How Old?

[Pete.]

How old would Grandpa be ? Interesting



Stay with this -- the answer is at the end. It will blow you away.

One evening a grandson was talking to his grandfather about current
events. The grandson asked his grandfather what he thought about the
shootings at schools, the computer age, and just things in general.

The Grandfather 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 Grandmother 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 people who closed their front doors when 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 the 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 Chevy 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... and how old do you think I am?

I bet you have this old man/women 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 man/women would be only 59 years old

[Bill D]

I guessed 57

[Pete.]

Lets see. That would make him born in 49 or 50. If he married grandma when he was 20 that would mean they got together during the summer of love (give or take). Jimi Hendrix was hot as was pot smoking, dropping acid, protesting the war and everything else the boomers were famous for.

They had draft dodgers in WWII. Sure big bands were popular in 49 but by the time grandpa was 5, a truck driver from Mississippi was starting to change all that.

Though much of the rest of this is accurate it's not really correct unless you consider 5 year old's as adults. Truth is this generation that was born right after the war was the biggest bunch of radical hell raisers the 20th century has ever seen. They marched for civil rights, burned draft cards, invented rock concerts and took recreational chemical use to unheard of heights. Many (not all) were more likely to call cops pigs instead of sir.

This generation formed the black panthers, the weathermen, SDS and tons of others. While they never got to current Iraq levels, there were more bombs going off in the US during this time than any other.

Course every good grandpa will shade the truth a bit.

[RichardH]

and those were the days when a phrase such as "This man/women would be only 59 years old" would mean either a man or a woman!

[FRPGUY]

Pete, Far out man!
I'm sixty and can remember back to about 1949 and all that would be true for my grandfather, but not all of it for me. Peace man!

[John Lowe]

I'm 62. Shade the truth a bit!!?? Which part of the planet Zod were you raised (only jokin). TV was around pre WW2, I grew up with Presley quickly followed by the (stoned) Stones, The Who etc all well known for there drug free celibate life styles. Peace and Love to you all.

Grow old disgracefully (business as usual then)

[Ian K]

Hmm, actually, "pops" would be over 400 years old, since men wearing earrings was
fashionable in the 1600's.



Ian

[Lynn]

Originally Posted by Pete

Lets see. That would make him born in 49 or 50. If he married grandma when he was 20 that would mean they got together during the summer of love (give or take). Jimi Hendrix was hot as was pot smoking, dropping acid, protesting the war and everything else the boomers were famous for.

They had draft dodgers in WWII. Sure big bands were popular in 49 but by the time grandpa was 5, a truck driver from Mississippi was starting to change all that.

Though much of the rest of this is accurate it's not really correct unless you consider 5 year old's as adults. Truth is this generation that was born right after the war was the biggest bunch of radical hell raisers the 20th century has ever seen. They marched for civil rights, burned draft cards, invented rock concerts and took recreational chemical use to unheard of heights. Many (not all) were more likely to call cops pigs instead of sir.

This generation formed the black panthers, the weathermen, SDS and tons of others. While they never got to current Iraq levels, there were more bombs going off in the US during this time than any other.

Course every good grandpa will shade the truth a bit.

Pete, before things went radical, there was an underlying desire to change things for the better: free love didn't just mean balling (remember that term) anyone, anywhere; it meant really caring about your fellow man. The drug use wasn't JUST to get stoned, but began as a real search for another plane of spiritual experience, ala the aboriginal shamans (Australian or American aboriginal, take your pick.)

What pains me the most when I look back on that period, is that search for something better and more meaningful got totally bastardized and turned into something ugly and bad. The ideals that started the hippie movement, for one reason or another - not the least of which were the criminalization of many aspects of, and out right lies perpetuated by governments about, the philosophy and life style- were not only abandoned, but have now been replaced with exactly the values that they questioned and with renewed zeal for those values: the might dollar is god, making dollars is more important than who gets screwed over in the acumulation of them and people aren't people, they are FTEs (full time equivalents.)

Lynn

[Ian K]

Oh, and instant coffee was invented in 1901, and sold by Nescafe in 1938.

I love these kinds of bogus lists

Ian

[JimmyMac]

Ian,
"Camp" instant coffee was produced in 1885 in Scotland.

[Pete.]

T.V. only arrived in OZ in time for the 56 Olympic games.