I Had To Walk 10 Miles Uphill BOTH Ways!

If you are older than 30 you may recall thinking your parents were crazy and that their stories were ridiculous! I know 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 five miles to school every morning through six feet of snow...and of course uphill BOTH ways. Yawn, stretch...what?...squint....were you telling me that sob story....I must have dozed off! I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way I was going to spew for the crazy talk they gave me. You know, a bunch of bologna about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!

But now.....I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. Complain complain complain! They've got it so easy! They no clue how limited our childhood was, imagination was critical. I hate to say it but these kids today don't know how good they've got it! Everything is instant access, instant gratification, instant oatmeal, instant answers and instant information.

When I was a kid there was no The Internet. If I wanted to know something, I had to go to the library and look it up myself, I had learn the Dewey Decimal system!! Do they even no what that is?

There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter....with a pen! I remember learning in school how to properly address an envelope. Once you finished addressing the letter, you had to find a mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!

There were no MP3's or file sharing! If I wanted to steal music, I had to get to the record store and shoplift it myself (not that I did that)! Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ usually talked over the beginning and @#*% it all up! The idea of a CD release date actually meant something. Now the music is leaked and millions of people have it before it is released.

Don't get me started about I-Pods either. 1000s of songs in your pocket. We were happy if our Walkman didn't eat our favorite mix tape! Then there was the Discman, we needed to have one CD for each artist and long trip required separate luggage to bring your music library! They have no clue how dedicated you had to be to music to enjoy everywhere you went when we were kids!

We didn't have fancy things like Call Waiting. If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it! Also we didn't have stuff like Caller ID Boxes either. When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any hi-tech Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari! With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'asteroids'. Your guy was a little square! There were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever! You could never "finish" a game. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! The high score was a badge of honor. Some might say "The Champion of the Universe" if you will.

At the movie theater there no such thing as stadium seating, all the seats were the same height! If a tall guy, some old lady with a hat or some 80s big hair sat in front of you; you couldn't see, you were just screwed! And let's not even get started about the all that leg room you have now! You could drive a Mack truck through down the rows and not even have to get up!

Sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 15 channels and there was no on screen menu to help you decide what to watch. You had to use a little book called a TV Guide delivered in your Saturday newspaper (and it still is by the way) to find out what was on! This one really busts my chops there was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday morning....do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons! No wonder so many kids are babysat by television these days. 24/7 cartoons is nuts!

Popcorn was made with scalding hot oil or air popped. We took our lives in our own innocent hands to enjoy the fluffy white stuff. Now you pop it in the microwave and you are eating in about 90 seconds!

That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy.
You're spoiled. You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980s!

Best Regards,
The over 30 Crowd