Mmmmm ... interesting

[Tony Eeds]

Stay with this -- the answer is at the end -- it will blow you away!

One evening, a grandson was talking to his grandmother about current events. The grandson asked his grandmother what she thought about the shootings at schools, the computer age, and just things in general.

The Grandma replied, "Well, let me think a minute, I was born before television, penicillin, polio shots, frozen foods, Xerox, contact lenses, Frisbees and the pill.

There were no credit cards, laser beams or ball-point pens. Man had not invented pantyhose, air conditioners, dishwasher, clothes dryers, and the clothes were hung out to dry in the fresh air and man had yet to walk on the moon.

Your Grandfather and I got married first and then lived together.

Every family had a father and a mother. Until I was 25, I called every man older than I, "Sir"- - and after I turned 25, I still called policemen and every man with a title, "Sir."

We were before gay-rights, computer-dating, dual careers, day-care centers, and group therapy.

Our lives were governed by the Ten Commandments, good judgment, and common sense.

We were taught to know the difference between right and wrong and to stand up and take responsibility for our actions.

Serving your country was a privilege; living in this country was a bigger privilege.

We thought fast food was what people ate during Lent.

Having a meaningful relationship meant getting along with your cousins.

Draft dodgers were people who closed their front doors when the evening breeze started.

Time-sharing meant time the family spent together in the evenings and weekends -- not purchasing condominiums.

We never heard of FM radios, tape decks, CDs, electric typewriters, yogurt, or guys wearing earrings.

We listened to the Big Bands, Jack Benny, and the President's speeches on our radios. And I don't ever remember any kid blowing his brains out listening to Tommy Dorsey.

If you saw anything with 'Made in Japan' on it, it was junk.

The term 'making out' referred to how you did on your school exam.

Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and instant coffee were unheard of.

We had 5&10-cent stores where you could actually buy things for 5 and 10 cents. Ice-cream cones, phone calls, rides on a streetcar, and a Pepsi were all a nickel.

And if you didn't want to splurge, you could spend your nickel on enough stamps to mail one letter and two postcards.

You could buy a new Chevy Coupe for $600, but who could afford one?

Too bad because, gas was 11 cents a gallon.

In my day, "grass" was mowed, "coke" was a cold drink, "pot" was something your mother cooked in, and "rock music" was your grandmother's lullaby.

"Aids" were helpers in the Principal's office, "chip" meant a piece of wood, "hardware" was found in a hardware store and "software" wasn't even a word.

And we were the last generation to actually believe that a lady needed a husband to have a baby.

No wonder people call us "old and confused" and say there is a generation gap.

And how old do you think grandma is???

Read on to see -- pretty scary if you think about it and pretty sad at the same time.

This is something to think about. How time has changed ...

Grandma is 58 (born 1946)

How could so much go wrong in such a short time?

 

[Nestrick]

Hi Tony ... read your post ... since I was born in 1947 I guess I can relate to these points. My only thought is that with each generation there is an explicit loosening of the reins ... at first the changes are small, but subsequently they become exponential in effect ... sort of like the proverbial hole in a dam, at first only a few drops emerge, but after some period of induction, the rate of flow begins to increase and finally becomes a torrent. Perhaps things both physical and philosophical do follow basically the same rules?

Have a great holiday ... terry nestrick :laugh:

 

[MrLuckey]

She wasn't born before television or peniccilin like it states but a very good read anyway.

 

[Mully]

My father, who passed away a year ago in January at the age of 89, could fill in for that story. Dad was born in August of 1913, about the time the wright brothers (and others) were getting a pretty good handle on that flying thingy. Dad rode a horse to school, his dad was a blacksmith, and his mother was just that, his mother, no two job family there. It is really something how far the world advanced in his lifetime.

Mully

 

[Dapper]

I was not born before Television but we did not have one until 1956. I was 4 years old and I do remember listening to the soaps on the radio with my Grandma. We lived in town and still had chickens and a coal stove for heat. We were poor but, I didn't know it. I can relate to the story. :cool:

 

[Tony Eeds]

My father, who passed away a year ago in January at the age of 89, could fill in for that story. Dad was born in August of 1913, about the time the wright brothers (and others) were getting a pretty good handle on that flying thingy. Dad rode a horse to school, his dad was a blacksmith, and his mother was just that, his mother, no two job family there. It is really something how far the world advanced in his lifetime.

Mully

My grandmother (born in the 1870's) arrived in Texas on a covered wagon and lived to see men walk on the surface of the moon. My parents (1912 and 1914) fall right in line with where you are coming from Mully.

Re: TV ... It did not even begin to have an effect on everyday Americans until the early 1950's (we got our first set in the mid-50's). Prior to that it was marooned in labs and the houses of elites. I remember being told to sit at least 6~8 feet away from the TV, because my parents were worried about the effects of the "ray guns" in the TV. Funny how the ray guns have brought destruction in a manner unforseen at the time. :|

 

[xTYBALTx]

"In my day, "grass" was mowed, "coke" was a cold drink. . ."

If ol' Grandma had lived in the early 1900's, she would have seen cocaine commonly prescribed to housewives to "calm their nerves." As late at the 1920's, children were administered cocaine at the dentist's office. Freud wrote extensively on the 'wonders' of the drug in the 1800's. The fictional character Sherlock Holmes was a cocaine addict. It is still legal, under federal law, for doctors to use cocaine for medicinal purposes.

Marijuana was frequently used recreationally in the 1920's and 1930's as well. It didn't become illegal until 10 years before old grandma was born, passed largely under false pretenses and questionable constitutional grounds.

Of course, when grandma was born, people didn't go to prison for possession of either of these substances.


"Draft dodgers were people who closed their front doors when the evening breeze started."

One wonders, then, what they used to call people who dodged the draft? The WWI draft was widely protested by people from all walks of life; the US was still a isolationist nation at the time. We all know people who dodged either the WWII or Korean wars, one way or another.


I really can't understand how people have children outside of marriange. It's just crazy and seems unfair to both yourself and the child. Having both parents work can't be good for a child either. It will be interesting to see how the current young generation turns out.

Has anybody seen Bill Cosby's interviews lately? He said something like 70% of all black children are born by single mothers?


It really is remarkable how much the world has changed in the past 100 years. Hospital wards used to be full of people dying from accidental staph infections. Cut your foot while hiking in the woods? Didn't treat it quickly? Prepare to lose that foot / leg or your life.

In the Pacific theater of WWII, Generals were required to have 2 - 3 times as many divisions on hand as normal - because of malaria. An entire division could get sick and become useless on the field, and then be rotated out with another division until they got sick, so on and so forth.

 

[Okiewan]

If ol' Grandma had lived in the early 1900's, she would have seen cocaine commonly prescribed to housewives to "calm their nerves."

"calm" the nerves? lol.

Laudanum was the big housewife drug in the 1800's as well as many other names used for Opium. <--- the drug of the day.

"Laudanum was a wildly popular drug during the Victorian era. It was an opium-based painkiller prescribed for everything from headaches to tuberculosis. Victorian nursemaids even spoon fed the drug to cranky infants, often leading to the untimely deaths of their charges. Originally, Laudanum was thought of as a drug of the working class. As it was cheaper than gin it was not uncommon for blue-collar men and woman to binge on laudanum after a hard week's work. Use of the drug spread rapidly. Doctors of the time prescribed it for almost every aliment. Many upper-class women developed habits.

 

[JPIVEY]

Wow, that brings back some cool memories, breaks my heart to look back and know those days are gone.

 

[gwcrim]

Like Tony's grandparents, mine were born around the turn of the century. I always thought that their generation must have really had their heads a spinning. I recall my grandmother telling me the first time she saw a car. She thought a buggy got away from the horse. And I also recall watching Neal Armstrong set foot on the moon with her. Man.... that was 70 years of wild technological advancement. I doubt that any other generation will ever see such radical change.

 

[JPIVEY]

I doubt that any other generation will ever see such radical change.

I don't know ???

100 yrs ago someone invented the auto, now we're creating life in a bottle.

50 yrs ago a computer would fill two houses, now it fits in my shirt pocket

25 yrs ago mail took days to go across country, now it's done in seconds.

5 yrs ago 2 strokes ruled, now there's KTM :laugh: had to throw that in

 

[MrLuckey]

Re: tv-----not only tv but cable tv was around before she was born. lol

 

[G. Gearloose]

cute, but inaccurate, we all concur.

Cripes, there were nylon panty hose, as well as silk, just because they took it away to make airplane tires and parachutes in the war doesn't count.

The Concord SST endeavor was first concieved 50 years ago, only 50 years after first flight; now that was progress.

My great aunt is old as dirt, loves to tell about when the first nylon, cleanex, paper towels appeared (over, and over, and over...)
She also claims how clean and new everything was, her era had no problems <gag> , and her generation invented everything worthwhile.

I'd love to tell her how we're still cleaning messes up from that era, but her minds been a one-way street for decades. Been waiting to die for 50 years now, been saying 'any day now' since the 1950's.

 

[Ol'89r]

Grandma is 58 (born 1946)

How could so much go wrong in such a short time?

:ohmy: Dang Tony, thanks for reminding me. :yikes: Been there, saw that. ;)

EdDog. I think he meant before people had TV's in their homes. The technology was there long before people actually had tv sets. I can remember our first tv set. It was a Philco black and white with about an 8" screen. I can also remember the first color tv broadcast. It was on a show called 'Bonanza'.(sp?). Everyone went down to their local department store to watch it since nobody had color tv sets.

I hate to say it, but we better get a handle on some of the technological advances we are working on before we technologically advance ourselves right off of the face of the earth. :ugg:

Gotta go, my nurse is calling. Sumthin about my med's. :)

Ol'89r
Dazed and confused.