For those "youngsters" out there from us over 40

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MVRCorp

MVRCorp

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If you are 36, or older, you might think this is hilarious!

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning.... Uphill... Barefoot... BOTH ways...yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!

But now that I'm over the ripe old age of forty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia! And I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don't know how good you've got it!

1) I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have the Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!

2) There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter - with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox, and it would take like a week to get there! Stamps were 10 cents!

3) Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents beat us. As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to kick our ***! Nowhere was safe!

4) There were no MP3's or Napsters or iTunes! If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the record store and shoplift it yourself!

5) Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio, and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up! There were no CD players! We had tape decks in our car. We'd play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished, and then the tape would come undone rendering it useless. Cause, hey, that's how we rolled, Baby! Dig?

6) We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called, they got a busy signal, that's it!

7) There weren't any freakin' cell phones either. If you left the house, you just didn't make a damn call or receive one. You actually had to be out of touch with your "friends". OH MY GOSH !!! Think of the horror... not being in touch with someone 24/7!!! And then there's TEXTING. Yeah, right. Please! You kids have no idea how annoying you are.

8) And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your parents, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, the collection agent... you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

9) We didn't have any fancy PlayStation or Xbox video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids'. Your screen guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen.. Forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

10) You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your *** and walk over to the TV to change the channel!!! NO REMOTES!!! Oh, no, what's the world coming to?!?!

11) There was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying? We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-bastards!

12) And we didn't have microwaves. If we wanted to heat something up, we had to use the stove! Imagine that!



13) And our parents told us to stay outside and play... all day long. Oh, no, no electronics to soothe and comfort. And if you came back inside... you were doing chores!




And car seats - oh, please! Mom threw you in the back seat and you hung on. If you were lucky, you got the "safety arm" across the chest at the last moment if she had to stop suddenly, and if your head hit the dashboard, well that was your fault for calling "shot gun" in the first place!




See! That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled rotten! You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1970 or any time before!

Regards,
The Over 40 Crowd
 
Yeah I bet they don't even know what a three on the tree is,no microwaves or slushies either.
 
Actually,aln honest post! My parents said,go play.And play,I did.A friend had a dad liked me.Soon,I was learning paint and body.The rest is history.
 
Sounds like you had a crappy life, I'm just messing with you. I think it has more to do with the amount of money being brought in by mommy and daddy. I'm in my 20s and for the most part I never got into any of that "easy life" stuff. If I wanted it, I busted my *** to get it. But that just me and the fact I was raised in a very military style upbringing (my dads retired army).
 
Over Forty? My Kids are over forty. There were allot less stuff for a kid growing up in the fifties. Only toys I can remember were plastic army men and Lincoln logs. One of the first cars I ever drove was an old 50's Chrysler wagon with a Slushomatic , (Kind of an automatic with a clutch)
No TV just one big wooden radio no phone, you young kids of the 70's had it made

Last year one of my sons bought a 68 Dart and my 8yr old grandson looked at the window crank and asked him what it was for LOL
 
Dam I didn,t get allowance til I was 13 yrs old.I had to do dishes every night after dinner,shovel the driveway(everytime it snowed)and back in those days when it snowed we got 3 feet of it.Mow the lawns in the summer,trim hedges,wash the car and keep my room clean...all for $2.00 :blob:this was in 1976 :eek:ops:
 
pettybludart said:
Dam I didn,t get allowance til I was 13 yrs old.I had to do dishes every night after dinner,shovel the driveway(everytime it snowed)and back in those days when it snowed we got 3 feet of it.Mow the lawns in the summer,trim hedges,wash the car and keep my room clean...all for $2.00 :blob:this was in 1976 :eek:ops:
Click to expand...
well i am 66yo started working when i was 11yo would deliver news papers befpre going to school come home and cut grass after school i remember my mom and dad having a TV when i was a kid believe it or not we had the only TV and my dad made us share with with other families yep i said share it enough from an old guy but yes i did spoil my kids wish i hadn't
 
I always get a laugh out of these threads. They bring back memories of my youth. We were dirt poor. Literally, we had dirt floors in one place we lived. I can remember the round screen on the T.V. and going outside to pump the water when it was -30 F. The only toilet was the 2 holer out the back door. Yup, today's kids have it so rough. LOL

Jack
 
In some ways we had it made because my first new car was a 70 Duster 340. We had a ball in those days and my car payments were $90 a month for three years. Us real old guys sit around coffee in morning and talk about how we lived the very best times this country has ever had. On Sat. night we would fill the gas tank and leave town with open headers as we had 1320's marked on alot of roads. We had a great time. In place of that now we we get cell phones and Ipods and ricers.
 
CudaChick1968 said:
Three on the tree?? Heck, pretty soon you'll start hearing "What's a carburetor?"
Click to expand...

What do you mean "pretty soon"?

My neighbors kid, and a "sport compact" kid (I use the term "Sport Compact" in lieu of "ricer" because it is all inclusive of 4 cylinder and v6 front wheel driver cars, no matter where they are built. I'm sorry but I don't see a big difference between a Neon and a Civic. Sorry if that ticks you off, it's just how I see things) claimes to have never seen a carb.

Anyway, I mentioned carburetors to him, and he had no clue... His comment was that he never even saw a carb, but he heard that it was like a "mechanical version of fuel injection" from back in the day.

I really wanted to slap is arrogant face off.
 
I'm assuming we all agree that the first post was tongue in cheek. I wouldn't want to grow up today for anything. While I may not have had as many distractions, I appreciated what I had far more than I would if I had more. None of these advancements really add to my life.

Some might say that mobile phones and computers letting me work from home gives a better quality of life. But is that really better? My father punched a time clock, and when he was home it was his time.

I'm 37 years old.
 
Born in 56. It was much better back when. I started working at 12 shining shoes. Delivered papers before and after school and mowed lawns on the weekend, "after" I woke up at 4am to deliver papers. Then got a job loading catering trucks every morning before school when I was about 16. I look around at some of todays fat kid's and know exactly what the problem is. I live in so cal so all the jobs like this have now gone to the illegal aliens and the kid's have nothing to do and can't get work. Really worried about this countries future. I would never want to grow up in today's world.
 
Everything, you said is so very true. Are you sure we ain't related, oh wait that's just the
way life was. I loved it and wouldn't have changed anything about it I loved growing up in the 70's. Great thread.
 
ohhh, the memories. lite brites, tootsie toys , big wheels, hot wheels and green machines.those were the days.rotory phones, a 19" color tv was the hot ticket item. bugs bunny/road runner show, land of the lost and shazam! on saturday mornings , with my big bowl of count chocula, playing with my SSPs.
 
Couldn't agree more. I am 44 and got my first "job" delivering newspapers and my 10-speed at 12. Moved to Florida when I was 13-1/2 and I had money in the bank when we did. Spent 6 months getting used to FL and then decided I wanted a boat. My Dad said, "Great, get a job." I did. At 14 started working as a bus boy at a local deli/restaurant. Saved my money and bought a boat 2 months later - I found it in the NEWSPAPER

My oldest is now 14 and all he does is sit on his butt and play Xbox. A couple of weeks ago, he said to me, "I really want to get a dirt bike." I said, "Great, get off your butt and start earning one." Hasn't lifted a finger to earn anything yet. My 11 year old has a better work ethic than he does.
 
I laughed my butt off when reading MVRcorp's post. Them was some good times. So true.... was low-tech and loving it. Pagers were the about as hi-tech as it got. And they were used primarily by the dealers in my neighborhood.
 
Ya'll forgot the Etch A sketch. P.I. T. A.


I was raised on a ranch in north west Wyo. With taking care of cattle, horses,chickens, dogs and cats. Plowing, planting, cutting and stacking hay.
Didn't leave a whole lot of time for the " Luxuries of the day".
 
......I can still remember playing with my G I Joe's.....oh ya, and getting my *** kicked ...i didnt get a computer or cell phone till i was 40........kim.......
 
Don't forget phone numbers! There was no auto dial on rotary or push button phones. I had all of the important phone numbers committed to memory in my brain. Today, I only know the number to my cell phone.
 
I was born on 16th April 1970 to two loving parents of Welsh , Scots (dad's side) and Irish (mother's side) descent .

I grew up in Whittier , which is a suburb east of Los Angeles ; it was primarily a middle class and lower middle class city .

My memory and recollection has always been my strong suit (albeit , fading with time) , with my earliest memory being the 1971 Sylmar Earthquake ; and , even though I was but 10 months young , I recall that quake quite well !

With this preface in-mind , here's what I recall from my youth that none of these youngsters today --or for the last 20+ years-- had to "deal with" :

1.) First , Second , Third and *gasp!* Fourth Stage smog alerts ! The 4th stage alerts were rare even in my youth , being a thing of the late 60's and earlier (excluding Riverside and San Marino... lol ) .

2.) 99% of the gasoline sold for normal consumption was leaded . NO ONE wanted to use that low-octane "White Gas" garbage !

3.) At least 75% of regular cars had AM-only radios ; FM reception was an expensive luxury (besides , FM stations were only playing Underground Rock , Long-Play Rock , Jazz and Classical).

4.) Vacuum Tube testers at supermarkets and drug stores .

5.) Black & White television reception . That's right !

6.) Hard-wired remote controls for t.v.

7.) Cable t.v. was restricted to "On-TV" , "SelecTV" or "Z-Channel" .

Michelle Obama , et al. , like to talk about "childhood obesity" , and its cause known as the kids' poor diets .
Let me tell you something , Missus Obama : kids' diets haven't changed one iota since day-1 ! It's the lack of physical activities , motor skills and restrictions-from-freedom which make today's kids "obese" , not to mention the unnecessary stresses that they're subject to on a daily basis !

Give me the days of leaded gasoline , black & white t.v. , freedom from predators , neighbourhood / community (regardless of ethnicity , finances , culture ... all of which are GOOD "differences" !!) , 2-parent households , and "emancipation from mental slavery".:D:D:D:D:D:D
 
Only 3 TV channels when I was growing up. We had to go outside and play.
AND we loved to do it. I put so many miles on my 20 in. Stingray, I don't
remember how many tires I installed myself.
My first car cost me 75 bucks. It wasn't much, but it drove down the road.
My second car, I had a car payment. 55 bucks a month. My first Mopar.

Yeah, you kids got it so rough! In the Honda that daddy bought you. With
that MP3 hooked up to your $2000.00 car stereo.

I miss the good old days. Didn't have much. But it was all mine. Bought and
paid for by myself.
 
I was born in 59 and I tell my kids that was the last of the old models.I started working with my Dad when I was still in single digits selling produce(thats fruit and vegetables for you younguns)door to door from an old Dodge bus with the seats removed.He paid me a dollar a day(which started at 5am and lasted to 6pm) we drove from street to street and would pull to the curb and honk the horn and people would come out and get on the bus and buy their groceries. I would carry bags in for ladies and sometimes they would tip me a quarter or fifty cents. Sometimes he would drop us on the corner with a flat of strawberries or blackberries and we would walk down the street screaming straaawwwberriiees at the top of our lungs. My wife (who really grew up poor) said to me once that my childhood must have been terrible, but I told her that my childhood was great because I got to do things and see things that other kids only dreamed about. We sold produce to bars to use on their hot tables so I was eating great food in bars from the time I was born sitting up on the stool with guys drinking beer on both sides of me and sometimes if we were in a bad neighborhood my Dad would give me his pistol when he would go into a place and tell me to guard the bus (and his bag of money) while he was in there. How many 10 year olds got permission from their Dads to shoot people at their own discretion as a part of everyday life?. I learned everything I know and everything I have taught my kids about life,making money,work ethic,and doing things right from my Dad and the situations he put me in and the input I got when I didnt do it right. I wouldnt trade places with this generation for nothing, who would want to live their lives under such constant scrutiny and with so little real world guidance. Their expectations are set by MTV and reality TV. My respect goes out to any of them that survive it.
 
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