How old was she?

[darthtang aw]

How Old is Grandma?
Stay with this -- the answer is at the end. It may 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 Grandmother 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
' dishwashers
' clothes dryers
' and the clothes were hung out to dry in the fresh air and
' space travel was only in Flash Gordon books.
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 me, "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, daycare centers, and group therapy.
Our lives were governed by the Bible, 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 eating half a biscuit while running to catch the school bus.
Having a meaningful relationship meant getting along with your cousins.
Draft dodgers were those who closed front doors as 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 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 1 letter and 2 postcards.
You could buy a new Ford 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. or from the archives
How old do you think I am? I bet you have this old lady in mind....you are in for a shock! Read on to see -- pretty scary if you think about it and pretty sad at the same time.
Are you ready ?????
This woman would be only 85 years old.

 

[flower]

I knew the age pretty close...my mother and my grandmother could remember when TV was a new thing, we had black and white TV...color TV wasn't around until I was a teen. My great grandmother who lived with us as we were growing up, told me about their covered wagon (I was around 10). It really is amazing how technology has taken off.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Yeah, it can be a good and a bad thing. I find myself trying to get away from technology more and more. I've pretty much stopped watching a lot of TV, I find myself reading more often and hanging out with my daughter as well as studying. The only thing I do on the computer anymore is this forum and school work - I've pretty much lost interest in anything else computer related. I haven't played a video game in eight years... lol
In fact, I am saving up some money to buy some land in the country to try to get back to the basics. I think that most people have lost social fabric because of the invention of these social media websites. I don't do the whole Facebook thing because I would rather have friends to eat and chat with in person rather than 10,000 friends online that I barely know. When I go to class these days and sit in the hall waiting for the class to start - everyone is talking on their cell phones or looking at something on them. Back when I first started college, people actually talked to each other and made friends. I am the only one that wants to make friends face to face anymore, I guess. I think that a lot of people have lost touch with reality in a way.
I also don't like the fact that many people have forgotten how to be generally polite to one another. There is no sense of respect anymore in our society. The other day I went to the local burger shack (not a fast food restaurant) and the waiter said "What chu' want?" I don't like the fact that people don't call each other Sir or Ma'am anymore. I was told by a 40 something year old woman to never call her Ma'am. In my day, it was a sign of respect, not condemnation. I just don't understand why it's a bad thing to want to be respected?
Sometimes I wish there weren't any of these little techno-toys and gadgets people have assimilated into our daily lifestyles. Instead of talking to your children, or your children talking to you - you have to text them and/or make an appointment. I hate it. In fact, I am considering a way to get rid of my iPhone and get some kind of Go-phone so I don't have to pay those huge overblown prices.
I am one of those people that like to get back to nature - something that not many people of my generation have a respect for. I love to garden, and I have learned more about it over the course of the last five years then most modern people know in their entire lifetimes. I will teach my daughter how to garden and how to take care of the land - who knows - maybe one day that kind of knowledge will be priceless.
I'm not one of those crazy preppers you see on TV either. I just am a country boy living in the city temporarily, that's all. And I am sick of all of this crap that companies are flinging at me trying to get me to buy and get hooked into.
Anyway, rant over.

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/394462/how-old-was-she#post_3511202
Yeah, it can be a good and a bad thing. I find myself trying to get away from technology more and more. I've pretty much stopped watching a lot of TV, I find myself reading more often and hanging out with my daughter as well as studying. The only thing I do on the computer anymore is this forum and school work - I've pretty much lost interest in anything else computer related. I haven't played a video game in eight years... lol
In fact, I am saving up some money to buy some land in the country to try to get back to the basics. I think that most people have lost social fabric because of the invention of these social media websites. I don't do the whole Facebook thing because I would rather have friends to eat and chat with in person rather than 10,000 friends online that I barely know. When I go to class these days and sit in the hall waiting for the class to start - everyone is talking on their cell phones or looking at something on them. Back when I first started college, people actually talked to each other and made friends. I am the only one that wants to make friends face to face anymore, I guess. I think that a lot of people have lost touch with reality in a way.
I also don't like the fact that many people have forgotten how to be generally polite to one another. There is no sense of respect anymore in our society. The other day I went to the local burger shack (not a fast food restaurant) and the waiter said "What chu' want?" I don't like the fact that people don't call each other Sir or Ma'am anymore. I was told by a 40 something year old woman to never call her Ma'am. In my day, it was a sign of respect, not condemnation. I just don't understand why it's a bad thing to want to be respected?
Sometimes I wish there weren't any of these little techno-toys and gadgets people have assimilated into our daily lifestyles. Instead of talking to your children, or your children talking to you - you have to text them and/or make an appointment. I hate it. In fact, I am considering a way to get rid of my iPhone and get some kind of Go-phone so I don't have to pay those huge overblown prices.
I am one of those people that like to get back to nature - something that not many people of my generation have a respect for. I love to garden, and I have learned more about it over the course of the last five years then most modern people know in their entire lifetimes. I will teach my daughter how to garden and how to take care of the land - who knows - maybe one day that kind of knowledge will be priceless.
I'm not one of those crazy preppers you see on TV either. I just am a country boy living in the city temporarily, that's all. And I am sick of all of this crap that companies are flinging at me trying to get me to buy and get hooked into.
Anyway, rant over.
It isn't all bad.....just to name a few....

• 
  Microwave ovens
• 
  Being able to bank and pay bills on-line ... direct deposit.
• 
  Medicine ... cures for stuff we used to die from. Hope when cancer rears it's ugly head.
• 
  Seeing what is deep in space because of the Hubble telescope
• 
  The home computer! Best gadget ever invented! Who cares about FB, I love looking up info without going to the library, and this site is a golden find.
• 
  The Digital camera and music...awesome
  Even the mattress's on our beds has super improved.
  LED lighting
  CB seahorses!
  Cell phone that have limitless incoming and outgoing calls
  GFCI outlets

The beauty is that we have a choice, so I don't mind the "crap" folks try to get me to buy. I just enjoy the "crap" I decided to go for, and make part of my life.

 

[beth]

I don't think the gains in technology directly related to the deterioration of social respectability and common decency, they just kinda occurred at the same time. I think once we started seeing that respect deteriorate in movies, TV, and music, the paint was on the canvas so to speak.
Even here on this forum with the political conversations, do you think your grandparents would have ever openly voiced disrespectful name-calling of the president? Nope.
The downslide ultimately the pitfall of having a free society, where everyone has freedom to express themselves--whether should or not.

 

[crimzy]

You know the constant whining that we hear from adults about the deterioration of society or the "kids today..." syndrome is really tired and cliche. This attitude has prevailed amongst society's adults forever. People don't treat each other right, technology is evil, we need to get back to basics, blah blah blah. You think that my parents didn't give me the same nonsense when I grew up and we had corded phones and only 5 channels on television. And what about their parents, when the baby boomers were going to crush good society during the hippie era. And so on, and so on...
Society changes, as does technology. To sit and whine about the deterioration of social values due to this era is also ignoring the amazing strides that society has taken. Do you want to go back to the days when domestic violence was simply "frowned upon" and women were dependant on abusive men, both financially and emotionally? It was the "good ol' days" when schools, restaurants, drinking fountains were racially segregated. It was less than a century ago when 6 million jews were systematically exterminated simply because of the religion that they were born into. The last 150 years, which is the blink of an eye historically, has seen slavery, genocide, violence, Jim Crow laws, and so many other morally abhorrent yet socially accepted values.
This nonsense about the deterioration of society is just silly. Look at the rates of people who are afforded college educations in this day and age. Look at the opportunities for women, minorities and others. You think they knew about morals and values 50 years ago??? Back when the N- word was socially acceptable and back-alley abortions were killing young rape victims. People complain about political correctness, but forget that the whole movement actually does come from a good place... a place where peope are trying to be sensitive to one another and not hurt people due to their insensitivities. Society has taken great strides to provide human rights, deal with issues of disability, illness and addiction... it's called progress.
Just because there is a ton of media coverage covering today's mass murderers, do you actually believe that they didn't exist in history?
It's common to look back on the past with nostalgia, and long for those days. But it shows that you don't know much about history, or simply ignore all of the prior social ills as a response to certain repugnant things that happen today. The fact is that the world has become smaller and more connected... all negative things that go on are easily communicated. This doesn't mean that these things didn't go on before, it just means you didn't know about them.
BTW, young people are inherently the same as they've always been. It's the adults who have changed... why do people seem to forget that?

 

[flower]

Well said Crimzy...

We have indeed come a long way..in gadgets and our attitudes. I think we do forget about segregation, genocide, and how women were treated, making less pay for the same work. It really is a matter of seeing our life as half empty or half full. The world isn't a perfect place, it never was. As it was then and now, there is always room for improvement.
Still, Darth's little essay reminded us all of how much and how fast things have changed, that it really wasn't that long ago at all.

 

[reefraff]

Disagree strongly
There isn't a single issue to blame but kids are different than a generation ago. It's been happening for decades but we've hit a tipping point over the last 20 years or so. I grew up in the 60's where there were still some parents who would correct their kids for addressing an unrelated adult common. You sure as hell didn't get away will being disrespectful whoever you were.
You can track the attitude change in the media. You can make the argument the media follows the culture but I think the two are connected. Kids see stuff on TV shows today that would have been a R rated movie when I was a kid. You can't say it doesn't have an impact. How many millions were spent on 30 second commercials yesterday? If 30 seconds can influence your buying habits what can an hour and a half do?