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*I wrote this several months ago… only to have the exact same experience yesterday in New Jersey. Oops.
I went into Manhattan on Friday, and my “smart” phone died. I wasn’t even running anything; it just doesn’t hold a charge for very long anymore. Since I try to stay in touch with my husband whenever I go out, this is not great. I don’t want him to be worried, and my friend’s phone isn’t working either. We keep an eye out for a payphone…
When did all the payphones disappear?
We walked about ten blocks before we saw a payphone. And it wasn’t even working! My husband got dead air, which freaked him out even more… Luckily the phone was just outside the train station. I was home in a little over an hour, but he was still worried.
To be honest, it made me feel old. I used to use payphones all the time, especially when I was in high school. And they used to be everywhere!
However, so many of the things I remember using are obsolete now. Records, tape cassettes, video cassettes, cds… Even books and cameras are slowly becoming obsolete. Everything has gone digital now; small, compact, easily deleted, and easily forgotten. There’s barely anything left to casually disregard.
When did I get so damn old? Soon I will be reminiscing about the dinosaurs…
How about you? What are some of your “When did I get so old?” moments? If you ever need someone to reminisce with about prehistoric life, let me know…
Note to self: Find spare battery or buy another. (I swear there is a black hole in my house where small electronic parts and socks go to die.)
Driving home in the car one day, my then 8-year old son announced that I could be his teacher’s mum. I was frankly horrified, but he pointed out that she was 22 and at the time I was 41, so it was completely possible.
Also, we used to buy milk in glass bottles for 15c for a pint. Now it’s all in plastic bottles and $5.65 for 3 litres!
And I remember when mobile phones were the size and weight of a small brick, videos and tapes were the latest thing. I also remember when CDs and DVDs came in. I actually AM a dinosaur!!
I swear one gallon of Lactaid is close to $6. And in another five years I will be old enough to have given birth to a twenty-year-old… Ack!
payphone hits me hard sometimes too. or how about minimum wage– 2.35??? ugh..
I’m pretty sure it was $5 when I first started working… It’s funny that there aren’t payphones anymore though because “smart” phones really do die a lot…
i guess I am really really really ancient
No, it had just gone up to $5 that year. I’m not even sure what it was before…
laughing.. it is ok. My daughter just got a job making 9 bucks and I felt really old thinking my first job paid that little.
When I heard about the last milk delivery person here retiring. We always used to get our milk delivered! Mmmm.. ice crystals in the winter.
I don’t think we’ve had that here in like fifty years… which is really too bad. That is the lazy parent’s dream!
I feel old talking about music venues that no longer exist.
And listening to my knees creak, but I guess that’s a different story…
Music and pop culture change more quickly than anything on earth. Remember when MTV actually played videos?
I used to have that too, but once they scoped out all the floating bits, my knee got a lot quieter. I guess that’s where technology turns out to be a good thing!
It’s slightly different, but when I heard someone saying ‘I was born in 2004′, I was like ‘Wtf? Were there still people born after 2000?’ That’s so weird!
Ha! One time a teenage girl rear-ended me at a red light. I’m looking at her license, and it dawns on me… She was born after the Berlin Wall came down! We let people drive who were born after The Cold War!
Wait until you check someone’s license and you realize you had your license before they were born.
Oh, I’m surprised that hasn’t happened already!
I felt old when another blogger told me that the kids who graduated from high school this year were born the year Kurt Cobain killed himself. I always think the 1990 was the last decade, but that was 20 years ago. And then I weep.
I always think that too! And my musical tastes are also still stuck there. Lately I hear music which I think of as “new” and it’s now 10-12 years old…
They say there are no pay phones because everyone has cell phones. Apparently even small children. My 8-year-old has a pal that calls her all the time on her cell phone. Just – why? What groundbreaking info does a child have to impart that he needs a phone 24/7? ” Hey, guess what, Madysin is a poophead. No not that Madisan, Madysin. Jeez.”
Did you just spell Madison several different ways? I think I love you!
Sadly, we are terrible parents, and we have yet to give our 8-year-old a cell phone. I’m sure he needs one though. He doesn’t get nearly enough radiation from his portable Nintendo alone.