The Times: What has come of today?

[ShrowdedPoet]

I'm not old by any stretch of the imagination, as a matter of fact, I am fairly young.  But the more I see of the world today the older I feel.  Have things changed so much that a 3 year gap feels more like a 10 year gap?  I look around at things and take a step back.  The thoughts running through my head dance along the lines of "What in the hell has the world come to?  Do people not teach their children anymore?  I wasn't that stupid when I was their age, have things really changed that much?"  I'm really not even that far out of touch and yet I feel like I've lived under a pile of dirt for years. 

So more to the point, what has come of today?  When I talk about my childhood now I feel like I'm telling a fairy tale.  "Once upon a time, in a land much like your own, I lived in. . ."  People just 3 years younger than I am look at me with big eyes as I tell this masterful tale of the harsh days of my childhood where cell phones were not wide spread and dial up was the shit.  Way back when you actually had landlines and called people instead of texting them.  They gasp when I tell them about audio tapes, video tapes, and the fact that we did not have ipods, itunes, or satellite radio.  They just can't believe that we only had one TV and computer in the house and that they weren't located in a bedroom but in the gathering room.  All the time I wonder if they could have survived in my world. 

By the same token I am often shocked by the fact that small children are running around with cell phones and cruising the internet without any kind of adult supervision.  I go into MMORPGs and find 11 and 12 year olds grinding at 2 o clock in the morning.  I hadn't even heard of MMORPGs until I was 17!  I didn't get a cell phone until I was 16 and that was only out of necessity.  I wasn't aloud unsupervised internet usage until I was 16 and I never had a computer or TV in my room until I was an adult!  I didn't watch Adult Swim or South Park until I was 18.  I am finding 8 year olds that can quote from Family Guy! 

I guess maybe I lived in polite society (though I would never have considered it polite when I was a child).  Because gas was not a funny thing but just a part of life.  Foul language wasn't the norm, you were on the wrong side of the tracks if you were slinging the F bomb or even shit and damn.  *gasp*  Even hell was a dirty word.  Of course I did tend toward the wrong side of the tracks but it was not the norm.  Now I find small children spouting smut in wal-mart while their parents let them run wild.  I'm left thinking, "By the Gods, my mom would have beaten me bloody if I acted that way!!!" 

The times!  What has come of today?  Will it ever leave a tomorrow?

[Greenthorn]

Beepers.  Beepers/pagers were the thing to have in my childhood!

Thanks for the flashback!

[Jag]

I'm only 22 and I have people that are 16-18 look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them that I was the first one in my house with a cell phone and that wasn't till I was 18. That we had WebTV and cable was a luxury.

Hell, I was older than everyone else in my graduating class because of some issues and even some of the girls from the same grade as me thought it was weird that I didn't have an iPod when I was a Junior. I still used a CD player and a tape player. I still had a video camera that couldn't fit into my purse (one of those old giant ones).

My brothers still can't believe that I never touched a computer till I was in middle school. So you're not the only one feeling young and old at the same time. Even people at my age are starting to feel the 'gap' because of how quickly things are advancing.

[Maeven]

Beepers.  Beepers/pagers were the thing to have in my childhood!

Thanks for the flashback!

Hahah

And remember how we used to send 'text messages' with the beepers? Like 1-4-3 was 'I love you', and so on? *headshake*


I'm with you though; can only imagine what the next generation's toys are going to be like.

[Greenthorn]

Hahah

And remember how we used to send 'text messages' with the beepers? Like 1-4-3 was 'I love you', and so on? *headshake*


I'm with you though; can only imagine what the next generation's toys are going to be like.

oh and 8008 for "boob"  and 7734 upside down "hell"

Oh gawd...yes it's all coming back to me!!


edited per GT's request. -Mae

[Kurzyk]

I remember when MTV first came out. Video killed the radiostar.. It was all videos back then with none of the silly shows it has now.

I had friends that had the Atari game system, and Pong rocked.

Rental cars came with 8-track cassette players and I remember being so irritated that the music sounded whiny and that because its an 8 track it "should just sound better."

Car phones came out soon after that were the size of shoes but we still carried them around like they were the poshest thing around; which of course they were.

I look at a flash drive and think back to my commodore64 and am just amazed.

[ShrowdedPoet]

*laughs*  Yeah, I remember pagers.  I found one on the playground once and was like "freakin awesome"!  I remember floppy drives.  Gods!  *laughs*  Poet the Dinosour!  I remember MTV being nothing but music also.  *reminisces*

[Will]

Eh, I really do think it's like that for every generation, and every generation thinks they're the first ones to experience it.  *shrugs*  I doubt it.  And cursing and shoddy parenting never really go out of style. >.>

[ShrowdedPoet]

I would like to let you know that I find your comment abrasive and rude.

I am not surprised by generational gaps but I am surprised by how quickly they seem to be growing.  I have done enough living to know that it's actually a fairly recent development. . .like within the last decade. 

*sighs*  and I didn't say that shoddy parenting or cursing go out of style. . .I said they're getting worse at a frightening rate.

*bites tongue*

[Will]

I would like to let you know that I find your reaction excessive. 

All I did was disagree with you.  I'm sorry if it was so hurtful, and if it bothers you so badly I'll delete my comments from your blog.

[ShrowdedPoet]

I am anti deletion unless it is absolutely necessary.  You can leave your comment.  You didn't disagree with me.  You misread me.  And I might have misread you.  I read your comment as abrasive and rude.  I pointed that out in my reply and then pointed to where you misread me.  If my reaction was excessive. . .which it likely was. . .I do apologize, my moods have been not so great.  But in all honesty, I put you in the wrong in my mind.  This is a blog, not a place for disagreement or agreement.  Please, I do not wish to carry this any further in public lest tempers flair, so if you wish to continue please do it via PM.

[Oniya]

I actually had a 5.25" drive until upgrading my computer recently.

[Jag]

I remember floppy drives.  Gods!  *laughs*

Wait...people don't still use Floppy Drives? *hides her external floppy drive in shame*