Having met some of you yesterday, I was reminded that most EF'ers are sooo young. My dad would have been 99 the other day, born in 1912. I often think of the amazing changes he has seen in the World since then. Mind boggling. And then I saw this:

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
' man hadn't yet walked 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 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 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 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, CD's, 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 about £450, . .. . But who could afford one?
Too bad, because petrol was 4 shillings a gallon.
In my day:
' "grass" was mown,
' "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.
How old do you think I am?
I bet you have this old lady in mind....you are in for a shock!

Are you ready ?????

That person would be about 60 - my age. Lol (not funny actually).

Awww...we are not so young. We might only look it.

It was fab to have finally met you yesterday!

My grandparents couldn't afford a fridge when they married, it was still a luxury item at the time. Not to speak of a Hoover or a washing machine...

Odile, I seem young to you, but when I told my son there were no CDs or DVDs when I was a child he thought I was ancient!

Coke was what you put on your open fire as a 'smokeless' fuel, if I remember correctly.

Grandparents with no fridge? 'We' first had a fridge after I had left home...

...one question on that, Odile. Do you know what ever happened to Common Sense? Did it die, get locked up, deported or something?

What a sweet op thank you Odile.

I often wonder in what way my children will think and act differently to me due to the fact that they are growing up in this day and age. For example, my 3 year old loves playing games on the iPad during quiet time while her brother naps and I think to myself, when I was 3, I was probably looking at books while my sister napped. I am interested to know just how much I will not be able to relate to my children one day!

That is indeed an excellent question but I've been in enough trouble lately here- and I promised Smackerjack I'd be good.

I am a dinosaurus. Since when I was small....we were deep Soviet sticks. Nada. So, when you compare tech development and inventions, you have to think about what country, how rich people were...etc.

What she said

Wasn't penicillin discovered in 1928?

You will have to pardon me, but that requires that I quote somebody I knew well...

"the day you stopped being yourself and started 'being good' is the day you started dying".

Odile , it was nice to have met you yesterday and as someone 'almost' your age ( so much younger - 3 1/2 years ) I do have to agree with your comment - and personally I am amazed when I meet someone born in say 1989 and then find out they have already developed the power of speech

Kids these days eh ?!?

Not true Odile, you happen to be young.

If you were born circa 1950, the following already existed:
' penicillin (1928)
' polio shots (1952)
' frozen foods (1924)
' Frisbees (1890s)
' credit cards (1950 Diners)
' ball-point pens (1938)
' pantyhose (invention of nylon 1930s)
' air conditioners (1902)
' dishwashers (1950)
' clothes dryers (1915)


All Baby boomers (after 1945) were born into the era of modern technology, that has become our today.

Some prefer to shun it and feel that "before" was better, and others undulate and adapt to the change. A change that is constant.

You're young, you just don't realize it

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"Il mondo è fatto a scale, chi le scende e chi le sale"

That's correct, but Alexander Fleming didn't trust his discovery. First clinical tests, apart from a few very reluctant attempts on singular cases, were done 11 years later, and mass production was possible only after the chemical structure was clearly determined in 1945.

My Other Half is so old, when I installed a DVD player, after watching the first movie she asked me how to rewind it. She's six years younger than I am.

But of course, there's nothing new under the sun and there never really was a simpler time with moral and upstanding anything. The Victorians painted a rosy picture but it never really came to pass. Kids didn't smoke weed a hundred years ago but London was plagued by gin which permeated every facet of society and before that there was something else. And no one ever believed marriage was needed for anything other than appearance. A couple of hundred years ago you loved those you loved and you married those that were societally beneficial and never the twain met. I'm glad I live now.

Still more than 60 years ago and as Sky has shown the list is quite inaccurate!

It wasn't better back then. It's more honest and unbiaised now, I feel.
It wasn't easier back then, time and memory simply rewrite every line



Beautifully written Economisto !

All in jest, just a bit of fun - not my list I have to say, just picked it up from elsewhere. The point is not about being 'better' or 'worse' Economisto, I totally agree. Just about how fast things have changed since my dad was born in 1912- and to some extent my birth in 1951.

About penicillin- I should have known better. But it's more common use started after Beecham managed to synthesize new forms. I should have spotted this as I worked for Beechams for my first job in the UK, at their Brentford Offices on the Great West Road. Little did they know that it would eventually cause of major issues due to over-use.

I think quite a few things which Odile mentioned were already invented earlier - but most of them took a long time before they were in 'general use'. And what help were they anyway? TV had been around long before but in the late 40s there were only a couple of hours sending per day, Alexandra Palace being the only sender and every car or other electrical device within range sending zig-zag patterns across the tiny screen and loud crackling noises in ones ears. Anyway, as often as not, the screen had an Interlude picture with the message: We are trying to trace the fault. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible. Often it rolled vertically (framehold adjustment necessary) or rolled horizontally (linehold adjustment necessary) and all the knobs were on the back of the set! So much for early days of television.

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Longbyt

heres one before 1984 (my age )
http://forums.starcraft.org/threads/...rn-before-1984.