Today, some fun:
How old is Grandma??? I think you will be surprised!
Stay with this — the answer is at the end…
One evening a grandson was talking to his grandmother about current events.
The grandson asked his grandmother what she thought about the shootings at schools, the computer age, and just things in general.
The Grandma replied, “Well, let me think a minute, I was born before:
- television
- penicillin
- frozen foods
- photocopier machines
- contact lenses
- radar
- credit cards
- lasers
- ball-point pens
- air conditioners
- dishwashers
- clothes dryers, the clothes were hung out to dry in the fresh air and
- man hadn’t yet walked on the moon
Your Grandfather and I got married first, . . and then lived together.Every family had a father and a mother.Until I was 25, I called every man older than me, “Sir”.
And after I turned 25, I still called policemen and every man with a title, “Sir.”We were before computer- dating, dual careers, daycare centers, and group therapy.Our lives were governed by the Ten Commandments, good judgment, and common sense.
We were taught to know the difference between right and wrong and to stand up and take responsibility for our actions.
We thought fast food was what people ate during Lent.
We had never heard of FM radios, tape decks, CDs, electric typewriters, yogurt, or guys wearing earrings.
- “grass” was mowed,
- “coke” was a cold drink,
- “pot” was something your mother cooked in and
- “rock music” was your grandmother’s lullaby.
- “Aids” were helpers in the Principal’s office,
- “hardware” was found in a hardware store and
- “software” wasn’t even a word.
We listened to our radios.If you saw anything with ‘Made in Japan ‘ on it, it was junk.
Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, and instant coffee were unheard of.
We had 5 &10-cent stores where you could actually buy things for 5 and 10 cents.
Ice-cream cones, phone calls, rides on a streetcar, and a Pepsi were all 5 cents.
And if you didn’t want to splurge, you could spend your 5 cents on enough stamps to mail 1 letter and 2 postcards.
You could buy a new car for $600, . . . but who could afford one?
Too bad, because petrol was 11 cents a litre.
No wonder people call us “old and confused” and say there is a generation gap… and how old do you think I am?
I bet you have a very old lady in mind…you are in for a shock!
This Woman would be only 58 years old!
Times change quickly!
I think you need to update Grandma’s age
I worked it out and Grandma would need to be born in 1947 for all the statements to be true.
Hi Dave
Great answer! What was the point that gave you that year?
Much older than that. TV was invented in 1926, penicillin in 1928, and radar was used in WWII!
Hi Charly
A good point about radar!
With TV – although it was invented earlier, it was not in common use until much later. TV was first used here in Australia, for example, in the 1950s.
Regarding penicillin, according to wikipedia: “By June 1942, there was just enough U.S. penicillin available to treat ten patients”. Penicillin was not able to be mass produced well to be used as a drug until 1944. So given this, penicillin would not have been available to grandma until the mid-late 40s. TV would have been available to her even later.
So grandma is indeed younger than you might think!
Yogurt has been made and consumed for thousands of years, I’d venture. Probably just not in that young grandma’s experience. It was fun reviewing things I knew and used but had forgotten.
Yes well spotted Bonny! Wikipedia says thaqt Yogurt has been around for about 4000 years, but it only became popular in the US (where this article comes from) in the 1950s. It was first introduced to America in the first decade of the twentieth century.
You can read more interesting things about Yogurt here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoghurt