Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
THE GOOD OLD DAYS — I turned 40 last year, and it came with some issues — including, but not limited to involuntary noises that happen when I stand up or sit down, getting injured by sleeping in an awkward position, getting annoyed with company by 8 p.m. and desperately wanting to be in bed by 9:30 p.m.
There have, however, been some perks to turning 40. There is no longer any expectation whatsoever from any person younger than me that I should be cool. This means they just see me as "the old guy," and if I stop trying, they will not care. I have, by the way, stopped trying.
It has also given me the exceptional card that grants me entrance to that very exclusive club to say, "You kids today have no idea what it was like." What is "it"? Doesn't matter. It's everything and nothing at all once. I'm over 40; "it" doesn't have to pertain to any one thing.
But all of us card-holding members know whatever "it" is, kids these days have no idea about it.
The YouTube channel "Rhetty for History" gets it because his video "1980s Things That Kids No Longer Do!" is a nostalgic trip we "old" people will relish.
The video calls out things like your parents never knowing where you are but just being happy you're outside. Also, we never knew what time it was — but when the sun started setting, you knew it was time to head home.
Another thing that hit close to home was the constant fight for the phone. I also remember going full spy mode and trying to covertly pick up another phone in the house to listen in on my sister's conversations. I was uninterested in what she said but wanted to see if I could pull it off. If you're curious, I could not. She caught me every time.
Watch the video and take a trip down memory lane. It will resonate with people who grew up in the '80s and '90s.
This video will not, however, resonate with anyone who was born in the 2000s or beyond, or anyone who was a parent in the '80s or '90s. Those born after 2000 will think this is absurd and archaic. Those parents from the '80s and '90s would tell us we were a nuisance and we were immature youngsters who grew up privileged and whined too much.
I get it, Dad. You had to walk to school uphill both ways, and you could take a girl out to dinner and a movie for $1.50 and still have some cash left over for gas money.
Have You Seen This?
