Sometimes I Feel So Outdated

I remember when I was a young teenager, my parents didn't understand the music of my time or the names of actors, singers, or most public people who were not of their generation. I recall being tickled by this .... how could they NOT know who these people were.

Here I sit, at 66 years of age, and I am so lost when it comes to popular culture. Nothing seems to make sense to me most of the time. I'd like to think that I'm not embedded in the past but it's becoming clear to me that I am. I have become my parents in that regard.
Maybe older people help keep a balance when it comes to change.
 

We were just talking about the way that people dress now. One reason that I enjoy watching older TV shows and movies, is that people dressed so nicely.

Just two days ago, we were coming out of a store when we spotted in quick succession, at least six women who were wearing those awful yoga pants which reveal so much that one must avert one's gaze. The final woman was getting into her car, and was very generously endowed by nature. She chose to wear a pair of denim cut offs that allowed her butt to hang out the bottom of them. "Nuff said!
In the parking lot at the grocery a few nights ago, a man walked by with his pants hanging all the way under his hinnie. What is all of that about anyway? It seems that trend has been going on for a while.
 
I like certain things, such as music, movies, television shows from my generation. I enjoy the old familiar ones I grew up with. Nothing wrong with that. I do watch some of the new ones also and enjoy those also. I have always listened to music and it is the classic rock from my generation. Actually, the younger generations listen to the same ones I do. It is just good music!

As far as technology goes, well, I am not crazy about the cellphones. But I never was a phone person to begin with. I love my laptop, the internet and the Kindle. I like watching my television using Prime Video which is connected to my internet. I am careful about including those "smart" ideas and technologies though. No Alexa or streaming music for me. I think technology is a good thing. Look at how hard it is to stay home and never talk to anyone outside of your family and neighbors. I love having friends all over the country and the world.

I think I just mix and match a little of the new with a little of the old. I don't feel like I am outdated or old fashioned.
Yes, I enjoy some of the current music
 

I like to be outdated. I like my music from the 50s and 60s (Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly, Marty Robbins, Fats Domino). I like my Gunsmoke, Rawhide, The Waltons and Have Gun Will Travel. I don't want to walk around with "fir" on my face and tattoos all over my butt. I don't like rap music! I don't like modern movies due to bad language and just plain bad stories. I don't care for those Jones who happen to be outdated in these times of higher interest rates and high inflation.

It's great to be alive at the age of 76. No illegal drug addiction, no gambling habits and no debt. I can enjoy my glass of wine and just watch the mad world go by. Do I want to compete or join the crazies? Your crazy if you think I want to! I love to be outdated and know that I am. LOL
I have to ask........Don't all of the paintings of Jesus show him with long hair and a beard ? How do you reconcile that with your statement about " I don't want to walk around with fir on my face " ? JimB.
 
I have to ask........Don't all of the paintings of Jesus show him with long hair and a beard ? How do you reconcile that with your statement about " I don't want to walk around with fir on my face " ? JimB.

Keep in mind that when Jesus walked around [if he ever existed] I believe bathing,shaving hair care , grooming in general ......... was no where as easy as it is today ........... jmo.
 
I remember when I was a young teenager, my parents didn't understand the music of my time or the names of actors, singers, or most public people who were not of their generation. I recall being tickled by this .... how could they NOT know who these people were.

Here I sit, at 66 years of age, and I am so lost when it comes to popular culture. Nothing seems to make sense to me most of the time. I'd like to think that I'm not embedded in the past but it's becoming clear to me that I am. I have become my parents in that regard.
Yeah, Leann. Same here. 79 y.o. and realize I am outdated and irrelevant. No whine. Just fact.

Thinking about it a lot last couple of years. Back in the day seniors passed on their knowledge and life experience to the younger generation coming of age. These days, with the explosion of technology, it seems just the opposite. The younger generation often times are tasked with passing on their knowledge of technology to the aging seniors. It's upside down to me. Life experiences, shrug. Not important or relevant in today's fast-moving society.

With my life experiences in manufacturing industry (gone in the U.S.) and the military (in recruiting disarray), there is little I have to offer inquiring young minds. Were they even to ask. (Sigh) ArnoldC
 
Yeah, Leann. Same here. 79 y.o. and realize I am outdated and irrelevant. No whine. Just fact.

Thinking about it a lot last couple of years. Back in the day seniors passed on their knowledge and life experience to the younger generation coming of age. These days, with the explosion of technology, it seems just the opposite. The younger generation often times are tasked with passing on their knowledge of technology to the aging seniors. It's upside down to me. Life experiences, shrug. Not important or relevant in today's fast-moving society.

With my life experiences in manufacturing industry (gone in the U.S.) and the military (in recruiting disarray), there is little I have to offer inquiring young minds. Were they even to ask. (Sigh) ArnoldC
this is exactly what I was thinking only yesterday. I was thinking about how valued older members of the family used to be when younger members sought their advice, but now none of that is needed with the advent of information at everyone's finger tips... so it seems more and more that older people are becoming irrelevant outside of their/our peer groups
 
I am almost 90, and acutely aware of how the times have changed in so many ways. Some for the better, others for the worse. When I was a child, we had an ice box, not a refrigerator. A radio, not a TV. Few families owned cars, but we knew the joys of trolleys and the like. I was a lucky kid as I always had wheels, a little tricycle, a medium-sized tricycle and then a bicycle. Also had roller skates and a scooter. Yet,
I walked and ran like a deer whenever I could. Our food was purchased daily as we did not own freezers, but, we had just about anything and everything home delivered as we wished.

The music of the day was either classical or pre-swing era. This, of course, was during the Great Depression. I was born at the height of it in 1933. So, while the war years brought us in the US, more privation with shortages, and our men going off to keep the war from our shores, we began to climb ever upward. Wages increased, which kept the homefront a tad more comfortable for some.

The boom after the war brought much prosperity, better education opportunities and better jobs.

All in all, while some of the dregs of progress are like nails on a blackboard, I am far more comfortable in my dotage than as a child. Yet, I never knew better until now. So, I was a happy kid.
 
Sorry, I didn't mean that they don't exist! I meant that you might have difficulty finding the editions that I have now, unless they are used. Some of the current dictionaries for sale don't have half the words in them that my older editions have, and they have been greatly dumbed down.

Remember the dictionaries that were in the libraries? They'd be on a stand and they were the size of suitcases. They had at least a couple thousand pages. The old lady librarian would glare at you as if you were thinking of ripping out a page or two.
 
Remember the dictionaries that were in the libraries? They'd be on a stand and they were the size of suitcases. They had at least a couple thousand pages. The old lady librarian would glare at you as if you were thinking of ripping out a page or two.
Lol, yes I do remember them! When I was a kid, I dreamed of having one of my own, along with a huge globe on its own stand, too!
 
Back in the day seniors passed on their knowledge and life experience to the younger generation coming of age.
To be honest, coming into adulthood during Vietnam and Richard Nixon didn't endear me to the older generation or their values.

At 18 I was eager to start my life and wasn't particularly interested in patterning it after previous generations. What they suggested wasn't what I wanted anyway: "Find yourself a nice guy with a steady job and settle down" was the usual advice. Also, "You really don't need a career, you're only going to wind up staying home and raising babies." They were stuck in what worked for their generation, not mine.

Obviously there were some older people whose advice was relevant and valuable, but mostly it wasn't. As a baby boomer, I had the world on a string, things were changing rapidly, and it was an exciting time to be young. Living life like I'd been born in the 1920s or earlier was unthinkable.

That said, I have a number of friends in their 30s because DH & I reach out to them. We lend a hand when they've got a babysitting emergency, DH teaches some of the guys about tools, we invite them to parties, and so forth.
 
Yes, I'm outdated, in the sense of thinking I'd grow up to be a housewife. I never really clued in to the idea that I'd have to work. I did work, but it always felt like a stopgap measure.

Computer stuff continues to be hard for me.

Aside from that, I've had many changes in my life, and I've had to change to keep up. I can relate (or not relate šŸ™ƒ) to people of any age. I don't feel old or out of touch in that sense.
 
I'm not on TikTok, my cell is a flip phone, still. I'm not up on popular culture. I'm not behind on everything either. I don't worry much about it. Lots of shows, trends, music, etc. I'm just not into.
I'm not on TikTok. I have heard about it but not interested enough to care about it one way or another. Not into Twitter either. Haven't looked at "Facebook" now for nearly 2.5 years. Like you, Remy, I don't care anymore about popular culture. I heard about them Karkashanian (spelling) gals but couldn't bother to find out who they are. Rap is a definite turn off. However, I am very busy living my life and it's pretty good and interesting. I just don't follow the media except a bit for news. Life is pretty good when one is one's own boss and one does what he wants.
 
To be honest, coming into adulthood during Vietnam and Richard Nixon didn't endear me to the older generation or their values.

At 18 I was eager to start my life and wasn't particularly interested in patterning it after previous generations. What they suggested wasn't what I wanted anyway: "Find yourself a nice guy with a steady job and settle down" was the usual advice. Also, "You really don't need a career, you're only going to wind up staying home and raising babies." They were stuck in what worked for their generation, not mine.

Obviously there were some older people whose advice was relevant and valuable, but mostly it wasn't. As a baby boomer, I had the world on a string, things were changing rapidly, and it was an exciting time to be young. Living life like I'd been born in the 1920s or earlier was unthinkable.

That said, I have a number of friends in their 30s because DH & I reach out to them. We lend a hand when they've got a babysitting emergency, DH teaches some of the guys about tools, we invite them to parties, and so forth.
Excellent point.

After I divorced (at 27) and faced raising 3 kids on my own, my mom, grandma, and all my aunts hounded me for years to hurry up and get remarried. But once I got into a routine, and found out I could do everything just fine on my own, I was totally content with staying single for the rest of my life. And, to your point, yeah, mom and gramma and my aunts just seemed outdated during those years.
 
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Sometimes I Feel So Outdated​


Yeah, at 73 I still like to verbally joust with the 20 and 30 somethings

They have yet to keep up

Can't wait for dementia to set in

Oughta be a pip
Do you fill them in on what they don't know and straighten them out on what they think they know?

It drives me nuts when I come across a 20/30-something who apparently thinks I just got dropped off on this planet recently, and don't know what I'm talking about. Especially when we're jawing about historical events. Most of them take my word for it but some of them just want it their way, I guess. Aside from that, some young guys are amazed at how smart and effective old carpentry tricks are, how non-frightening and easy-to-fix home-electrical problems are, what sportsmanship really is, and that athletes didn't get into it for the money.

It's fun schooling these guys but sometimes you just gotta give 'em a "Good luck, dude" and walk away shaking your head.
 


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