Nostalgia just ain’t what it used to be

[Statius]

This makes me sound like a crotchety old person, but I never have had any problem with answering or making phone calls. Need some information: ring up for it.

But 'younger' people (under thirty at least) really seem to dislike answering the phone altogether, and seem to prefer sending a text to calling anyone. I often find myself watching them spend twenty minutes composing a polite message with just the right tone, when a thirty-second phone conversation would have done the trick.

I'm a bit older, definitely over 30. My opinion is that texting is the greatest invention right after fire

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I remember when television channels would sign off at midnight. I vaguely remember something involving fighter jets on the screen before that happened. Then nothing until programming resumed in the morning.

There's also the very idea of a 'test pattern', that image on the screen at the beginning of the day, presumably allowing TV owners to adjust their set for clairty or something (it was all B&W at the time). With a tip of the hat to @Duleigh, I remember the Channel 4 buffalo from, Buffalo. NY, one of about four channels we could get at the time.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

The one like this that I recall included the poem "High Flight". The national anthem played afterward and then the striped off-the-air sign-off sign would appear.

I remember that! I thought it was so cool. Maybe the first poem I memorized.

 

[crookedletter]

I would like to thank this thread for making me feel young.

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

I remember that! I thought it was so cool. Maybe the first poem I memorized.

Speaking of that, do kids still memorize poems these days? We did a unit on poetry in the 6th grade and had to memorize some poems to become familiar with various structures, rhymes, and rhythms. Each poem was assigned a specific point value and the reciter could earn up to that number with a reasonably good rendition. It seems silly in a way, but I was exposed to a lot of poetry as a result, reading over 100 poems before picking the ones I wanted to memorize and I still recall two of the memorized poems (and a few select couplets) about 50 years later.

 

[crookedletter]

do kids still memorize [anything] these days?

No.

 

[Statius]

Speaking of that, do kids still memorize poems these days? We did a unit on poetry in the 6th grade and had to memorize some poems to become familiar with various structures, rhymes, and rhythms. Each poem was assigned a specific point value and the reciter could earn up to that number with a reasonably good rendition. It seems silly in a way, but I was exposed to a lot of poetry as a result, reading over 100 poems before picking the ones I wanted to memorize and I still recall two of the memorized poems (and a few select couplets) about 50 years later.

Elegy Written In A Country Church Yard. Still my favorite poem ever.

 

[Mrmphilll2]

I’ve been in quite the nostalgia mood this week too. My age is catching me

 

[StillStunned]

"She Dwelt Among The Untrodden Ways" and "Not Waving But Drowning" are two of my favourites that I think I can still recite by heart. I used to be able to recite quite a few of the late great Tony Harrison's sonnets from "The School of Eloquence".

 

[Duleigh]

There's also the very idea of a 'test pattern', that image on the screen at the beginning of the day, presumably allowing TV owners to adjust their set for clairty or something (it was all B&W at the time). With a tip of the hat to @Duleigh, I remember the Channel 4 buffalo from, Buffalo. NY, one of about four channels we could get at the time.

That was WBEN at that time, now WIVB (4 Buffalo) Buffalo was a wealth of entertainment! South of the border (Lake Ontario) we could receive
WGR - Ch 2 (NBC)
WBEN - Ch 4 (CBS)
CBLT - Ch 6 (CBC Toronto) Hinterland Who's Who, Chez Helen, Mr. Dressup, Friendly Giant
WKBW - Ch 7 (ABC)
CTV - Ch 9 (Scarboro Ont)
WNED - Ch 17 (PBS)
WUTV - Ch 29 (Independent)
There was another station from Canada - Global TV I think. It was UHF and came in late at night and the signal faded in and out, but the big attraction was the occasional boobs.

 

[Britva415]

I often find myself watching them spend twenty minutes composing a polite message with just the right tone, when a thirty-second phone conversation would have done the trick.

The tone you’re spending half an hour crafting is probably lost on the people you’re talking about, so, a thirty-second text probably also would, do you think?

 

[Statius]

I'd much rather send a text than talk to someone. I'm a bit antisocial in person though, so maybe it's just me?

 

[crookedletter]

The tone you’re spending half an hour crafting is probably lost on the people you’re talking about, so, a thirty-second text probably also would, do you think?

Most younger folks I see texting kind of astound me at how fast they do it. Their thumbs are a blur, they seem to dash off texts to two or three people in the space of a few seconds.

I much prefer texts to calls for easy one-off communications. "Be there at 5," etc. What drives me nuts is when people want to have text message conversations. I don't want to sit there and look at my phone. If you want my immediate and sustained attention, give me a call. Or, better yet, let's go get a beer.

 

[PennyThompson]

Unexpected phone calls are a violent act emergencies only, otherwise text first and ask if the other person is available for a phone call!

 

[crookedletter]

Unexpected phone calls are a violent act emergencies only, otherwise text first and ask if the other person is available for a phone call!

My wife does assume someone has died any time I call her.

 

[Statius]

Unexpected phone calls are a violent act emergencies only, otherwise text first and ask if the other person is available for a phone call!

Agreed.

 

[Statius]

I freak out when my wife calls instead of texting. I assume there's an emergency, unless I know she's driving.

 

[MrPixel]

There's also the very idea of a 'test pattern', that image on the screen at the beginning of the day, presumably allowing TV owners to adjust their set for clairty or something (it was all B&W at the time). With a tip of the hat to @Duleigh, I remember the Channel 4 buffalo from, Buffalo. NY, one of about four channels we could get at the time.

Just for you, TP:

 

[SimonDoom]

Freaking out about receiving a telephone call is what you get when you don't let kids walk to school on their own.

We've become ridiculous.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

I would like to thank this thread for making me feel young.

 

[Baztrachian]

"Nostalgia just ain’t what it used to be"​

Back in the 1970's my grandmother had a subscription to a genuinely nice magazine called The Gay Nineties which was all about life in America during the 1890's Gilded Age.

It was really a nice magazine with articles about carousels, kids playing with wagon wheels, flying kites, going to band concerts, and other innocent things.

These days a magazine with that same title would have remarkably different content.

 

[SimonDoom]

View attachment 2574259

The Cretaceous was a great time to be alive. I remember it well.

 

[PennyThompson]

Freaking out about receiving a telephone call is what you get when you don't let kids walk to school on their own.

We've become ridiculous.

or perhaps giving every human on earth the ability to yell into your ear at any time or place was a weird and stupid thing to normalize during the 20th century

I agree that there was (and still is, for many people) an era of over-protecting kids beyond any rational need, and stunting their ability to self-advocate and adult. But that is the fault of the boomer and gen-x parents that made those parenting choices, not the fault of the children that they raised.

I do see evidence of the tide turning, though. friends in my peer groups with children seem to be a lot more intentional about raising their kids to have a higher tolerance for risk and exploration, and to scaffold them up through adult experiences and responsibilities, and are doing it with more empathy and thoughtful reflection than our parents ever did.

Look up "Bike Bus" if you want a little shot of community-building optimism in your day!

 

[SimonDoom]

or perhaps giving every human on earth the ability to yell into your ear at any time or place was a weird and stupid thing to normalize during the 20th century

I agree that there was (and still is, for many people) an era of over-protecting kids beyond any rational need, and stunting their ability to self-advocate and adult. But that is the fault of the boomer and gen-x parents that made those parenting choices, not the fault of the children that they raised.

I do see evidence the tide turning, though. friends in my peer groups with children seem to be a lot more intentional about raising their kids to have a higher tolerance for risk and exploration, and to scaffold them up through adult experiences and responsibilities, and are doing it with more empathy and thoughtful reflection than our parents ever did.

Look up "Bike Bus" if you want a little shot of community-building optimism in your day!

I can't disagree. Boomers/Gen Xers grew up at a great time and promptly forgot about how great it was when they decided to raise their own kids.

 

[SimonDoom]

or perhaps giving every human on earth the ability to yell into your ear at any time or place was a weird and stupid thing to normalize during the 20th century

I agree that there was (and still is, for many people) an era of over-protecting kids beyond any rational need, and stunting their ability to self-advocate and adult. But that is the fault of the boomer and gen-x parents that made those parenting choices, not the fault of the children that they raised.

I do see evidence of the tide turning, though. friends in my peer groups with children seem to be a lot more intentional about raising their kids to have a higher tolerance for risk and exploration, and to scaffold them up through adult experiences and responsibilities, and are doing it with more empathy and thoughtful reflection than our parents ever did.

Look up "Bike Bus" if you want a little shot of community-building optimism in your day!

I hope you are right. Risk is an inherent part of life. Well functioning people should be able to face it.