynolds-was/3315370324800/) ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2021, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/725 "2021-12-07T17:39:40Z")
I had…a Betamax (which I’ve heard was far superior to VCR). Also a buttload of NatGeo magazines and a full set of paper Hardy Boys books with the blue covers. ---
**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:** [December 7, 2021, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/726 "2021-12-07T18:06:30Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > I remember my Dad had a _pager_ . Doubt many kids today would recognize such a device or guess at its purpose. Back in the eighties when his wife was about ready to give birth, one of my cow-orkers rented a pager for a few weeks. He called it the Baby Beeper and wisely covered the phone number engraved on the case with a piece of tape – there were too man sharp-eyed funsters in the workplace. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2021, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/727 "2021-12-07T18:14:53Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > one of my cow-orkers How, exactly, do you ork a cow? 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2021, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/728 "2021-12-07T18:16:49Z")
^ Illegal in 27 states. 🤪 ---
**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:** [December 7, 2021, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/729 "2021-12-07T18:34:27Z")
> [@Bonum\_Legatum](#): > > I remember the “urban legand” (?) that the telephone company encouraged everyone to answer their phones quickly. Because their lines were tied up from the moment the call was connected, but they only charged from the time that the person picked up the phone. When I was young my father had his office in a spare bedroom of our house. The company was too cheap to pay for a second line so there was only the one, with the phone in that bedroom. The number on his business cards went to an answering service who would then ring the house. If he wasn’t there they would let it ring three times, disconnect, and take a message. _We_ in the house would wait until the fourth ring before picking it up and our friends knew to let it ring a little longer than usual. One Thanksgiving we had the family of one of his long-ago college buddies over for dinner. Said buddy had gotten a job with Bell Telephone shortly after graduating and had risen through the ranks until he was pretty far up in management. As we were eating, the phone rang. We paid no attention, continuing to jabber away and eating. “…Aren’t you going to answer that?” “Dunno.” ~ring~ “You’ve _got_ to answer that!” “No, I don’t.” ~ring~ … silence … “Nope, I’m not answering,” then Dad explained the system. That really chapped the buddy’s hide and he went on a rant about how that was costing them money. “I’m not interrupting my Thanksgiving dinner for some cockamamie business call that can wait until tomorrow or Monday – end of story!” It’s no legend. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2021, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/730 "2021-12-07T20:23:59Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > KTLA 5 and tom Hatten… he was the only artist that was legally cleared to draw popeye characters by king features outside of the strip and tv shows… Squiggle contest! I never knew he was the only one allowed to legally draw the characters. I know that Felix Chevrolet is the only one legally allowed commercial use of Felix the Cat. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2021, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/731 "2021-12-07T21:53:18Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > I had…a Betamax (which I’ve heard was far superior to VCR). A friend of mine had a Betamax. Crowed about the picture quality. Finally had to begrudgingly get VHS tapes. Then he amassed quite a collection of LaserDiscs before giving up and switching to DVDs. And then refused to get a Blu-Ray player, insisting that HD-DVD would be the way to go (I’ve only seen those in pawn shops, in red cases). So next time there’s a techno-choice (hmmm, a _“Sub-Q”_ subcutaneous music player, or the new _i-Brain,_ which beams audio and video directly to your superior temporal gyrus?)… … I’m going to ask him which way he’s betting. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2021, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/732 "2021-12-07T22:10:13Z")
> [@Didi44](#): > > Oh and the chemistry sets with real chemicals and the hobby shop where you could buy them! We skipped the simple experiments and went straight to explosives. Ordered the CASECO catalog, full of every chemical you’d need, and casings and fuses. [Here’s the cover…](http://www.pyrobin.com/files/caseco%20catalog%2C%201968%3B%20front%20and%20back%20covers.jpg) looks innocent, no? But inside were ‘formulas’ for so many different flash bombs and Cherry Bombs. I made hundreds of M-80s for my school friends… and their friends’ friends… passed them out at 6th grade lunch hour, and never got caught! [Pretty comprehensive list](http://www.pyrobin.com/files/caseco%201968%20catalog%3B%20chemical%20prices.jpg) of dangerous chemicals (at least, when we combined that aluminum powder with potassium perchlorate and sulfur…). I only found the bulk prices, but you could get small quart-sized canisters. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2021, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/733 "2021-12-08T00:18:38Z")
Now _there’s_ something the Zoomers wouldn’t understand: answering services. Yes, Virginia, once upon a time people were paid to answer phones and take messages for other people. Frankly I had thought they were extinct, until I called the opposing counsel on one of our cases and had thought I gotten his office assistant…uh, no. Answering service. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2021, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/734 "2021-12-08T00:33:53Z")
Wrong! Many doctor’s offices (such as my workplace) still use answering services. Our service is local, too. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2021, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/735 "2021-12-08T00:36:12Z")
There are still answering services, although they are limited. For example my horse vet has an answering service pick up when the office (which is only open a half day five days a week) is closed-- day or night. Large Animal vets work out of their trucks at the farms, generally, and they don’t answer their phones. The answering service will take a message and get it to the vet, who’ll decide where in the queue of visits you are going to be put. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2021, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/736 "2021-12-08T00:36:26Z")
Yeah. Lawyers too, as stated above. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2021, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/737 "2021-12-08T00:39:56Z")
I believe our plumbers use an answering service after-hours, too. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2021, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/738 "2021-12-08T02:36:56Z")
How about word processors? Not the computer application, the real live person who typed college term papers and theses on an electric typewriter? You ever try to get footnotes to line up on the right page before computers? I think they made like three cents a word, but it was worth it for an important paper. I suppose kids these days don’t even know what a typewriter is. 🤭 ---
**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:** [December 8, 2021, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/739 "2021-12-08T02:52:20Z")
I’ve mentioned elsewhere that i.d.e.a., the children’s art museum here had an exhibit just before the Covid shut down, [_Art of the Story_](https://www.ideamuseum.org/artofthestory/) that had for activities things like a puppet theater for sparking story telling. One of these was a Remington Quiet-Riter on a pedestal with a sheaf of papers in a basket so they could roll in a page and type on it. The hard part was finding ribbons. Kids would look at it in awe never having seen a manual typewriter before. The “keyboard” was at a steeper angle than they were used to and attached to these mechanical levers instead of just being switches. They would look at it and tentatively poke a key, watching the type bar rise out of the basket. “No, you gotta _whack_ it like this–” and I would type out a line. I’ll have to admit after just a line or two my fingers were _tired._ ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2021, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/740 "2021-12-08T03:36:23Z")
Well, the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog only so many times before he gets tired. 😀 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2021, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/741 "2021-12-08T06:52:51Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > How, exactly, do you ork a cow? 🤣 That’s called animal husbandry. ---
**Author:** ![darazusa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@darazusa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/darazusa)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2021, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/742 "2021-12-08T07:09:26Z")
a slide rule, may they all burn in hell. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138.md?page=36) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138.md?page=38)