How Times Have Changed

Paul B

Well-Known Member
How times have changed.
I was just reading a Sharper Image Catalog and now they sell so many things that we didn't have when I was a kid. Did you ever look through one of those catalogs?

We used to play this game where you got a ball and you threw it at the other person to see if you could hit him. Now I see they got this thing where each of you get this stick looking thing and you can shoot real lightning bolts at each other.

They also have this little drone helocopter thing that you can fly right into your neighbors window and see what they are having for dinner. I would imagine the thing can also steal a drumstick right off their table. How much fun would that be! I am sure your neighbors would really like that.

Then you can walk around with this virtual reality thing on your head so you never have to visit the real world. You can have a virtual reality girlfriend, go to a virtual movie, drive a virtual car and I would imagine you could eat all your meals virtually. I amnot sure if it comes with a virtual doctor for when you starve to death. There is even a program where you can watch yourself watching a virtually reality show of yourself doing nothing.
There is virtual ping pong where you hit a ball of light. That seems really good for your muscle tone and overall fitness. I mean you probably have to change the batteries every so often and if you lift a lot of those AA batteries it can get exhausting.

Of course they have a few radios that you can listen to in your shower. Like, how long do you stand in the shower, are you really that filthy that you can't miss one version of Lady GaGa's Papparazi.
There is this Hover board thing that costs $300.00 and it goes 3 1/2mph. Isn't that walking speed? Why would anybody spend $300.00 to go as fast as you can walk? Maybe it's me!

I don't know how many nose hair clippers there are but apparently this is very important. Just last night I woke up from a dream where I was on a tropical Island sipping a Pina Colada with all 12 apostles, Leonardo DiVinci and 2 of the Radio City Rockettes and I realized I didn't clip my nose hairs. Today these things are so powerful that you can put it up your nose and it will clip your ear hairs at the same time. You can't make this stuff up.

Oh this is something I can't live without, right here on page 25. For just $100.00 you can order your own personalized bobble head doll, with your head on it. Wow, how great would that be. You stop at a light and your head nods up and down like you are some sort of an alien nerd weirdo. I can't wait to order that. I wonder if I can get one with hair on it.

This can save you some time, There is this Lady's hair drier that is so powerful that if you open your window while you are using it, it will melt up to 6" of snow on your sidewalk. I am not kidding.
Some of the things seem to stretch the truth just a little like this car vacuum that is so powerful you need to wear earplugs, not because of the noise, but because it may pull the wax right out of your ears and God Forbid if you are wearing earings, or worse, a nose ring.

I really can't see much value in this one. You hang this thing over your toilet bowl, and it lights up the water. I won't comment on that as I don't want to go there and if I saw that in someone's house, I would go to the bathroom in their neighbors house. Wierd.

But my absolute favorite if this refrigerator for a lonely bachelor who wants to feel he is married. Every time you pass it, it says,
"HEY LAZY, THROW OUT THE GARBAGE. TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES. DON'T DRINK OUT OF THE MILK CONTAINER. TAKE OUT THE DOG. FILL MY CAR WITH GAS. RUB MY FEET. GET ME A BEER".
These are all things you can buy now. We didn't have toys and stuff like this when I was a Kid. I remember asking my Dad once to get me a toy and he came out with a piece of wood, a couple of nails and a hammer. I played with that until I got married. Now I can get rid of that talking refrigerator.
 

Uncle99

Well-Known Member
Interesting PaulB....I remember playing outside, no computers, little crime, big imaginations, and summer days went on forever.
Now my kids have their phones stuck to their heads, playing outside...as they say NOT......it's too dangerous dad....and this is Canada where guns are not part of our rights and penalties severe.
No sure if the world is better, worse or likely just different.
Man, I sound like my parents!
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
99% of the people walking around New York City are looking at their phones and I am sure many of them are texting people right next to them. I remember when we had a life but that escapes people now as they all sit inside their house and complain that they are getting fat and they have nothing to do.
I tell my 39 year old Daughter the things we used to do like canoeing down a river, camping in tree houses, SCUBA diving or so many other things and she looks at me like I have two heads
 

Uncle99

Well-Known Member
LOL, good one Paul.
But dad, how does one survive without the net...OMG!
And before colour was black and white TV.....really...where did the colour go?
And before TV was radio.....this baffles them...
Then there were the dinosaurs...OMG....Dad your a dinosaur!

Just remember dinosaurs ruled the earth for 250 million years!

Cheers
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
My Daughter just told me yesterday. "Dad, your so old". Like yeah, I am and if you play your cards right, you will get there too.
I did everything I wanted to do and went to all the places I wanted to go, some of them I can't even pronounce so I had a full life and I am still on the right side of the grass.

We did things at her age that she wouldn't have a clue that you could do. And none of it was on a computer. :eek:

Besides walking to school in 2' of snow uphill both ways :confused: we used to get our crowd which was composed of about 20 or 30 of us and take our small boats to a lake in upstate NY, then go out and sink each other.
Go hiking, camping, bicycling while they look at their cell phone which is basically doing less than nothing.

I got drafted and became a Sargent and fought in a war, became a general foreman, ran 200 men and built buildings all over Manhattan, wrote a book, got two patents and had all my art work bought by a gallery.
Never went to college because I didn't have the time and I don't want to know any more than I already do. And I didn't need to because I knew how to make money. :cool:
I could probably grow hair if I concentrated hard enough :eek:

Kids today have no ambition. I never needed money because I know how to shovel snow, pull weeds, paint houses, wash cars etc. There is money all over the place but you need to be awake, have a few muscles and not have your face in a computer or cell phone all day long. It's just stupid. :cool:
 
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Uncle99

Well-Known Member
Your completely right.....in the "me" generation it only about them, their needs, their wants.......I seem to be sounding like my father more and more each day.

I am nevertheless hopeful that our children will bring us a kinder, gentler, and more diverse world, and they piggy back on the accomplishments of our time to better there lives going forward.

Your writings did send me down the time tunnel and brought a smile to my face.

I have the utmost respect for anyone who was in the service, so my hat is off to you....
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
Last night it snowed here a couple of inches. I went out early with my snow blower and cleared the snow of all my neighbors. Normally here whoever gets out first does all the snow. If I needed the money I could have easily made a thousand dollars in a couple of hours clearing snow. But I didn't see one kid and I won't until the afternoon. What I do see is gardeners walking around with shovels making all that money.
It's so simple and today's kids are just so stupid. (and lazy) No ambition because their parents stupidly pay them to do nothing.
It is very depressing that these kids will some day run this country. :rolleyes:
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
That's one nice thing about condo living, someone else takes care of the snow for you. I don't have that much of a walk, and even in my "old age" I could still do it, but it's a lot nicer not to have to think about it.

As for the kids being stupid and lazy I don't think you can put the entire blame on the kids or parents. It's a different world from when you or I grew up. For example, if I had to shovel snow, I don't think I'd hire a kid, simply because of the liability if the kid gets hurt. In this day and age you know the parents will likely sue you over it. Ditto for other stuff like cutting grass.

Another example, seems like every kid has a smart phone. It's really hard for parent to say no to that when almost all of their friends have one, and the cell phone company gives a big discount if you sign up for a family plan.

When I grew up if you wanted to go some place or do something, about all you had to do was tell your parents, and if you were going to to the park you had to go with a friend. Today, everyone is so worried about something happening to kids on their own that we arrest parents for letting their kids go off unsupervised. When my nephews grew up, everything they did was some form of organized activity with the parents taking turns driving the kids to and from it.

It seems that each generation thinks that the next generation is going to be a problem.
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
Dave, I don't really care about the liability and I would let a kid shovel my snow. Thats why I have umbrella insurance. But regardless of that, the liability thing is because we have too many lawyers and most of them have nothing to do. That is also because of modern times everyone wants a desk job like a lawyer, accountant, computer programmer or a guy who sweeps sunlight off the sidewalk. No one wants to do any "real" work any more where you can get some exercise and maybe get your hands dirty.

How many kids today know how to change a flat tire or even check their oil? It's embarrassing.
My Son N Law has a tool kit, made in China with a few basic tools but if a sink needed a washer (Yes I know faucets today don't use washers any more but it was the first thing that came to my mind) He would have to call a plumber. So that five cent washer would cost him $300.00.

A day before hurricane Sandy my neighbor came to me because he couldn't start his generator. I went to his house to fix it and he pulled the cord and said, it's no use, I will fix it if the power goes out.
I said, "no", I will fix it now because I know if the power goes out, you and 4 or 5 other people will be knocking at my door wanting me to fix their generator while I am nice and dry because I started my generator before the lights go out.

People today don't seem to know how to do anything except type on a computer or text a repairman. I am almost 70 and I have never called anyone to fix anything in my life including my boat, car, appliances or roller skates. I only need dentists and If I could see in there and stand my screaming, I would do that myself because I am not sure some of them are real good at that. :confused:

Too much college removes your creativity. I say that all the time and my wife gets mad at me for it but it is true.
My Daughter is extremely smart graduating at the top of her class in Fordham. I tell her all the time I want my money back because although she can tell me all about Russian Literature, philosophy, calculus and a lot of other useless things, she doesn't know how to wash a car or put air in the tires.
It drives me crazy.

While these kids are in school paying $100,000.00 a year for a few hours a day or learning some useless facts, they should also teach them important things like emptying out a vacuum cleaner. cleaning a car, sweeping a sidewalk and most of all respect. Respect for their parents, police and people in the service as well as Veterans. Most younger people have no clue as they never experienced a war, hunger, poverty or much of anything else except video games.

Thats why I feel it should be illegal to buy your kid a car, house or almost anything else except an education, but only if that education involves something other than what colleges teach now which is practically nothing except how to complain and protest if they don't like anything in stead of trying to change it for the better.
Just my Geezer opinion of course. :cool:
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
Today we are watching our Grand Kids. Their parents are hosting a Hugh New Years Eve Party in Manhattan. WE can't go because we are the designated baby sitters. Our Grand Kids are 4 and 5 years old. I told them this morning that if they didn't know how to say "I Want". They couldn't say anything.
My Dad would just tell me to do some work and get paid for it.
If I asked for money, he would laugh at me because you can't get money for nothing. It was a very good lesson and I have never been in debt and never needed money. :D

 
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