I'm a 30-something, and havent experienced much more than the general membership here, I'm sure, but I get the most amazing "stop and think about this for a second...." moments when I consider how much our world has changed over the lives of us all.
For me - I've lived without a cell phone. I was in high school when people who had pagers were considered to be drug dealers. I grew up with Oregon Trail in my teens. Most people didn't have computers at home. The mountain I lived on didn't have cable TV, so we had only 3 channels. Our roads weren't paved, and Saturday afternoons were spent jumping into the river swinging off vines. Call waiting and caller ID were a really big deal, but we didn't get them because they cost more money.
My grandma tells me they didn't have wheelchairs. She was a nurse in her white cap and skirt and tights. She had an alcoholic, abusive husband at a time when that was shameful to even mention. My grandpa tells me no one on his street had a TV. It was a really big deal when someone got one, and everyone whispered about it.
My 90-something patient told me about how so much of healthcare took place at home because you really, really had to be messed up for mom to go get the horses and carriage ready to go to the doctor. She got in big trouble once when she broke her arm falling from a tree.
What have you lived through? What pieces of history stay with you?
Specializes in Critical Care, Med-Surg, Psych, Geri, LTC, Tele,.
All us kids read the Goosebumps series of books when I was a tween.
Goosebumps, by RL Stine was more for my little sister (1982). I loved some of RL Stine books but soon moved on to Christopher Pike, Dean R Coonts (spelling?) and Stephen King in elementary school.
But yup, sweet valley high was a favorite! As were baby sitters club!
Specializes in Med nurse in med-surg., float, HH, and PDN.
Goosebumps, by RL Stine was more for my little sister (1982). I loved some of RL Stine books but soon moved on to Christopher Pike, Dean R Coonts (spelling?) and Stephen King in elementary school.
But yup, sweet valley high was a favorite! As were baby sitters club!
It's Koontz.
I'm from further back; does anyone remember Honey Bunch, Trixie Beldon, The Bobbsey Twins, The Boxcar Children?
I wanted to and used to pretend that I lived in a boxcar, which was actually an enclosed space under a tall set of stairs. Went dump-picking to furnish needed items, like the boxcar kids did.
After I saw Swiss Family Robinson, I soooooo wanted a tree house.
Specializes in MCH,NICU,NNsy,Educ,Village Nursing.
I remember (barely) the Russian Missile Crisis and my dad and mom talking about whether or not we should get a bomb shelter.
I remember the day JFK was killed.
I remember going to the Catholic Mass for JFK at my best friend's church (an interesting experience for this Baptist!).
I remember our first television set and the very few shows that were on (I think there were maybe half a dozen).
I remember the only computers that existed were things of gigantic proportion--they filled a room.
I remember my husband telling me that one day (so he heard) those room sized computers would be small enough to fit onto a desk.
I remember vinyl records and 8 tracks.
I remember the day Ricky Nelson died.
I remember wearing a cap in clinicals and on my first job (until someone, with great wisdom, deemed it not necessary since we were in the newborn nursery and our caps often hit the bed warmers).
I remember when white support hose and white oxford shoes were part of the required uniform.
I remember when our hospital introduced rooming in for moms and newborns.
I remember rotary phones and knobs on TV sets being the only way to change channels. I remember rabbit ears to "enhance" reception.
Now, if I can just remember where I put my glasses so I can read the book on my kindle---I remember real books.
I remember taking a roll of film to get developed.
I remember playing outside until it got dark with the neighbor kids.
I remember going to watch cartoons and instead saw 9/11 change the world.
I remember mobile phones were for business people with corporate jobs. And the phones were.. Phones.
I remember dial up internet people...
Gosh yes to all of these...except watching Aladdin on VHS was with my kid [yes, I'm that old!].
Our first microwave oven was a big deal, Mom and Dad argued over the expense, over $400.00...Mom won.
The first VCR, another argument between Mom and Dad over the expense, it was over $600.00..Dad won and that was our family Christmas gift that year.
Camera film! I found a few rolls I never developed last year. I couldn't find any place to develop it that didn't cost way more than I was willing to pay so I just tossed them, I figured the pictures wouldn't turn out after sitting in a drawer so long anyway.
All the neighborhood kids played out side, the rule was be in by dark. If a parent needed their kid they would just yell out the door and the call would be passed down from house to house until eventually that kid got the message and went home.
I was an adult when 9/11 hit, got done working nights and turned on the TV...like many others at first I didn't think it was real. The scandal of my childhood was Watergate.
Cell phones and pagers were for doctors or drug dealers...more drug dealers than doctors used them I'm thinking. When they went mainstream, I just had to have one! My first "mobile phone" was a bag phone, the carrier was Airtouch.
Our first computer had I think a 4 GB hard drive and Windows OS before they even started naming Windows with the version number. And being able to afford AOL and Earthlink was a big deal, boy did I think we were rich because we had both.
And music. Albums, reel to reel, 8 track tapes...then came the amazing advance of cassettes! Then the "boom boxes" and Sony Walkman. I doubt if a lot of the people I work with would even know what an 8 track was if I handed one to them. I think there might actually still be a box of them along with a player in my Mom's basement. Nostalgia might require that I dig it out to see if it still works.
The really mind boggling discussions come from some of my interactions with my residents. Imagine the tales a lady that's 104 years old can tell. She lived through electricity in the home being a big deal.
China Beach. I loved McMurphy. Didn't anyone watch China Beach?
Oh..and in the late 60s early 70s there was a show about a black nurse named Julia. I had Julia Colorforms.
Love China Beach! It finally came out on DVD, not a bad price for the whole series...on sale for about $120 at several retailers. I think I'll buy it after payday.
CT Pixie...thanks for reminding me of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom followed by the Disney movie. My favorite night of the week! My best friend and I arguing over who was cuter...Shaun Cassidy or Parker Stevenson. She liked Parker, Shaun was OK but I was always a David girl. Loved, loved the Partridge Family. Teen Beat magazine and posters on the wall of the "hunk" of the day. I went from Leif Garrett to Andy Gibb. Still sad at what became of them in later years.
The fashion and styles, oh my! Farrah Fawcett to Dorothy Hamill to "big hair." I still think the ozone layer was destroyed by the vast clouds of Auqa Net hair spray we used. Leg warmers...which are sadly coming back! They look no better now than they did then. The Dynaasty and Falcon years, cripes we wore bigger shoulder pads than NFL players all in the name of looking good.
I love the old family pictures with the men in their polyester golf pants and polo shirts, complete with white patent leather belt and shoes. And the Miami Vice influenced pastels and shoes without socks. The 80's hair bands where the guys wore more makeup, hairspray and spandex than the girls [and we girls thought that was sexy!]. Just goes to show it's not only the ladies with questionable fashion sense.
QuietRiot
292 Posts
So I'm in my 20s so I don't have anything as interesting as you guys..
But I do remember getting in trouble for making long distance calls.
I also remember my mom giving me a calling card when I went away to summer camp.