Posted by: "LaVigne, Evelyn" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >How Bad We Had it in the Old Days - Part I
> >
> >>From The Washington Post, a contest in which folks were asked to
> >tell Gen Xers how much harder they had it in the old days:
> >
> >Second Runner-Up: In my day, we couldn't afford shoes, so we
> >went barefoot. In the winter we had to wrap our feet with barbed wire
> >for traction. (Bill Flavin, Alexandria)
> >
> >First Runner-Up: In my day we didn't have MTV or in-line skates,
> >or any of that stuff. No, it was 45s and regular old metal-wheeled
> >roller skates, and the 45s always skipped, so to get them to play right
> >you'd weigh the needle down with something like quarters, which
> >we never had because our allowances were way too small, so we'd use
> >our skate keys instead and end up forgetting they were taped to
> >the record player arm so that we couldn't adjust our skates, which
> >didn't really matter because those crummy metal wheels would kill you
> >if you hit a pebble anyway, and in those days roads had real
> >pebbles on them, not like today. (Russell Beland, Springfield)
> >
> >And the winner of the velour bicentennial poster:
> >In my day, we didn't have no rocks. We had to go down to the
> >creek and wash our clothes by beating them with our heads. (Barry
> >Blyveis, Columbia)
> >
> >Honorable Mentions:
> >
> >In my day, we didn't have dogs or cats. All I had was Silver
> >Beauty, my beloved paper clip. (Jennifer Hart, Arlington)
> >
> >When I was your age, we didn't have fake doggie-do. We only had
> >real doggie-do, and no one thought it was one bit funny. (Brendan
> >Bassett, Columbia)
> >
> >Back in the 1970s we didn't have the space shuttle to get all
> >excited about. We had to settle for men walking on the crummy moon.
> >(Russell Beland, Springfield)
> >
> >In my day, we didn't have days. There was only "time for work,"
> >"time for prayer" and "time for sleep." The sheriff would go around
> >and tell everyone when to change. (Elden Carnahan, Laurel)
> >
> >(To Be Continued...)
> >
> >How Bad We Had it in the Old Days - Part II
> >
> >>From The Washington Post, a contest in which folks were asked to
> >tell Gen Xers how much harder they had it in the old days:
> >
> >More Honorable Mentions:
> >
> >In my day, people could only dream of hitchhiking a ride on a
> >comet. (David Ronka, Charlottesville)
> >
> >In my day, we didn't have hand-held calculators. We had to do
> >addition on our fingers. To subtract, we had to have some
> >fingers amputated. (Jon Patrick Smith, Washington)
> >
> >In my day, we didn't have mouses to move the cursor around. We
> >only had the arrows, and if the up arrow was broken and you
> >needed to get to the top of the screen, well, you just hit the left
> >arrow a thousand times, dadgummit. (Kevin Cuddihy, Fairfax)
> >
> >In my day, we didn't get that disembodied, slightly ticked-off
> >voice saying 'Doors closing.' We got on the train, the doors closed,
> >and if your hand was sticking out it scraped along the tunnel all the
> >way to the Silver Spring station and it was a bloody stump at
> >the end. But the base fare was only a dollar. (Russell Beland,
> >Springfield)
> >
> >In my day, we didn't have water. We had to smash together our
> >own hydrogen and oxygen atoms. (Diana Hugue, Bowie)
> >
> >In my day, we didn't have Strom Thurmond. Oh, wait. Yes we did
> >... (Peg Sheeran, Vienna)
> >
> >Kids today think the world revolves around them. In my day, the
> >sun revolved around the world, and the world was perched on the back
> >of a giant tortoise. (Jonathan Paul, Garrett Park)
> >
> >In my day, we wore our pants up around our armpits. Monstrous
> >wedgies, but we looked snappy. (Bruce Evans, Washington)
> >
> >In the old days, nobody asked you to sign petitions. The sheriff
> >just came to your house and told you you was part of a posse.
> >(Barry Blyveis, Columbia)
> >
> >Back in my day, "60 Minutes" wasn't just a bunch of gray-haired
> >liberal 80-year-old guys. It was a bunch of gray-haired liberal
> >60-year- old guys. (Russell Beland, Springfield, and Jerry Pannullo,
> >Kensington)
> >
> >In my day, we didn't have virtual reality. If a one-eyed
> >razorback barbarian warrior was chasing you with an ax,
> >you just had to hope you could outrun him. (Sarah M. Wolford, Hanover)
>
