# 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:** 54
**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:** [April 18, 2022, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1063 "2022-04-18T20:37:40Z")
Me, too. Same time frame. We used the entire skate (that type that clamp to your shoe). It was SO hard to cut the back of the metal heel piece that stuck up behind your shoe. Haacksaws and tinsnips, then a sledgehammer to flatten them, so we could nail them onto… 1x4’s (we’d progressed from 2x4’s). And we didn’t know they had a name, so we called them “Sidewalk Surfers”. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2022, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1064 "2022-04-18T21:02:13Z")
> [@EnolaStraight](#): > > Just this past Sunday in the Porta-Cochere a customer was driving out with studs on WINTER TIRES! > > I haven’t seen winter tires in 30 years! > > NOT off-road knobbies for 4x4s, but winter treads for a passenger sedan’s standard-sized wheels. I’ve just driven from the UK to Austria and back. At this time of the year winter tyres are a legal requirement in many places of continental Europe and I have a set mounted on steel wheels for exactly that purpose. Also, I hired a car in Iceland a few years back and was provided with a standard 2wd drive Golf with metal studded winter tyres. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2022, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1065 "2022-06-22T01:01:12Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > [Colossal Cave Adventure - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossal_Cave_Adventure) > Colossal Cave Adventure (also known as ADVENT, Colossal Cave, or Adventure) is a text adventure game, developed between 1975 and 1977 by Will Crowther for the PDP-10 mainframe. Colossal Cave was one of the caves that was linked together in the 1950s and 1960s into the Flint Ridge cave system, which was later linked to Mammoth Cave. Will Crowther’s wife Pat was on the 1972 connection trip that linked Flint Ridge with Mammoth, and Will was on one of the trips leading up to the connection trip. So he actually knew his way around both caves and code. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2022, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1066 "2022-06-23T14:02:21Z")
My step-father wired the town for cable TV. We got _two_ channels. One of them quite snowy. In black and white. It was better than no channels. My Mom would call him when he was out in the field via “radiotelephone”. ---
**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:** [June 23, 2022, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1067 "2022-06-23T15:28:52Z")
I remember the time when hundreds of people flocked to a local public site for children to get polio vaccines in the form of a sugar cube. Later as teenagers something else was sometimes provided in sugar cubes. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2022, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1068 "2022-06-23T15:37:47Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Hitchhiking. “You’d get in a stranger’s car?” “And people would pick you up?” Yep, especially in uniform. I hitch hiked the length and breadth of the US several times. It was not unusual for someone to pick me up and turn over the driving because they were tired. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1069 "2022-06-24T00:43:41Z")
Anyone else have the task of kneading the color pellet into the white margarine to make it yellow? ---
**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:** [June 24, 2022, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1070 "2022-06-24T05:13:25Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > Thank Crom they didn’t get it. It restores my faith in the future of the planet. One day we’ll stamp out puns altogether. Just like we did with booze and drugs. Okay, I’ll throw this in while it’s still legal: All those posts from last December about cleaning disks reminded me of the process we used to use: If your old vinyl records were getting a bit worn and scratchy, you could “rejuvenate” them by wiping them down with a soft cloth moistened with Vicks Vapo-Rub. It worked like a charm (who’da thunk it?), but there was a limitation: It only worked on records of Baroque classical music – Vivaldi and stuff like that. If you tried it on other records, it pretty much ruined them. So, if it ain’t Baroque, don’t Vicks it. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1071 "2022-06-24T06:16:04Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Later as teenagers something else was sometimes provided in sugar cubes. The booster polio vaccine, right? I recall taking more than one. > [@GaryM](#): > > Anyone else have the task of kneading the color pellet into the white margarine to make it yellow? For real? What was the point if you knew it was margarine already? Did it look like yellow mashed potatos when you were done? > [@Senegoid](#): > > So, if it ain’t Baroque, don’t Vicks it. You’re next up against the wall. We keep a list, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1072 "2022-06-24T06:20:10Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > You’re next up against the wall. We keep a list, you know. Do us a favour: do _not_ look at the “I like bananas a bunch” thread in Thread Games. That list will lengthen and that wall would get pretty crowded. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1073 "2022-06-24T06:29:56Z")
Aha! A new lead, I never looked in Thread Games before. I could really push up my average with that. ---
**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:** [June 24, 2022, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1074 "2022-06-24T06:44:57Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Point of sale counters with no cash registers. The clerk would put the bill of sale in a container and then in a pneumatic tube, You know where I’ve seen these still in use recently? In certain banks. There’s a bank (maybe several) near here with two drive-through lanes. So one lane is alongside the teller’s window, but the other lane is away from the window. So they use the pneumatic tube to do transactions with the car in the far lane. ETA: Pic found with google image search: Not the bank near me, but apparently these are common. [![](https://townsquare.media/site/29/files/2022/06/attachment-thumbnail_IMG_5024.jpg) ](https://townsquare.media/site/29/files/2022/06/attachment-thumbnail_IMG_5024.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1075 "2022-06-24T06:53:45Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > You know where I’ve seen these still in use recently? In certain banks. There’s a bank (maybe several) near here with two drive-through lanes. So one lane is alongside the teller’s window, but the other lane is away from the window. So they use the pneumatic tube to do transactions with the car in the far lane. Why don’t they just use ATMs? Drive-thru ATMs at banks are as common as dirt here in Canada. ---
**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:** [June 24, 2022, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1076 "2022-06-24T06:56:06Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Why don’t they just use ATMs? I suppose there are some kinds of transactions that can’t be done with an ATM? ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1077 "2022-06-24T06:59:00Z")
True that. But I’d suggest that those transactions (such as getting a bank draft or cashier’s cheque or shifting funds around between investment accounts) are worth parking and going into the bank for. For such simple things as getting cash, or depositing a paycheque, an ATM is just fine. ---
**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:** [June 24, 2022, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1078 "2022-06-24T07:03:13Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > . . . are worth parking and going into the bank for. . . . Never underestimate the laziness of some people (especially a lot of us 'Mercans apparently). I myself never use a drive-through – I park and walk up to an ATM usually or else park and walk inside. I’ve noticed that a lot of banks don’t even have walk-up ATMs anymore – only the drive-through kind. Can you put heavier items through those pneumatic tubes? I’m thinking of the times I go to the bank to get rolls of quarters. I don’t know of any ATMs that will dispense coins. ---
**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:** [June 24, 2022, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1079 "2022-06-24T07:10:10Z")
> [@GaryM](#): > > Anyone else have the task of kneading the color pellet into the white margarine to make it yellow? Not me personally – I was too young to do it reliably – but I remember my parents doing it. > [@mordecaiB](#): > > For real? What was the point if you knew it was margarine already? Did it look like yellow mashed potatos when you were done? Because white margarine spread on bread looks remarkably like Crisco or lard. It looked like a bag of yellow margarine. ---
**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:** [June 24, 2022, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1080 "2022-06-24T07:15:34Z")
Nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1081 "2022-06-24T10:08:19Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > For such simple things as getting cash, Not if you want certain denominations like $500 with $400 in hundreds, $60 in twenties and $40 in tens. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2022, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-saying-your-age-whats-something-from-your-childhood-that-a-younger-person-wouldnt-understand/953138/1082 "2022-06-24T10:13:20Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Never underestimate the laziness of some people Actually, I began using the drive through at my bank during the pandemic when they shut down the lobby for 99% of business. The lobby has reopened, but I’ve stuck with the drive through. [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=53) [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=55)