Some of you youngsters may not understand this...

[scottobear]

Each year the staff at Beloit College in Wisconsin puts Together a list to try to give the faculty a sense of the mindset of that year's incoming freshmen.

Here is this year's list:

The people who are starting college this fall across the Nation were born in 1982.

They have no meaningful recollection of the Reagan Era and probably did not know he had ever been shot.

They were prepubescent when the Persian Gulf War was waged.

Black Monday 1987 is as significant to them as the Great Depression.

There has been only one Pope.

They were 11 when the Soviet Union broke apart and do not Remember the Cold War.

They have never feared a nuclear war.

They are too young to remember the space shuttle blowing up.

Tiananmen Square means nothing to them.

Their lifetime has always included AIDS.

Bottle caps have always been screw off and plastic.

Atari predates them, as do vinyl albums. The statement "you sound like a broken record" means nothing to them. They have never owned a record
player.

They have likely never played Pac Man and have probably never Heard of Ping-Pong.

They may have never heard of an 8 track.

The Compact Disc was introduced when they were 1 year old.

As far as they know, stamps have always cost about 33 cents.

They have always had an answering machine.

Most have never seen a TV set with only 13 channels, nor have they seen a black-and-white TV.

They have always had cable.

There has always been VCRs, but they have no idea what BETA is.

They cannot fathom not having a remote control.

They were born the year that Walkman were introduced by Sony.

Roller-skating has always meant inline for them.

Jay Leno has always been on the Tonight Show.

They have no idea when or why Jordache jeans were cool.

Popcorn has always been cooked in the microwave.

They have never seen Larry Byrd play.

They never took a swim and thought about Jaws.

The Vietnam War is as ancient history to them as WWI, WWII and the Civil War.

They have no idea that Americans were ever held hostage in Iran.

They can't imagine what hard contact lenses are.

They don't know who Mork was or where he was from.

They never heard: Where's the beef?, I'd walked a mile for a Camel, or de plane, de plane.

They do not care who shot J.R. and have no idea who J.R. is.

The Titanic was found? They thought we always knew where it was.

Michael Jackson has always been white.

Kansas, Chicago, Boston, America, and Alabama are places, not groups.

McDonalds never came in Styrofoam containers.

There has always been MTV.

They don't have a clue how to use a typewriter.

Comments

Fogie-ism

[lique.livejournal.com]

You know, I'm not exactly an old fogie compared to the age group they're speaking of, and still most of what they're trying to get across doesn't hold true with regards to me ..... but then again, I was a '79 kid who grew up watching the Munsters and listening to The Band, so maybe my youth was a little prehistoric for the given era. ;) And I do remember the challenger, and the opening broadcast of MTV, and Johnny Carson, and the cold war, and I have an 8-track of me no less, and remember a black Michael, and BETA, and ... and I take it back. I AM an old fogie. ;) *sigh*

Re: Fogie-ism

[scottobear.livejournal.com]

that's ok, you're apparently in good company! Hmm... I notice all the 'smart girls' (that're online) reacted first...I wonder if that's a telling statement.

I hate that

[zoe.livejournal.com]

Every year (sometimes more than that) these lists come out and more and more it is completely freakie to me. I appreciate that no one post 1980 remembers regan (who really wants to even he doesn't remember Regan as president - ha! I made a funnie!) but man no vinyl records? No Mork? No asteroids on the Atari in the basement? really?!

Re: I hate that

[scottobear.livejournal.com]

no albums... I think I was issued a frampton live album as part of my reisidency in the 70's. I'm amazed that so much has changed... these kids were born after star wars!

Re: Huh. I'm old too.

[scottobear.livejournal.com]

old is a place in the mind....

You seem mentally young, and spry. you'll do ok, I think.

GNR Vs. Sheryl

[glamkittie.livejournal.com]

*sigh* I was very angry when I heard Sheryl Crow's version of "Sweet Child of Mine" on the radio. Before that, I had respect for her as a musician. GNR was my absolute favorite band when I was eight years old (an obsession that lasted until I was about eleven).... heh. I'm young, too. I was born in '83. But that still pisses me off, that song....

i could get really mad

[risingentropy.livejournal.com]

I'm a little offended by the line of commentary I see here.

Hello, I'm Chelsea. I'm an eighteen-year old college freshman. I am not an idiot. I am not oblivious.

I am annoyed.

Re: i could get really mad

[glamkittie.livejournal.com]

Hey, don't get mad at Scottobear; he didn't write the damn list. He just posted it.
Besides, many of the items on that list weren't true for all younger people. I was born in '83, and I knew about a lot of those things (most of them). *shrug* So why be annoyed? I found it humorous, and almost scary at the same time. I think the list was directed at the average person born in '82, not everyone. But if you paid attention to it, you'd realize that many of those things ARE true:
1) Yes, AIDS has been around our whole lives.
2) Yes, there has always been MTV for us; it first aired in '82 (if I remember correctly).

Just observations. Calm down, girlie. *laugh*

Re: Reelin' In The Years

[scottobear.livejournal.com]

I think that's a good way to look at it. not knowledge so much a sa different experiance.

List

[kundalinidreams.livejournal.com]

I must be sort of on middle ground here. I can remember most of the things on the list, like Tiananmen Square, and of course, the fall of the Berlin wall and the end of the cold war, fearing nuclear war etc and I know who Mork is. But there are some things I can't remember, never learned to use a type writer properly, a time before Atari and C64s... :-) The list does make me feel bloody old though.... 1982 ? That was when Duran Duran and Bladerunner ruled. :-)
Thanks for the list, that was a thought provoker.

[tarpo.livejournal.com]

God that makes me feel old.. 76 wasn't THAT long ago was it?

but I still have some records.. and a working Atari.. and a colecovision.. and an intelly..

but I thinks thats because I am a geek....

[i.livejournal.com]

When I was born, Eisenhower was president

listless

[legs312121.livejournal.com]

to have never seen larry byrd and the players of his generation ... ... i wouldn't trade that for the fountain of youth ... .

Re: listless

[sweetalyssm.livejournal.com]

gee, I feel old now. 30 is getting closer and closer...

Nanu Nanu... Video Killed the Radio Star :P

[ldy.livejournal.com]

I'm happy to know many wonderful folk of many different ages. I'm guessing the majority of my online friends were born in the late 70s/early 80s... which is why I'm sometimes referred to as the OLD lady. ;) (To clarify, I'm less than a year older than you :P) It certainly does offer a different perspective on things! (Usually, a welcome one-- changes in perspective are most often welcome.)

Here's some food for thought...
Remember Happy Days? How distant and far away the 50s seemed when it was on?
Well, That 70s Show is equally as distant in time now, as Happy Days was then.

Did I just give you chills? ;)

Enjoy your Medimucil, dear :)

Re: Nanu Nanu... Video Killed the Radio Star :P

[scottobear.livejournal.com]

you're not fooling me! your profile shows you to be 5! :)

Lesson in perspective

[papoose.livejournal.com]

I find the reactions as interesting as the list.
It is interesting to think about the Vietman War and some of those other things as ancient history. I'ts also interesting to see that, no matter how old (or young) a person is, they have that 'age is creeping up on me' feeling.
I remember all of that stuff and more.
I don't feel old - it's just my body that tells me so.

Re: Lesson in perspective

[scottobear.livejournal.com]

I don't feel terribly old either...just surprised how much oddball stuff gets shoved into brain-corners.

hehe.

[ibrad.livejournal.com]

Hey, I was born in 1985 and that list doesn't seem very true!

I knew Reagan was shot.

I don't know about Black Monday 1987, but I do know quite a bit about the Great Depression.

I fear nuclear war. Nuclear weapons are still present today, lest you forget, in Communist countries at that.

I've opened my share of non-plastic bottle caps, including those from coke and pepsi bottles, the little metal ones.

I've had TVs with 10 channels.

I've not had cable all my life.

I know what BETA is, it was a much better solution to video cassette recording, as opposed to VHS, but it never took off.

I've been to quite a few roller-skate parties and roller skating rinks where it's not hardly all inline.

I have watched Mork and Mindy! That show was pretty hilarious, I love Robin WIlliams.

I used a typewriter for many years before we got a computer and a printer that worked...

Re: hehe.

[ibrad.livejournal.com]

oh, and are you referring to knot's landing?

Re: hehe.

[scottobear.livejournal.com]

bravo! well, maybe they were wrong! It's good to know that there are a couple of folks with a similar perspective, even though they're much younger... you and lab rat both. :)

WHO CARES

[ex-bjorn905.livejournal.com]

the new generation of curmudgeons rears its ugly collective head.

Re: WHO CARES

[scottobear.livejournal.com]

yup! get ready, because next decade, they get to roll over a new one!

[sunshine10169.livejournal.com]

Actually I agree in many ways with this statement. I am 17 years old. I have to deal with all these ignorant people all day long. Most of them are so self consumed that they don't realize that there is a world outside of their life. I find it to be quite scary. To think that these people are our future leaders. Oye! History repeats itself and the youth of today won't realize it because they don't know the past. So therefore they won't be able to fix a problem.
I feel privelaged to know about almost everything in your list. But yes, it is scary to think that the majority of the youth today doesn't know. The scariest part of it all is that most of them don't even care!!!

Re:

[scottobear.livejournal.com]

I'm glad that there are some smarties like you out there... just a pity you have to deal with folks that have a different knowledge base.