How Old Is Grandma ? Interesting stuff . . . .

[dave robinson]

(FYA (For Your Amazement)
How Old is grandma?


Stay with this -- the answer is at the end. It may blow you away. One evening
a grandson was talking to his grandmother about current events. The grandson
asked his grandmother what she thought about the shootings at schools, the
computer age, and just things in general..

The Grandmother 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
' space travel was only in Flash Gordon books.

Your Grandfather 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 The Bible, 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 eating half a biscuit while runing to catch the school bus.
Having a meaningful relationship meant getting along with your cousins.
Draft dodgers were those who closed front doors as 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 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 Ford 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. or from the archives
How old do you think I am? I bet you have this old lady 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 woman would be only 59 years old.



GIVES YOU SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT.......
PASS THIS ON TO THE OLD ONES,
THE YOUNG ONES WOULDN'T BELIEVE IT.

[roninnes]

Awesome.
Ron

[Paulps]

Sorry to correct Grandma, but the BBC started TV broadcasts in 1936 for the London area. Broadcasting was suspended during WW2, but recommenced in June 1946, so "Grandma" must be 76 (or 66 if we take 1946 as the start date).
Penicillin was discovered in 1928, but was not produced in bulk until 1940, so "Grandma" must be 72 (if we use 1940) or 84 if we use the date Fleming discovered it.
Of course, this "How old is Grandma" appears to have started in the USA (five and dime stores?) so perhaps they were a bit behind us!

[RayL]

In which period of the 'good old days' would you prefer to live?

In those good old days (no so long ago) when catching a wide range of diseases meant you were going to die, when the only heating was coal fires that darkened the sky, dirtied the houses and brought on many diseases, when smokers were everywhere with their disease-bringing fumes and their litter and their smell, when horses were widespead and the roads were thick with their droppings and the smell was everywhere, where 'the Bible' gave a wide range of people the excuse to be extremely nasty to others, when half the population (women) were second-class citizens without rights and . . . . . ?

There are still many countries like that in the world today. I'm very glad that I don't live in them.

Ray

[roninnes]

I think the point of the original story was to demonstrate how much has changed over the years. I don't remember seeing a tv much before the early sixties, therefore it may have been invented before then but how many people actually had a tv pre-war?
Just enjoy the story for what it is and let us not spoil it by being so ready to correct.

Ray... yes people in this country still smoke, more people than you may think, and horses still drop their doings on the road, we no longer have coal fires but now we have wood stoves, but we have to suffer the hoards of trucks and buses that spew their diesel fumes all over us. Living with horse muck smells kinda nice by comparison.

Ron

[anniv 63]

Back then Smoke On The Water was Grandpa lighting up his filthy old baccy
pipe on a pleasure cruise boat not a song by Deep Purple !!!!

Mike

[cockroach]

A bloke called Alvin Toffler wrote a well known book about all this in about 1970...it was called 'Future Shock'

It basically said that things would change so much and so quickly over a relatively short period, that people essentially wouldn't know their arses from their elbows..

he was dead right of course...

And I'm older than that grandma now...

[RayL]

things would change so much and so quickly over a relatively short period, that people essentially wouldn't know their arses from their elbows..

he was dead right of course...

Can you give some examples?
(and be prepared to justify them?)

Ray

[roninnes]

John you are so right as was Alvin Toffler.
Space exploration/Technology/mobile phones/my receding hairline, photos available on request.
Ron

[cockroach]

Read the book, Ray.

I don't have to rewrite it on this site, and I don't have to justify anything to you, as I'm not answerable to you.