For us older folks
I saw my first possum a few days ago. It was a few miles down the road in a wooded area. I heard they were working their way north. They said it is due to global warming.
The following is a facebook share:
They call us "The Elders" We were born in the 40s-50s-60s.
We grew up in the 50s-60s-70s.
We studied in the 60s-70s-80s.
We dated in the 70s-80s-90s.
We got married and discovered the world in the 70s-80s-90s.
We ventured into the 80s-90s.
We stabilised in the 2000s.
We became wiser in 2010.
And we are firmly moving beyond 2020.
It seems like we live in eight different decades...
TWO different centuries...
TWO separate millennials...
We have gone from telephone with a long-distance operator to video calls anywhere in the world.
We've gone from slides to YouTube, vinyl records to online music, handwritten letters to email and WhatsApp.
From live game radio, to black and white television, to color television and then to 3D HD television. I went to the video store and now I watch Netflix.
We met the first computers, punched cards, floppy disks and now we have gigabytes and megabytes on our smartphones.
We wore shorts all our childhood and then trousers, oxfords, rockets, full shells and blue jeans.
We dodged infantile paralysis, meningitis, polio, tuberculosis, swine flu and now COVID-19.
We used to ride roller skates, tricycles, bicycles, mopeds, gasoline or diesel cars and now we drive hybrids or electric cars.
Yes, we've been through a lot, but what a life we've had!
They could describe us as "exemplars", people born in that world of the fifties, who had an analog childhood and digital adulthood.
We're like "I've seen it all"!
Our generation has literally lived and witnessed more than anyone else in all dimensions of life.
It is our generation that has literally adapted to "CHANGE."
A big round of applause to all the members of a very special generation, which will be UNIQUE! ~ unknown
I can remember those punch cards from my first job!
Replies
Yeaup, we have all that and more! Nice to see exactly how far we've come in our life experiences, I remember those punch cards, too!
Mid, yes, absolutely. We have come along way and are still getting stronger every day....like the song by Chicago :)
Thanks for sharing this list, bob. In retirement I have made friends here in Mexico who are in their 30s, and they take great care of me with cellphone issues, wifi, and all of that here. The gap that we bridge isn't language or race as much, though, as my attempting to let them know that I was an adult working in my career already BEFORE there was even such a thing as an Internet. I enjoy all of my gadgets now, but I assure them that life was rather pleasant before all of them, too, we managed to get along just fine, it wasn't like living in a cave as a Neanderthal. I'm going to translate this list into Spanish and share it with them on my smartphone. Ha!
Muji, that would be great to share with others. People helping people is what life's all about
Thanks for the list Bob. When I got my first job in 1969, in the Town Planning Office in Manchester, only the wages section had a computer (with punch cards). I didn't get a computer until 1985 and was not connected to the internet until 1993.
Barry, I was in college back in the early 70's and one of my first jobs was working for the college in the computer room. Back then, a cpu filled an entire room where as today, there is one in every cell phone. All we had were input and output devises connected to a centrol cpu over telephone lines. If you remember AOL, it was thesame idea.. That was before fiber optic cable was invented..
This is so cool Bob ...Yes us baby boomers
I must adnit Im not great with a lot of technology
We have had the best imusic ever!!
Ty for putting tbis up!!
Yeah, the technological advances alone are just mind blowing as to what we have experienced. Having a laptop or even desktop computer in college meant you had a ton of money because they were so costly back then. I almost wish I had gone into I.T. because there were not many people studying it back then. Punch cards heck yeah! Every job I had was a punch card up until my first real job as a sales manager at the Erawan Resort in Indian Wells, California. I used to ride my bike to work and everywhere before and during college. I remember seeing Netflix mailer CD's and thinking, "One day,, every movie will be downloaded" (and wished I had bought Netflix stock!)
It is mind blowing to know that I walk around with a mini 7 inch hand held computer nowadays feeling blessed that I have lived through (and survived) all these changes. Being disabled and having technology where I can literally click click click to get my medications, groceries, emergency supplies, well, everything these days on an app especially in Austin where now there aren't even menus in restaurants. They require you to use the QR code!!! Isn't that nuts?? In Austin, you can rent a car, a scooter, a paddle board, all with your smartphone and I believe they are testing self driving cars next.
And yes, the animals are moving. We have had such an explosion of growth that the poor things don't know where to go. City people lose their mind over seeing a coyote which are everywhere here now or a mountain cat, just looking for water or a cool place to sleep. The first time I encountered a possum was when I was camping with my ex in a tent. I went out to search for the bathroom and thought it was a huge animal due to the noise that it made. Boy are they noisy!! But they are kinda cute, lol. They are curious creatures and unfortunately move too slow along with their cousins the armadillo's. Glad you had the encounter :) And thanks for the reflection.
@ Sun........It can seem overwhelming, for sure.
@ JPtexas.....Back when I was in school, nano speed which is the speed that runs the internet, was only a dream which seemed impossible to achieve but then came fiber optic wire and the rest is history.
The Jetson's had it pegged!