Before millennials became a thing, baby boomers what things about generation X in the 80s and 90s made you feel old.

We hear a lot about the generational warfare between boomers and millennials/Gen Z and vice versa but never between the warfar amongst Gen X although I have seen glimpses of it in 90s media

I'm not sure it was a case of "feeling old", but what you must understand that in the 80s there was a wholesale rejection of ALL things 60s and 70s. ALL THINGS. Of course, this was only natural. It happens every time, as you yourself just alluded to. No less a Boomer icon than John Lennon himself said "our children will hate us too, you know", and he said it as far back as a press conference in 1966. But this wholesale rejection was very bad for for music, for art, for culture. The "spiritual search" that so pervaded the 60s and, yes, the 70s, that fed some of it's greatest  music, culture and art, gave way to "all materialism, all the time". Instead of the brilliant and ambivalent films of the "New Hollywood" of the 70s ("The Godfather", "Dog Day Afternoon", "Three Days of the Condor") the 80s provided jingoistic claptrap like "Top Gun". Even great musicians of the 60s and 70s who still had ongoing successful careers in the 80s like Neil Young, Bob Dylan and members of the Byrds tried to be "current" in the 80s and hence made some of the worst albums of their long, successful careers.

It wasn't until the 90s that all this nonsense finally settled down and the music, art and culture of the 60s and 70s came to be considered "classic" and  even "timeless". The aforementioned 60s artists went back to sounding their old, brilliant way and were appreciated as classic. This is not to say that the 90s were in any way much like the 60s or 70s, it's just that enough time had gone by for the natural "rejection" to be over. The smoke cleared and what was once brilliant was seen again to be brilliant. Look at it this way. Things of  quality have no fear of time.

I'm not sure it was a case of "feeling old", but what you must understand that in the 80s there was a wholesale rejection of ALL things 60s and 70s. ALL THINGS. Of course, this was only natural. It happens every time, as you yourself just alluded to. No less a Boomer icon than John Lennon himself said "our children will hate us too, you know", and he said it as far back as a press conference in 1966. But this wholesale rejection was very bad for for music, for art, for culture. The "spiritual search" that so pervaded the 60s and, yes, the 70s, that fed some of it's greatest  music, culture and art, gave way to "all materialism, all the time". Instead of the brilliant and ambivalent films of the "New Hollywood" of the 70s ("The Godfather", "Dog Day Afternoon", "Three Days of the Condor") the 80s provided jingoistic claptrap like "Top Gun". Even great musicians of the 60s and 70s who still had ongoing successful careers in the 80s like Neil Young, Bob Dylan and members of the Byrds tried to be "current" in the 80s and hence made some of the worst albums of their long, successful careers.

It wasn't until the 90s that all this nonsense finally settled down and the music, art and culture of the 60s and 70s came to be considered "classic" and  even "timeless". The aforementioned 60s artists went back to sounding their old, brilliant way and were appreciated as classic. This is not to say that the 90s were in any way much like the 60s or 70s, it's just that enough time had gone by for the natural "rejection" to be over. The smoke cleared and what was once brilliant was seen again to be brilliant. Look at it this way. Things of  quality have no fear of time.


Assuming you are a baby boomer, we’re there some things that Gen Xers when they were younger that actually did make you feel out of touch with pop culture ?

Assuming you are a baby boomer, we’re there some things that Gen Xers when they were younger that actually did make you feel out of touch with pop culture ?


Oh yes, I'm a boomer. I was there. ;D  I didn't feel out of touch, just different. You couldn't feel out of touch, it was a monoculture. If one person knew something, everybody did. We all watched MTV which was the epicenter, so there was no "being out of touch". But I watched it and yes, to me it was shallow. It was all surface. Pop, flash, bang. I saw Madonna the earliest times MTV broadcast her and I thought  "she doesn't seem like a rock & roll singer to me, she should be on Broadway or something". As much as she tried to be provocative and push the envelope, I thought she was just plain "square" (as we used to say) with all that singing and dancing like an old variety show.  I missed the "search for meaning" that had gone on previously. Maybe that's what you're asking about? But, I might hasten to add, that was just me. Many of my boomer comrades, still quite young at the time, embraced all this "80s-ness" full tilt.

I think you're looking for the conservative young Alex P. Keaton and his hippie parents aspect of things. Yes, there was an element of that. When I first heard the term "Young Republicans" in the 80s I couldn't believe there was such a thing and that it was a whole organization. I couldn't believe that young people, Generation X, had shifted to the right so much. But again, I didn't feel "old", just "different". If anything, THEY seemed old.  ;D

Oh yes, I'm a boomer. I was there. ;D  I didn't feel out of touch, just different. You couldn't feel out of touch, it was a monoculture. If one person knew something, everybody did. We all watched MTV which was the epicenter, so there was no "being out of touch". But I watched it and yes, to me it was shallow. It was all surface. Pop, flash, bang. I saw Madonna the earliest times MTV broadcast her and I thought  "she doesn't seem like a rock & roll singer to me, she should be on Broadway or something". As much as she tried to be provocative and push the envelope, I thought she was just plain "square" (as we used to say) with all that singing and dancing like an old variety show.  I missed the "search for meaning" that had gone on previously. Maybe that's what you're asking about? But, I might hasten to add, that was just me. Many of my boomer comrades, still quite young at the time, embraced all this "80s-ness" full tilt.

I think you're looking for the conservative young Alex P. Keaton and his hippie parents aspect of things. Yes, there was an element of that. When I first heard the term "Young Republicans" in the 80s I couldn't believe there was such a thing and that it was a whole organization. I couldn't believe that young people, Generation X, had shifted to the right so much. But again, I didn't feel "old", just "different". If anything, THEY seemed old.  ;D


Lol you must be on the younger side of the baby boomer generation ? I’ve met plenty who were in they’re 20 in the 80s.  It’s usually in the 90s where I meet boomers who say they just felt out of touch and not in the sense that they didn’t know what was going on in pop culture but like they weren’t invested in it at all and didn’t care much for it.

My mother a boomer born in 61 even calls 90s music, crazy peoples music lol

My mother and most younger boomers aren’t even 60s or 70s fans for that matter but usually 80s fans. They’re Wikipedia name is Generation Jones

"Your generation is lazy, self-centered, disrespectful and slow learning and spoiled"
Sound familiar? This is exactly what my parents said about my generation, Boomers. I see the same type of criticism from Baby Boomers towards the younger generations. I think its uncalled for, every generation had good and bad things about them.  I don't understand the warfare between generations. Boomers are certainly not any better than the newer generations. 

I do remember when the first person born in the 80s was working in the same department I was in, that made me feel older.  Same thing for 90s born . In both cases I was thinking ...how could you be working yet, you were just born? Ah time flies doesnt it, and time flies even more after you pass the age of 40. I am 1 year shy of 65 and age 50-64 had gone by incredibly fast.  This is why I feel that the late 1990s are just a few years ago. It seems that way to us old boomers.

There is a thread here "You know you're old when you remember" (90s version)"  Trust me, if you remember things only from the 90s, you aren't old.  ;D  but I guess its all relative isnt it. I know some older people (let's say in their late 80s or 90s) who say I'm still young.

Lol you must be on the younger side of the baby boomer generation ? I’ve met plenty who were in they’re 20 in the 80s.  It’s usually in the 90s where I meet boomers who say they just felt out of touch and not in the sense that they didn’t know what was going on in pop culture but like they weren’t invested in it at all and didn’t care much for it.

My mother a boomer born in 61 even calls 90s music, crazy peoples music lol

My mother and most younger boomers aren’t even 60s or 70s fans for that matter but usually 80s fans. They’re Wikipedia name is Generation Jones

I am a few years older than your mom, but a similar generation . During the 1980s I was in my 20s and 30s.  It was at the start of the 90s where I felt out of touch with pop culture and the music. I was still OK with most of the 80s.  I didnt think  90s music was crazy, but I thought most of it was just awful, and it hasnt got any better since. (no offense to anyone, just my opinion)

Lol you must be on the younger side of the baby boomer generation ? I’ve met plenty who were in they’re 20 in the 80s.  It’s usually in the 90s where I meet boomers who say they just felt out of touch and not in the sense that they didn’t know what was going on in pop culture but like they weren’t invested in it at all and didn’t care much for it.

My mother a boomer born in 61 even calls 90s music, crazy peoples music lol

My mother and most younger boomers aren’t even 60s or 70s fans for that matter but usually 80s fans. They’re Wikipedia name is Generation Jones


Even the oldest of Boomers basically still considered themselves "current" in the 80s. I already mentioned the 60s-era rock stars making 80s sounding albums. As I told you it was easy to be "current" back then, in the monoculture. But that didn't mean one agreed with or liked everything. That's why I say I felt "different' rather than old. I didn't feel "old" watching MTV, I just wished there was more for me to like on it. Boomers were still major music consumers in the 80s.

And take Live Aid, for example, in 1985. It was a complete mix of Boomer and Gen X bands and artists and Boomers and Gen X all watched it. I taped it all on VHS. The artists I  was really into though, of all those who played, were the ones from the 60s and 70s. Except for Nik Kershaw. He was the one 80s person I was interested in seeing. Madonna was her usual square self, running all around and bellowing out of tune. If you watch her performance on Live Aid you will see she hadn't really learned how to be a live performer yet. She was so used to lip synching.

Even the oldest of Boomers basically still considered themselves "current" in the 80s. I already mentioned the 60s-era rock stars making 80s sounding albums. As I told you it was easy to be "current" back then, in the monoculture. But that didn't mean one agreed with or liked everything. That's why I say I felt "different' rather than old. I didn't feel "old" watching MTV, I just wished there was more for me to like on it. Boomers were still major music consumers in the 80s.

And take Live Aid, for example, in 1985. It was a complete mix of Boomer and Gen X bands and artists and Boomers and Gen X all watched it. I taped it all on VHS. The artists I  was really into though, of all those who played, were the ones from the 60s and 70s. Except for Nik Kershaw. He was the one 80s person I was interested in seeing. Madonna was her usual square self, running all around and bellowing out of tune. If you watch her performance on Live Aid you will see she hadn't really learned how to be a live performer yet. She was so used to lip synching.


Really so they weren’t like the silent generation who hated 60s music of they’re baby boomer children ?

Seems like a gap from adults liking current culture in the 80s from only disliking it in the 60s.

Really so they weren’t like the silent generation who hated 60s music of they’re baby boomer children ?


No, it wasn't quite as extreme as the silents and the boomers. But the 60s was such a time of upheaval. If anything, as I stated previously, it was the 80s generation that rejected in a wholesale way all things 60s and 70s more than the other way around.




Seems like a gap from adults liking current culture in the 80s from only disliking it in the 60s.


Completely different set of adults, though. Did you expect the boomers to act like the silents? If there is one thing about the boomers, we refuse to get old. To a fault.;D  A few years ago when it started to be really fashionable to hate and despise boomers, that was one of the main criticisms.

Before millennials became a thing, baby boomers what things about generation X in the 80s and 90s made you feel old.

We hear a lot about the generational warfare between boomers and millennials/Gen Z and vice versa but never between the warfar amongst Gen X although I have seen glimpses of it in 90s media


I'm a Late Boomer (born 1960).  There were differences, naturally, between the generations as far as the cultures.  An example vs. Gen X is the lack of growing up with video games in the home.  I can't speak for all Boomers, but I (to include my family) never owned a game console and likely never will.


I'm not sure it was a case of "feeling old", but what you must understand that in the 80s there was a wholesale rejection of ALL things 60s and 70s. ALL THINGS...


I'll disagree with one thing.  60's and 70's culture were indeed rejected in the 1980's, which had its own culture.  But 1960's music became quite popular as the nostalgia choice during the 1980's (alongside 1950's R&R era music).  And I'm not a 1980's hater, but I do think there was a shallow/superficial attribute that makes 1980's pop culture by itself seem unsatisfying.

I never got into 1990's pop culture (another big break with Gen X) with the exception of CCM.  I still like 1980's pop culture artifacts but I vastly prefer pop culture from the 60's and 70's.

Even the oldest of Boomers basically still considered themselves "current" in the 80s. I already mentioned the 60s-era rock stars making 80s sounding albums. As I told you it was easy to be "current" back then, in the monoculture. But that didn't mean one agreed with or liked everything. That's why I say I felt "different' rather than old. I didn't feel "old" watching MTV, I just wished there was more for me to like on it. Boomers were still major music consumers in the 80s.

And take Live Aid, for example, in 1985. It was a complete mix of Boomer and Gen X bands and artists and Boomers and Gen X all watched it. I taped it all on VHS. The artists I  was really into though, of all those who played, were the ones from the 60s and 70s. Except for Nik Kershaw. He was the one 80s person I was interested in seeing. Madonna was her usual square self, running all around and bellowing out of tune. If you watch her performance on Live Aid you will see she hadn't really learned how to be a live performer yet. She was so used to lip synching.


I think you're confusing calculating with square! Releasing a basically softcore porn book in 1992 (titled Sex) and a music video with bisexuality in 1990 (Justify My Love), and a music video with burning crosses (Like A Prayer in 1989) isn't really square! Maybe she was square from like before 1989/1990, but after like 1990, she was very sexual and crude!

I think you're confusing calculating with square! Releasing a basically softcore porn book in 1992 (titled Sex) and a music video with bisexuality in 1990 (Justify My Love), and a music video with burning crosses (Like A Prayer in 1989) isn't really square! Maybe she was square from like before 1989/1990, but after like 1990, she was very sexual and crude!


Madonna was never NOT very sexual and crude!  ;D

Madonna was never NOT very sexual and crude!  ;D


I always wanted to ask someone who lived through the 1980's this, but what years were Madonna popular with teenagers? When was her hey day? Did you pay attention enough to know?

I think you're confusing calculating with square! Releasing a basically softcore porn book in 1992 (titled Sex) and a music video with bisexuality in 1990 (Justify My Love), and a music video with burning crosses (Like A Prayer in 1989) isn't really square! Maybe she was square from like before 1989/1990, but after like 1990, she was very sexual and crude!


Who said sexual and crude couldn't be square? And YES she was calculating. It worked, didn't it?

I always wanted to ask someone who lived through the 1980's this, but what years were Madonna popular with teenagers? When was her hey day? Did you pay attention enough to know?


Madonna's career came on with a BANG.  When her first hit hit in '83ish, the phrase "hot new phenom" was most often used to describe her.  She remained popular, at least for several years; this never changed.  It even escalated as she begun acting.  She was crowned really quickly as the "new big thing".  I suppose she more or less deserved it - her songs were generally engaging enough and really hot to dance to in the packed 1980's clubs (which I frequented in the second half of the decade).

I always wanted to ask someone who lived through the 1980's this, but what years were Madonna popular with teenagers? When was her hey day? Did you pay attention enough to know?


She was huge starting in 84. That's the year I first saw her on MTV. And she was big enough to be part of Live Aid in 85. She was really huge for a number of years there, but I tuned her out (which was hard to do in the monoculture) so I don't know the specifics. But she was HUGE.

I always wanted to ask someone who lived through the 1980's this, but what years were Madonna popular with teenagers? When was her hey day? Did you pay attention enough to know?


1984 to 1986.

Madonna's career came on with a BANG.  When her first hit hit in '83ish, the phrase "hot new phenom" was most often used to describe her.  She remained popular, at least for several years; this never changed.  It even escalated as she begun acting.  She was crowned really quickly as the "new big thing".  I suppose she more or less deserved it - her songs were generally engaging enough and really hot to dance to in the packed 1980's clubs (which I frequented in the second half of the decade).


She came on with a bang because of MTV. She owes her career to MTV. It was a monoculture in those days and MTV were the gatekeepers. They also made Michael Jackson into a superstar. He had been famous since 1970 thanks to Diana Ross, but NOTHING like the "Thriller" 80s era. Honestly, nobody was really walking around in 1975 talking much about Michael Jackson. He appeared on TV now and then on awards shows and things. But in the 80s MTV elevated him to godhead. That paradigm is gone now. The gatekeepers are gone. The monoculture is gone.

She came on with a bang because of MTV. She owes her career to MTV. It was a monoculture in those days and MTV were the gatekeepers. They also made Michael Jackson into a superstar. He had been famous since 1970 thanks to Diana Ross, but NOTHING like the "Thriller" 80s era. Honestly, nobody was really walking around in 1975 talking much about Michael Jackson. He appeared on TV now and then on awards shows and things. But in the 80s MTV elevated him to godhead. That paradigm is gone now. The gatekeepers are gone. The monoculture is gone.


MTV made a lot of singers/groups back then. I think the allure of popular music started to wane when they took the "m" out of MTV.


Cat

She came on with a bang because of MTV. She owes her career to MTV...


Agreed about Madonna and MTV!  The 80's in general differed from the 70's and prior in that then, how a music artist looked was not always known, and even when seen, it was acceptable for said artist to not be "shiny, glittery and glamorous" (my words) as long as they made great music.  (At least until the Disco era.)  MTV elevated the visuals in a new and big way, sometimes to the detriment of the quality of the music.

Agreed about Madonna and MTV!  The 80's in general differed from the 70's and prior in that then, how a music artist looked was not always known, and even when seen, it was acceptable for said artist to not be "shiny, glittery and glamorous" (my words) as long as they made great music.  (At least until the Disco era.)  MTV elevated the visuals in a new and big way, sometimes to the detriment of the quality of the music.


Correct!

MTV made a lot of singers/groups back then.


Cat



And most of them were Baby Boomers.

Madonna was never NOT very sexual and crude!  ;D


And she posed nude in a magazine but that was a few years before her career officially took off.

I always wanted to ask someone who lived through the 1980's this, but what years were Madonna popular with teenagers? When was her hey day? Did you pay attention enough to know?


I guess about 1983-1989.

MTV made a lot of singers/groups back then. I think the allure of popular music started to wane when they took the "m" out of MTV.


Cat


Partially, yes. But it's also because of what popular musical artists have become. It used to be we could count on artists to tell us the truth. For example, musicians told us the Vietnam War was bogus, when the government was still telling us it was good. But today's rap and pop stars are all about brand and wealth. It’s little different from wrestling.

And the movies are about fictional, meaningless superheroes, there’s literally no truth there. There’s a vacuum of truth and honesty. That TRUTH is what I miss most about the glory music days of the 60s and 70s. One RELATED to it.

Partially, yes. But it's also because of what popular musical artists have become. It used to be we could count on artists to tell us the truth. For example, musicians told us the Vietnam War was bogus, when the government was still telling us it was good. But today's rap and pop stars are all about brand and wealth. It’s little different from wrestling.

And the movies are about fictional, meaningless superheroes, there’s literally no truth there. There’s a vacuum of truth and honesty. That TRUTH is what I miss most about the glory music days of the 60s and 70s. One RELATED to it.


Interesting. I never thought of it that way before.


Cat

1984 to 1986.


Thank you!

I guess about 1983-1989.


She was one of the Queens of the 1980's!  :o

She was one of the Queens of the 1980's!  :o


Her music videos told a story.

Boomers rule.  We have the best of both worlds: the experience of having lived through significant cultural and political history, and familiarity with current technology and cultural developments.  At the same time we largely manage to avoid being distracted by some of the more meaningless aspects of pop culture that some segments of the younger generations find themselves mired in.

Boomers rule.  We have the best of both worlds: the experience of having lived through significant cultural and political history, and familiarity with current technology and cultural developments.  At the same time we largely manage to avoid being distracted by some of the more meaningless aspects of pop culture that some segments of the younger generations find themselves mired in.


You're also turning out to be a bunch of grumpy old bastards.  ;D

Boomers rule.  We have the best of both worlds: the experience of having lived through significant cultural and political history, and familiarity with current technology and cultural developments.  At the same time we largely manage to avoid being distracted by some of the more meaningless aspects of pop culture that some segments of the younger generations find themselves mired in.


As a Boomer myself, I will say you may be correct in much of your assessment, but we must avoid hubris. Such arrogance is what has gotten us a bad reputation in recent years. Plus, you forgot to mention how great our music was/is.  ;D


You're also turning out to be a bunch of grumpy old bastards.  ;D


true, true.  ;D  ;D


hu·bris
/ˈ(h)yo͞obrəs/
noun
excessive pride or self-confidence.
-dictionary.com

You're also turning out to be a bunch of grumpy old bastards.  ;D


GET OFF MY LAWN!!!!


:D ;D ;D ;D


Cat

You're also turning out to be a bunch of grumpy old bastards.  ;D

GET OFF MY LAWN!!!!


:D ;D ;D ;D


Cat
I am getting good practice for being grumpy, I'm currently watching "The Odd Couple" (1968).

I am getting good practice for being grumpy, I'm currently watching "The Odd Couple" (1968).


At 80 years old, My Father is already grumpy.  ;D

GET OFF MY LAWN!!!!


:D ;D ;D ;D


Cat


;D

Hey, I just turned 50 last year, I'm not far behind you.  ;)

Both my parents were/are Baby Boomers it's just my mother now. She is 64(born in 1957). My dad would have been 65 this year.

Sometimes my mother gets deeply nostalgic, and goes on and on about how much better the "old days" were. She hates Facebook and social media and often complains how much better the world would be without them. "We didn't have Facebook in the 70s and we survived!" She always says. Lol.

Both my parents were/are Baby Boomers it's just my mother now. She is 64(born in 1957). My dad would have been 65 this year.

Sometimes my mother gets deeply nostalgic, and goes on and on about how much better the "old days" were. She hates Facebook and social media and often complains how much better the world would be without them. "We didn't have Facebook in the 70s and we survived!" She always says. Lol.


There are some things that were better in the "old days" and some things are better today.  I have friends, same age as me (same age as your parents) who look at things through rose-colored glasses and say EVERYTHING was better back then. Its an optimistic but unrealistic view.

There are some things that were better in the "old days" and some things are better today.  I have friends, same age as me (same age as your parents) who look at things through rose-colored glasses and say EVERYTHING was better back then. Its an optimistic but unrealistic view.


Not everything was better. I didn't like that everybody smoked everywhere.

Not everything was better. I didn't like that everybody smoked everywhere.



As a former smoker, I missed that when they started to kick us smokers outside-but I understood why.


Cat

Not everything was better. I didn't like that everybody smoked everywhere.

I am completely with you on this. I hated that smell. My mom did too (later my sister)  Our teachers used to smoke even in the classroom, and when I was younger and started working, people smoked in the office, and restaurants, airplanes, hospitals, elevators, everywhere.

I am completely with you on this. I hated that smell. My mom did too (later my sister)  Our teachers used to smoke even in the classroom, and when I was younger and started working, people smoked in the office, and restaurants, airplanes, hospitals, elevators, everywhere.


Doctors even smoked in their offices while consulting with patients. It was like a big blind spot everybody had.

I am completely with you on this. I hated that smell. My mom did too (later my sister)  Our teachers used to smoke even in the classroom, and when I was younger and started working, people smoked in the office, and restaurants, airplanes, hospitals, elevators, everywhere.


While cooking food maybe? And later the meals tasted like smoke? That's awful.  8-P

Not everything was better. I didn't like that everybody smoked everywhere.



While cooking food maybe? And later the meals tasted like smoke? That's awful.  8-P


The thing about it is, until establishments began banning indoor smoking, we were unfortunately accustomed to that smell.  I remember being in cars quite often and someone would be puffing away - and I barely noticed.  :-\\

One more thing I'll say about it - when I applied to university and got a questionnaire regarding potential roommates, I specified I would like a roommate, as long as they didn't smoke.  (This was 1977.)  I was promptly assigned a "rare" room to myself.  The only possibility I can fathom as to why I got a single room is my request for a roommate that didn't smoke.

The thing about it is, until establishments began banning indoor smoking, we were unfortunately accustomed to that smell. 


Correct. It was so prevalent that we were able to not notice. Though it still bothered me. I would come home from live music clubs and the like and take a shower at 3 AM to get the smell off me. Discos were full of it too. People walked in and immediately lit up. It was like a ritual. One they didn't even notice they were doing.

All restaurants and clubs had their own books of matches printed up, and sometimes ashtrays too. Some of them are probably quite collectable now.

Both my parents were/are Baby Boomers it's just my mother now. She is 64(born in 1957). My dad would have been 65 this year.

Sometimes my mother gets deeply nostalgic, and goes on and on about how much better the "old days" were. She hates Facebook and social media and often complains how much better the world would be without them. "We didn't have Facebook in the 70s and we survived!" She always says. Lol.


I guess your mom isn’t aware the youth has moved on from Facebook me at least Gen Z has.

Correct. It was so prevalent that we were able to not notice. Though it still bothered me. I would come home from live music clubs and the like and take a shower at 3 AM to get the smell off me. Discos were full of it too. People walked in and immediately lit up. It was like a ritual. One they didn't even notice they were doing.

All restaurants and clubs had their own books of matches printed up, and sometimes ashtrays too. Some of them are probably quite collectable now.

8-P 8-P
I’m glad I didn’t grow up with that being the norm, my mother is a non-smoker so food never once tasted like smoke.

I guess your mom isn’t aware the youth has moved on from Facebook me at least Gen Z has.


Despite the title of this thread, I don't think the comment about Facebook was an age thing. Just a general era thing. I.E. "people didn't have Facebook in the 70s and we were just fine". Which is absolutely true. It's pretty well known that it's all middle aged and older people on Facebook. But it was pretty much better when it didn't exist at all. Probably Twitter too. It sometimes seems like Twitter allows a rather small, vocal minority to set the tone and tempo of everything now. People have got to realize that the Twitter world ("Twitterverse") isn't the real world.

I remember when Mark Zuckerberg boldly and gleefully announced "the era of privacy is over". He's such an idiot. Like Bill Maher says "why is the world's most socially inept person in charge of social media?".  ;D

Another thing from back then is cars didn't always have seat belts in them. They weren't standard equipment. Seat belts started appearing more in cars circa mid 60s and they were the kind that went around your waist. Most people ignored them.

As a former smoker, I missed that when they started to kick us smokers outside-but I understood why.


Cat
I saw a lovely clip from the film "The Birthday Party" (1968), the star Robert Shaw walks out of the boarding house he was staying in, takes good breaths of fresh air, waves to neighbours, goes back indoors, shuts the door, and immediately lights up a cigarette.

In the golden days of movies smoking was ripe.

Despite the title of this thread, I don't think the comment about Facebook was an age thing. Just a general era thing. I.E. "people didn't have Facebook in the 70s and we were just fine". Which is absolutely true. It's pretty well known that it's all middle aged and older people on Facebook. But it was pretty much better when it didn't exist at all. Probably Twitter too. It sometimes seems like Twitter allows a rather small, vocal minority to set the tone and tempo of everything now. People have got to realize that the Twitter world ("Twitterverse") isn't the real world.

I remember when Mark Zuckerberg boldly and gleefully announced "the era of privacy is over". He's such an idiot. Like Bill Maher says "why is the world's most socially inept person in charge of social media?".  ;D


I beg to differ, my parents are from another country other then the states and Facebook allows them and my family here to keep in contact with them despite the distance. Before that they would have to pay the pre paid cards to make long distance chats and it was a nuisance. There’s good and bad things in everything, I just like bringing up the good stuff since these forums tend to be engulfed with negativity about the present most of the times

Another thing from back then is cars didn't always have seat belts in them. They weren't standard equipment. Seat belts started appearing more in cars circa mid 60s and they were the kind that went around your waist. Most people ignored them.


That sounds troublesome

;D

Hey, I just turned 50 last year, I'm not far behind you.  ;)

I'm closing in on 50.

Not everything was better. I didn't like that everybody smoked everywhere.

Now there are certain places that you have to smoke.

Another thing from back then is cars didn't always have seat belts in them. They weren't standard equipment. Seat belts started appearing more in cars circa mid 60s and they were the kind that went around your waist. Most people ignored them.

I can remember when cars didn't have all those special things in them.

Now there are certain places that you have to smoke.


There are certain places you HAVE to smoke? You mean they force you to?  :o  :o

I'm only kidding. I know what you meant. There are designated smoking areas.  ;D

I beg to differ, my parents are from another country other then the states and Facebook allows them and my family here to keep in contact with them despite the distance. Before that they would have to pay the pre paid cards to make long distance chats and it was a nuisance. There’s good and bad things in everything, I just like bringing up the good stuff since these forums tend to be engulfed with negativity about the present most of the times


I see what you're saying, but even if Facebook didn't exist wouldn't your family be able to stay in contact via plain old email?

I see what you're saying, but even if Facebook didn't exist wouldn't your family be able to stay in contact via plain old email?


Yes but it’s not the same, besides some of my older family members aren’t as tech savvy. Most prefer video phone calls where they can see each others faces, it can get pretty emotional.

Correct. It was so prevalent that we were able to not notice. Though it still bothered me. I would come home from live music clubs and the like and take a shower at 3 AM to get the smell off me. Discos were full of it too. People walked in and immediately lit up. It was like a ritual. One they didn't even notice they were doing.

All restaurants and clubs had their own books of matches printed up, and sometimes ashtrays too. Some of them are probably quite collectable now.


I used to collect matchbooks. Of course you can't find them anymore so I stopped collecting them but I still have my collection. I have one from Air Force Two (the VP plane). I also have a few my sister's wedding. What was strange was that neither one of them smoked (well, my sister did a long time ago but quit long before she got married).

I also have a few ashtrays from my travels-a couple from some Vegas casinos that I stole acquired. The strange thing was last month on our travels, we stopped in Nevada and SIL & I went to a casino. There were ashtrays in there which is something we haven't seen in a long time. SIL figured it was ok so she fired up. (Yeah, she smokes.) I guess there are still places that allow you to smoke.


Cat

There are certain places you HAVE to smoke? You mean they force you to?  :o  :o

I'm only kidding. I know what you meant. There are designated smoking areas.  ;D

There were times when people were allowed to smoke in their own apartment houses.
Now if they want to smoke they would have to do it on the side of the building so it doesn't interfere with anything.

I see what you're saying, but even if Facebook didn't exist wouldn't your family be able to stay in contact via plain old email?

How about just plain pen and paper.

How about just plain pen and paper.
Snail mail?

Oh yes. My mother is aware of everything. She knows young people have moved on from Facebook.