Joe and Jahna: 12 Things Jahna Never Had to Do
Kids today, what do they know?
There will always be generation gaps and there will always be things that the younger generations will never have to experience.
I'm old enough to be Jahna's, well, much older brother. So, we have lived in different times.
I put together this list of things Jahna never experienced and never will:
1. Wait to use the phone.
No one had or carried their own phone! If you wanted to call someone (which was the only way to contact someone other than in-person, or by letter) you had to wait to use the phone. At home? There was one phone - usually in the kitchen. You had to wait to use it. Were you at school? You could use the phone in the office if you were sick and had to call your mom for a ride home. Away from home? Payphone. Do you have a quarter? (Used to be a dime.) If there was someone else on the phone, you have to just stand there and wait.
2. Stand in line for gas.
No, not like the three people ahead of you at Wawa.
In the 1970s there were a couple of gas crises. There would often be dozens of cars in line. Sometimes there were rules - like you had to have an odd license plate number to get gas today, and an even number tomorrow!
3. Duck and Cover.
School shootings? Never heard of them.
In the 1950s and 60s (maybe in the 70s too) we had BOMB DRILLS in our schools. Duck and Cover. If there was a bombing raid or nuclear attack, you'd have to know which interior hallway of the school to crouch down in and cover your head. By the way, there never were any attacks.
4. Hitchhiking.
If your car broke down you were stranded, or if you just wanted to go somewhere and didn't have a car, you hitchhiked.
You stood by the side of the road, hoping a stranger would stop and pick you up. Yes, a stranger.
Oh, sure there were stories of people who got attacked or murdered, but, well, whatever.
5. We learned the metric system.
Yep, feet, inches, and miles were all going out the door and we had to learn meters, liters, and other weird measurements.
We were ready, it just never happened.
6. We got to smell ditto paper.
Before there were copy machines, if you wanted a copy of something, it was a process. And, everything came out purple. Oh, but the smell -----
7. Our parents made us go outside and play.
It wasn't an option. "If you don't have anything to do outside, I'll give you something to do!" (Like pulling weeds in the garden.)
8. Get up and change the TV channel.
Unless your parents were well off, the only TV remote control in the house was you. If your TV had been through it enough, the knobs fell off and you had to use a pair of needle-nose pliers.
9. We took selfies!
Wait. What?
There were little photo booths in the malls and arcades where you and your friends could put a quarter in a jam inside for a few photos. If you were lucky, it was just you and your favorite girl.
10. Everyone smoked.
Everyone smoked. People smoked everywhere. Inside, outside, at a table in front of you, in restaurants, doctor's offices, and even on airplanes. I had a smokers' lounge -for students - in high school! Everything you owned smelled like smoke. If your parents smoked in the house, your ways had a yellow tinge to them.
Think about trying to ask someone not to smoke? Hahaha! That's funny!
11. No seat belts, no helmets.
What the hell was a bike helmet? We didn't know. We never saw one.
Seat belts were optional. If your dad was handy with a knife, he probably just cut the damn things out of the car.
12. We recorded things on the radio.
Did you want your own music? There weren't downloads or YouTube. There were records and tapes - and you didn't have money to waste on them! If you were lucky, you had a cassette recorder and you managed to tape your favorite songs off the radio.
Times change!