Back in my day....

[fishnfool]

Back in my day.....we gnawed on lead painted window sills, and they were good!

Back in my day...this was a walkman! 

 

[nobodyspecial]

WHAT?!?! HOW WAS THIS ALLOWED???

Airlines thought of them as customers - rather than "self loading freight" ?

[lizzzi]

Woke up to rooster crowing. Neighbor plowed with a team, as did my cousin. They just didn't like tractors. (They were not Amish--just regular farmers.) Learned to embroider,knit, quilt, and make rag rugs. Sat in the straw in Grandma's chicken house playing with her cat. Kids had to do the dishes every night, could not go outside to play on Saturday until helped clean house. If any sass or complaints of boredom, got sent outside to water or weed in the garden. Spent hours playing in the woods, pond, or creek--parents blew big, brass police whistle to call us home for supper. School lunches were 33 cents, but the four of us carried lunch bags from home because school lunches too expensive. Spent hours training my 4-H dog to show at county fair. And on and on. This was Ohio in the fifties.  Oh, and forgot to say nothing was open on Sundays.

[MoneyCat]

Back in my day, kids could dream about being a professional musician, artist, or writer. This was back in the days before BitTorrent, camera phones, and Ad Block Plus, so people could actually make money artistically.

[GuitarStv]

Back in my day...this was a walkman! 

 

I wonder how the sales of D batteries looked the year after Sony introduced the walkman.

[BlueHouse]

When I was in college and even slightly after, the smoking section on planes was the rear half of the plane. Many people didn't want to sit in all that smoke, so they would go to the back of the plane, and sit on someone's armrest while smoking!  Can you imagine anyone coming into your personal space on a plane today for ANY reason, let alone to smoke?  Gross!

You're saying the SMOKERS didn't want to sit in all that gross smoke they just created so they sat at the front of the plane, came back to smoke, and then waltzed back to their (relatively) smoke-free seat? WHAT?!?! HOW WAS THIS ALLOWED???

Yep.   Smokers used to outnumber non-smokers in such great numbers that the world catered to them.  It's hard to believe it now, but you couldn't imagine the outrage when office buildings started to go smoke-free. 

And in college, when I took the train home on weekends about once per month, I WANTED to sit in the smoking section, whether I smoked or not, because the smoking car was the fun car.  People brought coolers of beer and liquor, played cards, and played their boomboxes.  My ride was only 1 hour long and I probably wouldn't have sat in that section if it were longer, but I would have visited.  because that's the way it was.  Smokers used to be more fun.  Now they just have yellow teeth and bad breath. 

[shelivesthedream]

When I was in college and even slightly after, the smoking section on planes was the rear half of the plane. Many people didn't want to sit in all that smoke, so they would go to the back of the plane, and sit on someone's armrest while smoking!  Can you imagine anyone coming into your personal space on a plane today for ANY reason, let alone to smoke?  Gross!

You're saying the SMOKERS didn't want to sit in all that gross smoke they just created so they sat at the front of the plane, came back to smoke, and then waltzed back to their (relatively) smoke-free seat? WHAT?!?! HOW WAS THIS ALLOWED???

Yep.   Smokers used to outnumber non-smokers in such great numbers that the world catered to them.  It's hard to believe it now, but you couldn't imagine the outrage when office buildings started to go smoke-free. 

And in college, when I took the train home on weekends about once per month, I WANTED to sit in the smoking section, whether I smoked or not, because the smoking car was the fun car.  People brought coolers of beer and liquor, played cards, and played their boomboxes.  My ride was only 1 hour long and I probably wouldn't have sat in that section if it were longer, but I would have visited.  because that's the way it was.  Smokers used to be more fun.  Now they just have yellow teeth and bad breath.

I know everyone used to smoke back in the day, but that's like someone sitting in the non-smoking area in a restaurant then coming to sit on your table to have a smoke and then going away again. You want to smoke, you sit in the smoking section. That's what it's for!

[BlueHouse]

You're saying the SMOKERS didn't want to sit in all that gross smoke they just created so they sat at the front of the plane, came back to smoke, and then waltzed back to their (relatively) smoke-free seat? WHAT?!?! HOW WAS THIS ALLOWED???

I know everyone used to smoke back in the day, but that's like someone sitting in the non-smoking area in a restaurant then coming to sit on your table to have a smoke and then going away again. You want to smoke, you sit in the smoking section. That's what it's for!

Yes, that's exactly what it was like. And they would use an ashtray that was in YOUR armrest to stub out their cigarettes.  So you would then continue on the trip with someone else's cigarette butts. Oh, and when your neighbor's ashtray got too full, the flight attendants would come by and allow them to reach over you with their overflowing tin tray and dump the tray into a trash bin. So all the soot just went everywhere. It was absolutely disgusting, which is why many people,didn't want to sit there, even though they planned on smoking there.
Back then, you wouldn't think of saying no to someone for that unless you really wanted to get the eye rolls.  And no one thought they were being "disrespected" either, so there weren't any fights ove it. 
Remember the times, no one had uttered the phrase "second hand smoke" yet.  everybody had an ashtray on their coffee table and even if you didn't smoke, your guests fully expected to smoke in your home. It would have been considered the ultimate in rudeness to tell a guest they couldn't smoke in your house.

[Rollin]

We had a four digit phone number, and many folks had party lines where they shared a phone line with neighbors.
School lunches weren't an option, you packed your lunch every day.
Our first color TV was a big deal, however we could only get 3-4 channels on the antenna.
Canned beverages soda, beer, etc. were opened with a "church key".
Penny candy.
When I got my drivers license, gas was $0.39 / gal.
Never had air conditioning growing up.  School wasn't air conditioned either.
The milk man delivered milk and dairy products to your doorstep.
My brother got a calculator for HS graduation present.  They were expensive, and it was a big deal to have one.
Had to wear hard soled shoes to school, tennis shoes were for gym class only.

Funny stuff, Good thread !

I was that milkman's helper. In winter (Michigan) I'd freeze my butt off having to drive with those tall doors leaking in subzero temps. and not heat on my side of the truck - just a freeze up near the windsheild, going to the dairy at 5 AM, and running the milk to front doors in tennis shoes because boots were just too slow. In summer it was just hot, and I'd have to crawl over the canvas and ice topped products to get something towards the back of the truck, all while the driver was driving to the next stop.

$6/day regardless of the hours (6 hours up to 14/day). After getting paid daily, at the end of the week I'd have saved $36 (we really didn't have much to buy - not cell phones or apps, or...).

Edit - we used to put the milk either in an aluminum box outside the front or side door, or for many houses we put it in the milk box built into the side of the house (accessed from both outside and inside).

[Dicey]

When I was in college and even slightly after, the smoking section on planes was the rear half of the plane. Many people didn't want to sit in all that smoke, so they would go to the back of the plane, and sit on someone's armrest while smoking!  Can you imagine anyone coming into your personal space on a plane today for ANY reason, let alone to smoke?  Gross!

You're saying the SMOKERS didn't want to sit in all that gross smoke they just created so they sat at the front of the plane, came back to smoke, and then waltzed back to their (relatively) smoke-free seat? WHAT?!?! HOW WAS THIS ALLOWED???

This reminds me of two stories from my working days. I remember traveling with my boss and her boss and having to sit in the smoking section because the big boss smoked. Also the smoking section was in the back, so everyone had to pass through it to get to the lavs. The other was a different boss* who hated the smell of cigarette smoke, so she always got non-smoking rooms. Except she smoked. She either smoked "out the window" or in the bathroom with the fan and shower running. Ack!
*Happy to report that my prodding did (partially )inspire her to finally retire, and she quit smoking on her own once she was retired and the work stress was gone.

[2lazy2retire]

My parents sat down and watch the nine o'clock news every night. Now my Dad's on Twitter all day.

And you better be quite ;)

[LeRainDrop]

When I was in college and even slightly after, the smoking section on planes was the rear half of the plane. Many people didn't want to sit in all that smoke, so they would go to the back of the plane, and sit on someone's armrest while smoking!  Can you imagine anyone coming into your personal space on a plane today for ANY reason, let alone to smoke?  Gross!

You're saying the SMOKERS didn't want to sit in all that gross smoke they just created so they sat at the front of the plane, came back to smoke, and then waltzed back to their (relatively) smoke-free seat? WHAT?!?! HOW WAS THIS ALLOWED???

This reminds me of two stories from my working days. I remember traveling with my boss and her boss and having to sit in the smoking section because the big boss smoked. Also the smoking section was in the back, so everyone had to pass through it to get to the lavs. The other was a different boss* who hated the smell of cigarette smoke, so she always got non-smoking rooms. Except she smoked. She either smoked "out the window" or in the bathroom with the fan and shower running. Ack!
*Happy to report that my prodding did (partially )inspire her to finally retire, and she quit smoking on her own once she was retired and the work stress was gone.

I'm so glad I grew up in a time and place where smoking was already becoming marginalized.  I hate the smell so much, and lots of it gives me headaches.  My middle brother and I were the little kids in the non-smoking section of the restaurant innocently telling our mom how horrible the cigarette smoke that was wafting over from the smoking section smelled and how it was so "gross."

[One Noisy Cat]

You're saying the SMOKERS didn't want to sit in all that gross smoke they just created so they sat at the front of the plane, came back to smoke, and then waltzed back to their (relatively) smoke-free seat? WHAT?!?! HOW WAS THIS ALLOWED???

I know everyone used to smoke back in the day, but that's like someone sitting in the non-smoking area in a restaurant then coming to sit on your table to have a smoke and then going away again. You want to smoke, you sit in the smoking section. That's what it's for!

Yes, that's exactly what it was like. And they would use an ashtray that was in YOUR armrest to stub out their cigarettes.  So you would then continue on the trip with someone else's cigarette butts. Oh, and when your neighbor's ashtray got too full, the flight attendants would come by and allow them to reach over you with their overflowing tin tray and dump the tray into a trash bin. So all the soot just went everywhere. It was absolutely disgusting, which is why many people,didn't want to sit there, even though they planned on smoking there.
Back then, you wouldn't think of saying no to someone for that unless you really wanted to get the eye rolls.  And no one thought they were being "disrespected" either, so there weren't any fights ove it. 
Remember the times, no one had uttered the phrase "second hand smoke" yet.  everybody had an ashtray on their coffee table and even if you didn't smoke, your guests fully expected to smoke in your home. It would have been considered the ultimate in rudeness to tell a guest they couldn't smoke in your house.

I remember in the late 1960s we had a woman from the American Cancer Society speak to our school about the dangers of tobacco. I asked her about second hand smoke, although I probably used the phrase "other people smoking" or some such thing. She replied that while it was irritating, it didn't pose any harm.

My mother was pretty anti smoking. Actually she smoked occasionally in the early 1960s but stopped when prices reached 35 cents a pack.  Then came the Surgeon General's report. But even she kept ashtrays around the house for when her cigarette smoking friends stopped by. It was the epitome of excessive manners to ask permission if you could smoke.

[2lazy2retire]

Born Rural Ireland 1965

As kids in summer we would be out of the house until it got dark or you got hungry - only time my mother got upset was when we ate at someone else's house - did not want them thinking we were unfed at home :)
We had 2 TV channels which did not come on air until around 6PM and shutdown at midnight, if you wanted more channels ( the 2-3 British ones ) you had to install a ridiculously tall antenna.
Phone calls went thru the local post office exchange - everyone reckoned they listened in to all calls, waiting time for a phone hookup was years - when we did get hooked up our number was "villagename 122"
Zero drugs in Secondary school - not even weed - cider by the canal was the alternative

[The Guru]

Beridian,

Your post brought back memories of my second car, a 1973 Dodge Challenger, which for the longest time apparently had a windshield washer reservoir but no means to activate the washers. One day I was working under the dash when I rested my head on something soft. I didn't think much of it until I emerged to find the windshield wet... but not a cloud in the sky. Mystery solved!

(Oh- and we were able to pick up CKLW clear in Erie, PA!)

The other thing on car floors was the headlight dimmer switch- AS IT SHOULD BE. Think about it- your left foot has NOTHING ELSE TO DO unless you have a manual tranny which almost no one does, and even those who do aren't usually using the clutch on roads where high beams are needed. Of all modern vehicular improvements, putting the dimmers on the turn-signal stalk isn't one of them. IMO.

Anyway...my first car, a 1964 Dodge Dart had the famous Slant Six and pushbutton-actuated TorqueFlite automatic. Pushbutton selectors were the thing in the late 50's/ early 60's- I believe the Edsel had them on the steering wheel hub!- but 64 was the last year. The buttons were big & clunky like those on radios of the era. I liked them because a certain female friend always asked " Can I push the buttons?". Of course I obliged- the selector was on the left-hand side of the dash so she had to lean across me to reach them ;-)

[Primm]

The other thing on car floors was the headlight dimmer switch- AS IT SHOULD BE. Think about it- your left foot has NOTHING ELSE TO DO unless you have a manual tranny which almost no one does, and even those who do aren't usually using the clutch on roads where high beams are needed. Of all modern vehicular improvements, putting the dimmers on the turn-signal stalk isn't one of them. IMO.

I've driven and owned 4 cars with floor dimmer switches, and every single one has been a manual transmission. And the floor dimmer is the worst thing ever when you're driving down a windy hill and suddenly a car comes towards you round the corner. You try changing down a gear, braking down the hill and dimming the lights and see how that works for you.

[The Guru]

The other thing on car floors was the headlight dimmer switch- AS IT SHOULD BE. Think about it- your left foot has NOTHING ELSE TO DO unless you have a manual tranny which almost no one does, and even those who do aren't usually using the clutch on roads where high beams are needed. Of all modern vehicular improvements, putting the dimmers on the turn-signal stalk isn't one of them. IMO.

I've driven and owned 4 cars with floor dimmer switches, and every single one has been a manual transmission. And the floor dimmer is the worst thing ever when you're driving down a windy hill and suddenly a car comes towards you round the corner. You try changing down a gear, braking down the hill and dimming the lights and see how that works for you.

Probably about as well as getting your hand into proper position to use a stalk-mounted dimmer when you're trying to steer along said windy road. I don't see how that's an improvement.

[Uturn]

Maybe the roads in Australia are different, but I have never had an oncoming car sneak up on me to the point that I was unable handle a dimmer switch, clutch, and steering wheel.   

[Primm]

The other thing on car floors was the headlight dimmer switch- AS IT SHOULD BE. Think about it- your left foot has NOTHING ELSE TO DO unless you have a manual tranny which almost no one does, and even those who do aren't usually using the clutch on roads where high beams are needed. Of all modern vehicular improvements, putting the dimmers on the turn-signal stalk isn't one of them. IMO.

I've driven and owned 4 cars with floor dimmer switches, and every single one has been a manual transmission. And the floor dimmer is the worst thing ever when you're driving down a windy hill and suddenly a car comes towards you round the corner. You try changing down a gear, braking down the hill and dimming the lights and see how that works for you.

Probably about as well as getting your hand into proper position to use a stalk-mounted dimmer when you're trying to steer along said windy road. I don't see how that's an improvement.

You can't reach your dimmer switch while your hand is still on the steering wheel? Is it the ergonomics of the car or do you have a particularly small hand? I can absolutely multitask with my hands and fingers, but not so much with my feet, particularly when I'm wearing shoes.

Maybe the roads in Australia are different, but I have never had an oncoming car sneak up on me to the point that I was unable handle a dimmer switch, clutch, and steering wheel.   

Neither have I, as long as the dimmer switch is on the steering column.

[The Guru]

Look, I never intended to derail an otherwise fun thread w/ automotive foam, so how about we just agree that we each have pet peeves about dimmer-related issues and let it go at that. Fair enough?

[Fishindude]

I remember what a huge breakthrough the FAX machine was when we got one at our business.   
A year or so ago a guy asked me to FAX him something and I looked at him like he had two heads .... who in the heck uses FAX machines these days?

[Northwestie]

Car - three-on-the-tree, dimmer switch on floor, push-button radio, crank widows

Computer - punch cards, Univac mainframe, large rolls of over-sized green and white printouts. FORTRAN. Word Processors.

Climbing - hemp rope, forged pitons, swami belts, body belays, ovals, hammers, wooden handle ice axe, cagoules.

Travel - paper air tickets, standard fare rate book, printed bus schedules, NO TSA/everyone can go to gate.  Travel agents.   Different European currency and border stations.

[geekette]

I remember what a huge breakthrough the FAX machine was when we got one at our business.   
A year or so ago a guy asked me to FAX him something and I looked at him like he had two heads .... who in the heck uses FAX machines these days?

Health care.  I recently got asked to fax something to a doctor.  Like I have a fax machine at home?  Apparently they still use them; perhaps they're more secure than email.  I just emailed the stupid form and it was fine.

[Scandium]

When I was in college and even slightly after, the smoking section on planes was the rear half of the plane. Many people didn't want to sit in all that smoke, so they would go to the back of the plane, and sit on someone's armrest while smoking!  Can you imagine anyone coming into your personal space on a plane today for ANY reason, let alone to smoke?  Gross!

You're saying the SMOKERS didn't want to sit in all that gross smoke they just created so they sat at the front of the plane, came back to smoke, and then waltzed back to their (relatively) smoke-free seat? WHAT?!?! HOW WAS THIS ALLOWED???

This reminds me of two stories from my working days. I remember traveling with my boss and her boss and having to sit in the smoking section because the big boss smoked. Also the smoking section was in the back, so everyone had to pass through it to get to the lavs. The other was a different boss* who hated the smell of cigarette smoke, so she always got non-smoking rooms. Except she smoked. She either smoked "out the window" or in the bathroom with the fan and shower running. Ack!
*Happy to report that my prodding did (partially )inspire her to finally retire, and she quit smoking on her own once she was retired and the work stress was gone.

I'm so glad I grew up in a time and place where smoking was already becoming marginalized.  I hate the smell so much, and lots of it gives me headaches.  My middle brother and I were the little kids in the non-smoking section of the restaurant innocently telling our mom how horrible the cigarette smoke that was wafting over from the smoking section smelled and how it was so "gross."

I guess in the future I can say I lived through the anti-smoking revolution, or the death of smoking as socially acceptable. Remember when I was 18-19 going to the bars and coming home with my clothes and hair smelling awful(!) from the smoke. Few years later when I was in college smoking was banned in all indoor public places.

[GuitarStv]

My dad smoked a pipe for a very brief time when I was very young.  While I hate cigarette smoke, which is dirty and gross smelling, pipe smoke is really kinda wonderful.

[LeRainDrop]

My dad smoked a pipe for a very brief time when I was very young.  While I hate cigarette smoke, which is dirty and gross smelling, pipe smoke is really kinda wonderful.

I disagree on pipe smoke.  In high school, lots of parents were enrolling their kids in SAT prep classes/tutoring with this shop downtown.  I went there to take the starter test, from which I guess the guy gets a baseline from where you're starting.  A couple hours later, I had such a terrible headache and felt so nauseated from the smell of his pipe smoke that I told my parents to forget it -- I would never go back to that place again!

[prefixcactus]

All of the above, plus slide-rules; all kinds of slide rules including special artillery slide rules.

Public schools were tough in those days

Whaaaaaaa? Slide rules are, like, the awesomest and badassest calculating device ever invented! The slide rule is like the bicycle of calculators. Mind over Electronics, the complementary strategy to Muscle over Motor. Got one a year ago and totally loving it.

[Rollin]

All of the above, plus slide-rules; all kinds of slide rules including special artillery slide rules.

Public schools were tough in those days

Whaaaaaaa? Slide rules are, like, the awesomest and badassest calculating device ever invented! The slide rule is like the bicycle of calculators. Mind over Electronics, the complementary strategy to Muscle over Motor. Got one a year ago and totally loving it.

If we weren't all about not buying nonessential material goods I could see a store that is called "Back in the Day." It has PEZ dispensers, slide rules, rotary phones, 45 records (and/or 8 tracks), Etch-a-Sketch's, $0.20 McDonald's hamburgers, platform shoes, pet rocks, Schwinn choppers, and bell-bottom pants so wide that you'd trip if trying to run in a crosswind!

[LeRainDrop]

All of the above, plus slide-rules; all kinds of slide rules including special artillery slide rules.

Public schools were tough in those days

Whaaaaaaa? Slide rules are, like, the awesomest and badassest calculating device ever invented! The slide rule is like the bicycle of calculators. Mind over Electronics, the complementary strategy to Muscle over Motor. Got one a year ago and totally loving it.

If we weren't all about not buying nonessential material goods I could see a store that is called "Back in the Day." It has PEZ dispensers, slide rules, rotary phones, 45 records (and/or 8 tracks), Etch-a-Sketch's, $0.20 McDonald's hamburgers, platform shoes, pet rocks, Schwinn choppers, and bell-bottom pants so wide that you'd trip if trying to run in a crosswind!

Isn't that basically the country shop at Cracker Barrel?

[cschx]

When I was a boy I could go down to the corner grocery store with a dollar and come back with two steaks, a dozen eggs, a gallon of milk, a bag of flour and a pound of butter.

You can't do that anymore!

Too many fucking security cameras.

[Dicey]

When I was a boy I could go down to the corner grocery store with a dollar and come back with two steaks, a dozen eggs, a gallon of milk, a bag of flour and a pound of butter.

You can't do that anymore!

Too many fucking security cameras.

Awww, you got me. I was reminded of the stories my dad used to tell about what a nickel would buy when he was a lad and never saw the punch coming. Literally LOL'd. Thanks!

[big_owl]

Back in my day.....we gnawed on lead painted window sills, and they were good!

Back in my day...this was a walkman! 

 

Nah, we called those Ghetto Blasters.

[Rollin]

All of the above, plus slide-rules; all kinds of slide rules including special artillery slide rules.

Public schools were tough in those days

Whaaaaaaa? Slide rules are, like, the awesomest and badassest calculating device ever invented! The slide rule is like the bicycle of calculators. Mind over Electronics, the complementary strategy to Muscle over Motor. Got one a year ago and totally loving it.

If we weren't all about not buying nonessential material goods I could see a store that is called "Back in the Day." It has PEZ dispensers, slide rules, rotary phones, 45 records (and/or 8 tracks), Etch-a-Sketch's, $0.20 McDonald's hamburgers, platform shoes, pet rocks, Schwinn choppers, and bell-bottom pants so wide that you'd trip if trying to run in a crosswind!

Isn't that basically the country shop at Cracker Barrel?

Oh gosh you are right. I was in there Thursday and had to weave my way through all that crap, uh nostalgia, to get to breakfast!

[crazy jane]

I was sharing the airplane smoke comments with my husband and he remembers actually receiving a mini Pack of cigarettes on his food tray when he was flying with his parents. He was in elementary school at the time.

[BTDretire]

This probably doesn't fit very well, but it's fun.
  I have 24 yr old daughter that graduated college at 21yr old, she started a great job immediately out of school, all was well until the company merged with another.
  The corporate culture went South and now 3+ years after graduating she decided to go back to school and become an orthodontist.
  So now this 24 yr old is in school with 20 and 21 year olds.
She's calling telling me how these young people have no clue about what is going on or what they should be doing in school.
 
 And just to show her aged status, the other day she had to set a counselor straight, the counselor insisted she needed to take a Calculus class, she said she took the class in high school and that it fulfills the requirement. "Nope" the counselor persisted, my daughter said, show me on paper where it says that.
The counselor after sometime found a section and showed it to my daughter, my daughter read it and concluded that says I don't have to retake the class. After some back and forth, the frustrated counselor went a got a more senior counselor. She came in and started in on my daughter in a bit of rude way, showing her that she was correct, my daughter said don't tell me, I know I'm correct, tell (the other counselor).
 So, she does not need to retake the class.
  She's not happy she had show up her counselor and piss off another that didn't want to be bothered with helping the other counselor. But if they set rules, they should understand and abide by them.
           Proud Daddy

[goatmom]

Remember candy cigarettes?  I loved the taste. 

I remember being jealous of the cool kids at school that had Bud man stickers and Joe Camel stickers on their notebooks.

We had a bar that served liquor at the prom.

High school had a smoking lounge.

[nobodyspecial]

  She's not happy she had show up her counselor and piss off another that didn't want to be bothered with helping the other counselor. But if they set rules, they should understand and abide by them.

There is something deeply functional about our education system that the complete idiots are directed into becoming counselors

[Noodle]

There are some new babies in my circle of acquaintance and I was thinking how differently pregnancy/childbirth is handled these days. When my little sister was born in the mid-1970s, the gender of the baby was always a surprise. My mom disappeared in the middle of the night and didn't come back for several (4-5?) days because you stayed in the hospital so much longer then and children weren't allowed to make hospital visits. Of course there were no photos of the baby to show the older siblings because Dad would have had to take the film camera to the hospital, take photos, and then mail them off to be developed, at which point Mom and the baby would have been home anyway. Oddly, I have no memory of meeting the baby when my parents brought her home, but very vivid memories of coming down in the morning to find my parents missing and an elderly relative making breakfast--I remember she got the toast wrong (whatever that means...)

[BlueHouse]

I was sharing the airplane smoke comments with my husband and he remembers actually receiving a mini Pack of cigarettes on his food tray when he was flying with his parents. He was in elementary school at the time.

That's crazy! 
I first started working in NYC at about the time that "working girl" came out. Everything about that film was pretty accurate. Huge shoulder pads, big hair, etc. I wore a suit and stockings to work, then put on white socks over my stockings and tennis shoes to commute. Hahahah!  Embarrassing! 

[paddedhat]

  She's not happy she had show up her counselor and piss off another that didn't want to be bothered with helping the other counselor. But if they set rules, they should understand and abide by them.

There is something deeply functional about our education system that the complete idiots are directed into becoming counselors

Oh, it's way beyond that. My wife spent a long career as a special ed. teacher. We personally know three counselors who are bat shit crazy, as in spent their entire careers walking the fine line of, "this one really should be institutionalized, or at least in some kind of group home".  One was scary enough that the wife broke all ties with her, as in Glen Close, boiled rabbit, Fatal Attraction kind of nuts.................... I'll take a clueless idiot any day.

[wonderjunkie]

Born in '69:

-Harvest gold appliances and olive green high pile shag carpet.
-Apartment building down the street was named "The Foxy Lady Apartments" (I begged my mother not to move there).
-My brother and I singing/improvising over our favorite 70s and 80s tunes into a cassette recorder and then listening to them repeatedly, providing us with hours of laughter.
-Crank calling, perusing Tiger Beat magazine and staying up late to watch full-length Journey and REO Speedwagon concerts on MTV at slumber parties.
-Weekends spent at the roller rink, doing the shuffle, limbo and reverse skate, and playing Ms. Pac-Man, Asteroids and Q*bert in the arcade with our skates on.
-Typing up my first resume on a Brother electronic typewriter that I received as a gift in 1985. It had a tiny screen on it so I could see as I typed.
-A computer class in 1986 was taught by one of our high school coaches on Apple IIs, because none of the teachers knew computers.
-At one of my first jobs in the late 80s, I wore huge hoop earrings and the guy sitting behind me used to try to throw paper wads through them when he was bored.

[aperture]

As a kid, summer days were spent outside with friends.  We had lunch at whoever's house was closest.  My mother had no idea where I was, but the neighborhood had eyes and ears, and she would find out if we had gotten into any trouble.  Every kid was in every game.  There were no clicks - (except the teenagers would shun their younger siblings).

[Primm]

  She's not happy she had show up her counselor and piss off another that didn't want to be bothered with helping the other counselor. But if they set rules, they should understand and abide by them.

There is something deeply functional about our education system that the complete idiots are directed into becoming counselors

Oh, it's way beyond that. My wife spent a long career as a special ed. teacher. We personally know three counselors who are bat shit crazy, as in spent their entire careers walking the fine line of, "this one really should be institutionalized, or at least in some kind of group home".  One was scary enough that the wife broke all ties with her, as in Glen Close, boiled rabbit, Fatal Attraction kind of nuts.................... I'll take a clueless idiot any day.

I started doing a post-grad course in counselling to help with my current career. I dropped out after a semester because everyone there was BSC, students, lecturers, the whole shebang.

It's a career that seems to attract damaged people. A large proportion of them made no bones about the fact that they were there to fix themselves.

[kimmarg]

High school in the 90's we had AOL instant messenger. Everybody had a contact list with like 50 kids on it and we would all sign on after dinner and chat the shit out of that thing.

My screen name here is my AIM screen name. Why change something that's worked for almost 20 years!

[LeRainDrop]

High school in the 90's we had AOL instant messenger. Everybody had a contact list with like 50 kids on it and we would all sign on after dinner and chat the shit out of that thing.

My screen name here is my AIM screen name. Why change something that's worked for almost 20 years!

LOL!  Same here!  At least we no longer have to hear that screeching dial-up noise, and we don't lose our connection to the internet when someone else picks up the phone -- not that I have a landline anymore either!

[Inaya]

High school in the 90's we had AOL instant messenger. Everybody had a contact list with like 50 kids on it and we would all sign on after dinner and chat the shit out of that thing.

My screen name here is my AIM screen name. Why change something that's worked for almost 20 years!

LOL!  Same here!  At least we no longer have to hear that screeching dial-up noise, and we don't lose our connection to the internet when someone else picks up the phone -- not that I have a landline anymore either!

For some reason I would lose my connection whenever the garage door opened. Phone calls never disconnected when it opened--just the dial-up modem.

Also, busy signals at peak time meant you got to hear the modem screeching over and over while you prayed to get through THIS time. And prayed nobody opened the garage once you finally did manage to connect.

[nobodyspecial]

High school in the 90's we had AOL instant messenger. Everybody had a contact list with like 50 kids on it and we would all sign on after dinner and chat the shit out of that thing.

My screen name here is my AIM screen name. Why change something that's worked for almost 20 years!

LOL!  Same here!  At least we no longer have to hear that screeching dial-up noise, and we don't lose our connection to the internet when someone else picks up the phone -- not that I have a landline anymore either!

You had it easy - in the early 90s I had to go to grad school to get on the internet

[Cyaphas]

High school in the 90's we had AOL instant messenger. Everybody had a contact list with like 50 kids on it and we would all sign on after dinner and chat the shit out of that thing.

My screen name here is my AIM screen name. Why change something that's worked for almost 20 years!

LOL!  Same here!  At least we no longer have to hear that screeching dial-up noise, and we don't lose our connection to the internet when someone else picks up the phone -- not that I have a landline anymore either!

For some reason I would lose my connection whenever the garage door opened. Phone calls never disconnected when it opened--just the dial-up modem.

Also, busy signals at peak time meant you got to hear the modem screeching over and over while you prayed to get through THIS time. And prayed nobody opened the garage once you finally did manage to connect.

I can still hear the modem audio sequence in my head... Wee na wee na...

[GuitarStv]

High school in the 90's we had AOL instant messenger. Everybody had a contact list with like 50 kids on it and we would all sign on after dinner and chat the shit out of that thing.

My screen name here is my AIM screen name. Why change something that's worked for almost 20 years!

LOL!  Same here!  At least we no longer have to hear that screeching dial-up noise, and we don't lose our connection to the internet when someone else picks up the phone -- not that I have a landline anymore either!

For some reason I would lose my connection whenever the garage door opened. Phone calls never disconnected when it opened--just the dial-up modem.

Also, busy signals at peak time meant you got to hear the modem screeching over and over while you prayed to get through THIS time. And prayed nobody opened the garage once you finally did manage to connect.

I can still here the modem audio sequence in my head... Wee na wee na...

KSHHHHHHHHhhh KSHUUUUUUUUUUUuu Wee na wee na bun ding

is how I remember it.

[Christof]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsNaR6FRuO0