Just in case you weren't feeling old enough today, this will
certainly change things. Each year the staff at Beloit College in
Wisconsin puts together a list to try to give the Faculty a sense of
the mindset of this year's incoming freshman.
Here is this year's list:
The people who are starting college this fall across the nation were
born in 1983.
They have no meaningful recollection of the Reagan Era and probably
did not know he had ever been shot.
They were prepubescent when the Persian Gulf War was waged.
There has been only one Pope in their lifetime.
They were 10 when the Soviet Union broke apart and do not remember
the Cold War.
They are too young to remember the space shuttle blowing up.
Tianamen Square means nothing to them.
Bottle caps have always been screw off and plastic.
Atari predates them, as do vinyl albums.
The statement "You sound like a broken record" means nothing to
them.
They have never owned a record player.
They have likely never played Pac Man and have never heard of Pong.
They may have never heard of an 8 track. The Compact Disc was
introduced when they were 1 year old.
They have always had an answering machine.
Most have never seen a TV set with only 13 channels, nor have they
seen a black and white TV.
They have always had cable.
There have always been VCRs, but they have no idea what BETA was.
They cannot fathom not having a remote control.
They don't know what a cloth baby diaper is, or know about the
"Help me, I've fallen and I can't get up" commercial.
Feeling old Yet? There's more:
They were born the year that Walkmen were introduced by Sony.
Roller skating has always meant inline for them.
Michael Jackson has always been white.
Jay Leno has always been on the Tonight Show.
They have no idea when or why Jordache jeans were cool.
Popcorn has always been cooked in the microwave.
They have never seen Larry Bird play.
They never took a swim and thought about Jaws.
The Vietnam War is as ancient history to them as W.W.I, W.W.II and
the Civil War.
They have no idea that Americans were ever held hostage in Iran.
They can't imagine what hard contact lenses are.
They don't know who Mork was or where he was from. (The correct
answer, by the way, is Ork)
They never heard: "Where's the beef?", "I'd walk a mile for a
Camel," or "De plane, de plane!"
They do not care who shot J.R. and have no idea who J.R. was.
Kansas, Chicago, Boston, America, and Alabama are places, not
bands.
There has always been MTV.
They don't have a clue how to use a typewriter.
Do you feel old yet? If you do, then pass this on to some other 20
old fogies...but don't send it back to me, I feel old enough.
The Class of 2005
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Studlover (imported)
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BossTamsin (imported)
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Re: The Class of 2005
Studlover (imported) wrote: Wed Jan 29, 2003 8:43 pm They are too young to remember the space shuttle blowing up.
Bitterly ironic, now.
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Studlover (imported)
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Re: The Class of 2005
How coincidental and sad you should mention the tragedy of the Challenger blowing up today.
Re: The Class of 2005
They've also never worn a mullet haircut. (short/spiked on top, as long as possible in the back). Shaved heads or colored hair are the norm.
Boys have always had their ears (and other things) pierced.
As far as Saturday morning, they've never seen an uncut Warner Brothers cartoon, or have any clue who Sid and Marty Krofft were.
They've never worn parachute pants.
They have no clue what Reebok Pump tennis shoes are.
Tennis shoes (sneakers) have always cost about $100.
They've probably never seen seude leather hiking boots with red strings.
They've probably never seen a Polaroid camera spit out a picture and watch it develop in front of them.
Measles, mumps and polio or TB have never frightened them. Until recently, they probably had no clue what smallpox was.
And they've lived with the threat of AIDS for all of their lives.
Boys have always had their ears (and other things) pierced.
As far as Saturday morning, they've never seen an uncut Warner Brothers cartoon, or have any clue who Sid and Marty Krofft were.
They've never worn parachute pants.
They have no clue what Reebok Pump tennis shoes are.
Tennis shoes (sneakers) have always cost about $100.
They've probably never seen seude leather hiking boots with red strings.
They've probably never seen a Polaroid camera spit out a picture and watch it develop in front of them.
Measles, mumps and polio or TB have never frightened them. Until recently, they probably had no clue what smallpox was.
And they've lived with the threat of AIDS for all of their lives.
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Riverwind (imported)
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Re: The Class of 2005
and to add to the list,
Smallpox which Paolo just said.
My 21 year old son asked me the other day what that scar was on my sholder.
River
Smallpox which Paolo just said.
My 21 year old son asked me the other day what that scar was on my sholder.
River
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radar (imported)
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Re: The Class of 2005
Got this from a younger friend recently:
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 both ways through year 'round blzizards carrying their younger siblings on their backs to their one-room schoolhouse where they maintained a straight-A average despite their full-time after-school job at the local textile mill where they worked for 35 cents an hour just to help keep their family from starving to death!
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 kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!
But....
Now that I've reached the ripe old age of twenty-nine, 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 Utopia! And I hate to say it but you kids today you don't know how good you've got it!
I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet--we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damned library and look it up ourselves!
And there was no email! We had to actually write somebody a letter--with pen!--and 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!
And there were no MP3s or Napsters! You wanted to steal music, you had to go to the damned record store and shoplift it yourself! Or we had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ'd usually talk over the beginning and screw it all up! You want to hear about hardship?
You couldn't just download porn! You had to bribe some homeless dude to buy you a copy of "Hustler" at the 7-11! It was either that or jackoff to the lingere section of the JC Penney catalog! Those were your options!
We didn't have fancy shit like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal!
And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was. It could be your boss, your mom, a collections agent, your drug dealer, you didn't know!!! You just had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!
And we didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation videogames with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like "Space Invaders" and "Asteroids" and the graphics sucked ass! Your guy was a little square! You 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 faster until you died!
Just like LIFE!
When you went to the movie theater there no such thing as stadium seating! All the seats were the same height! A tall guy sat in front of you, you were screwed!
And sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 20 channels and there was no onscreen menu! You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on!
And there was no Cartoon Network! You could only get cartoons on Saturday morning... D'ya hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK, you spoiled little bastards!
That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled, I swear to God! You guys wouldn't last five minutes back in 1984!
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 both ways through year 'round blzizards carrying their younger siblings on their backs to their one-room schoolhouse where they maintained a straight-A average despite their full-time after-school job at the local textile mill where they worked for 35 cents an hour just to help keep their family from starving to death!
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 kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!
But....
Now that I've reached the ripe old age of twenty-nine, 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 Utopia! And I hate to say it but you kids today you don't know how good you've got it!
I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet--we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damned library and look it up ourselves!
And there was no email! We had to actually write somebody a letter--with pen!--and 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!
And there were no MP3s or Napsters! You wanted to steal music, you had to go to the damned record store and shoplift it yourself! Or we had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ'd usually talk over the beginning and screw it all up! You want to hear about hardship?
You couldn't just download porn! You had to bribe some homeless dude to buy you a copy of "Hustler" at the 7-11! It was either that or jackoff to the lingere section of the JC Penney catalog! Those were your options!
We didn't have fancy shit like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal!
And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was. It could be your boss, your mom, a collections agent, your drug dealer, you didn't know!!! You just had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!
And we didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation videogames with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like "Space Invaders" and "Asteroids" and the graphics sucked ass! Your guy was a little square! You 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 faster until you died!
Just like LIFE!
When you went to the movie theater there no such thing as stadium seating! All the seats were the same height! A tall guy sat in front of you, you were screwed!
And sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 20 channels and there was no onscreen menu! You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on!
And there was no Cartoon Network! You could only get cartoons on Saturday morning... D'ya hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK, you spoiled little bastards!
That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled, I swear to God! You guys wouldn't last five minutes back in 1984!