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You know you are getting old when:

Ingramite

One of the Regulars
Messages
107
Location
The Texas Hill Country
I get to bragging about this marvelous spread eagle tattoo that I have across my chest.

Then I pull up my shirt and point to my hairy navel and tell them that the butt hole is all that's left of it.
 

Turnip

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,352
Location
Europe
American exaggerated faux friendliness is slowly taking over continental Europe. Even the Germans are acting friendly. Hasn’t affected the French yet, though.

There are still a few remaining Gallic villages here that are putting up a staunch last stand. That's why I sometimes drive to Frankfurt/Main, Berlin or the North Sea in a geriatric touch of nostalgia.
 
Messages
10,939
Location
My mother's basement
How I wish the utility companies would take a leaf out of her book. All this bullshine addressing me as Hello Robert in some faux friendly manner. I hate it.
Perhaps I’m among the few still routinely addressing others as “Sir” and “Ma’am.” And on a few occasions I’ve found myself considering if I might leave those ranks. It seems that some people take it as sarcasm.

Younger women especially are apparently unaccustomed to being so addressed. Some seem taken aback by it, and some take it as teasing.
 

Edward

Bartender
Messages
25,082
Location
London, UK
How I wish the utility companies would take a leaf out of her book. All this bullshine addressing me as Hello Robert in some faux friendly manner. I hate it.

I don't recall objecting to being called by my first name, but I really dislike when it's assumed that I'm happy with that without being asked first.

people ask what it was like back in the old days? the 1950's 1960's 1970' s or the 1980's


Kurt Cobain's sad death is now closing in on a decade earlier than my undergraduates were born... I wasborn three years after Jim Morrison died. There's only one or two in my final year class currently were born in the 1900s.....
 
Messages
12,017
Location
East of Los Angeles
people ask what it was like back in the old days? the 1950's 1960's 1970' s or the 1980's
So far I've only been asked this question regarding the neighborhood I grew up in, and currently live in; casual chat with neighbors while walking our dogs when they find out I've lived here (mostly) since 1961.

Perhaps I’m among the few still routinely addressing others as “Sir” and “Ma’am.” And on a few occasions I’ve found myself considering if I might leave those ranks. It seems that some people take it as sarcasm.

Younger women especially are apparently unaccustomed to being so addressed. Some seem taken aback by it, and some take it as teasing.
As I've aged I've slowly adopted the practice of replacing "Ma'am" with "Miss" when it seemed obvious that the lady was younger than I. Now I call them all "Miss" because the younger-than-I women seem to consider "Ma'am" as antiquated and an insult (i.e., that I think they're older than they really are), and the older women seem to like my use of the term that's regularly used for younger women. Ah, vanity.

...Kurt Cobain's sad death is now closing in on a decade earlier than my undergraduates were born... I wasborn three years after Jim Morrison died. There's only one or two in my final year class currently were born in the 1900s.....
Yuri Gagarin officially became the first human in space, and Alan Shepard became the first American in space the year I was born. Now, they're nothing more than names and accomplishments that most people don't recognize and couldn't care less about if they do.
 

Edward

Bartender
Messages
25,082
Location
London, UK
So far I've only been asked this question regarding the neighborhood I grew up in, and currently live in; casual chat with neighbors while walking our dogs when they find out I've lived here (mostly) since 1961.


As I've aged I've slowly adopted the practice of replacing "Ma'am" with "Miss" when it seemed obvious that the lady was younger than I. Now I call them all "Miss" because the younger-than-I women seem to consider "Ma'am" as antiquated and an insult (i.e., that I think they're older than they really are), and the older women seem to like my use of the term that's regularly used for younger women. Ah, vanity.


Yuri Gagarin officially became the first human in space, and Alan Shepard became the first American in space the year I was born. Now, they're nothing more than names and accomplishments that most people don't recognize and couldn't care less about if they do.

The one I always felt sorry for was Michael Collins. One of only three men on the first moon landing mission, one at that stage of (depending on what you believe about the Yuri Gagarin conspiracies) what, less than a dozen humans to actually leave this planet, and he's still not even the most famous Michael Collins in history!
 
Messages
12,017
Location
East of Los Angeles
The one I always felt sorry for was Michael Collins. One of only three men on the first moon landing mission, one at that stage of (depending on what you believe about the Yuri Gagarin conspiracies) what, less than a dozen humans to actually leave this planet, and he's still not even the most famous Michael Collins in history!
I agree. It was a bit like being part of the most winning sports team in world history, but you're the guy who drives the bus and gets no credit. Still, I would like to have met Major General Collins just to ask him that one deceptively simple question: What was it like to be completely alone in that Command Module?
 
Messages
10,939
Location
My mother's basement
when …

… you find yourself paying for conveniences you never would have in your earlier years.

I’m expecting a greenhouse kit in a couple weeks, coming to me in greater Denver from greater Vancouver, BC. I’m paying $150 extra to have it delivered to my house rather than having to pick it up at the trucking company’s local terminal. I don’t have a pickup truck, I don’t know anyone here with one well enough to ask for a hand, and getting a rental for a couple-three hours and doing that hokey-pokey just ain’t worth the trouble to me.
 
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