College freshman

bsa

Each year the staff at Beloit College in Wisconsin puts together a list to try to give the faculty a sense of the mindset of this year's incoming freshmen. Here's this year's list:

The people who are starting college this fall across the nation were born in 1985. They are too young to remember the space shuttle blowing up.

Their lifetime has always included AIDS.

Bottle caps have always been screw off and plastic.

The CD was introduced the year they were born.

They have always had an answering machine.

They have always had cable.

They cannot fathom not having a remote control.

Jay Leno has always been on the Tonight Show.

Popcorn has always been cooked in the microwave.

They never took a swim and thought about Jaws.

They can't imagine what hard contact lenses are.

They don't know who Mork was or where he was from.

They never heard: "Where's the Beef?", "I'd walk a mile for a Camel", or "de plane Boss, de plane".

They do not care who shot J. R. and have no idea who J. R. even is.

McDonald's never came in Styrofoam containers.

They don't have a clue how to use a typewriter.

Do you feel old yet?

HRsage

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 03-09-04 AT 04:38PM (CST)[/font][br][br]>They don't know who Mork was or where he was
>from.

That explains why I always get a blank stare whenever I say to a newhire, "Nanu-nanu." x:D

Cinderella

I hate to be a pest - but the way this is worded is a bit irksome to me. A lot of folks don't have cable or answering machines, etc, etc.

It would be funnier if the statements were less judgemental (i.e. instead of "They cannot fathom not having a remote control" try "Since they were born, TV's have come standard with remote controls"). Again, I hate to be a pest or a party pooper, and I understand that it IS pretty weird to think about how different things are for different generations, but I tire of the "let's look down at the youngin's" attitude. No offense BSA.

rad

I remember telling my nephew that we did not have remote controls when I was young, he really thought I was joking. He could not imagine having to get up and change the channel. When I was little we did not have wet wipes, my Nana used to keep a wet face cloth in a baggie for quick clean ups when we were out.

System

I think you're being a little too sensitive. Judgemental? I thought it was factual. It's not looking 'down,' it's looting 'at.' No two generations are the same. We boomers laugh at ourselves all the time (it hides the fact we can't remember, I think . . ) Who were we talking about?

JudyT929

Doesn't make me feel old, more like blessed. But I don't remember McDonalds coming in styrofoam containers but then again I probably didn't go to a McDonalds until I was in my 30s.

Parabeagle

Some things from my past that I doubt will spark a glimmer of recognition in most below 35...

carbon paper
onionskin
typing eraser
thermal paper
correction tape (the paper kind)
slide rule
vacuum tubes in the TV (and the tube tester down at the local store so you could see which tube in your TV burned out)
fuse boxes
6.5 oz Coke in little glass bottles

...am I dating myself yet? x;-)

Whatever

Rotary telephone dials
Telephone numbers that started with letters
School clothes and separate play clothes
Clothes and sheets that had to be ironed and how great they smelled afterwards.

rad

I'm 34 and I remember some of these.

I also remember smelling the newly copied papers as soon as they came off the mimeograph machine at school. Loved that smell, little did we know we were killing brain cells!

System

You forgot papyrus.

LarryC

I still have my old slide rule that I used in college. My kids think I'm a genius for ever being able to figure it out, let alone use it. Remember how, on humid days, it would become almost impossible to use? It also served as a good place to write down crib notes for exams and could be instantly wiped clean if the prof happened to amble by.

LarryC

"Telephone numbers that started with letters".

Remember BEECHWOOD 4-5789

LeslieC

I LOVED the smell of mimeographed papers. Do you remember the teacher having us wave them in the air to get the ink dry before we started writing on them (otherwise, they'd get all smudged)? And hand cranking the machine to make the copies? Now you all know how OLD I am !!

HRQ

You were born in the 80's, weren't you Cinderella? x;-)

Love your Profile photo, by the way. x:D

Parabeagle

Wasn't that The Shirelles?

HRQ

Pookiebeagle, I'm just short of 35 and I remember all but onionskin. What IS that?

LeslieC

"Beechwood 7-5309"
some guy just tried to "sell" that phone number on the internet. They did a report on the news explaining to people that no one can sell a phone number, it was a scam...
my kids will grow up not knowing what life was like before the internet.

Parabeagle

Onionskin was a flimsy, thin, transluscent paper that became your "carbon copy" when you typed something. You placed carbon paper behind the typing paper and the onionskin behind the carbon.

Next lesson - we'll learn how to build a shelter using only stone tools and palm fronds. x;-)

HRQ

When I was little, my mom told me that as a kid she used to sit on big rocks (think Flintstones) because furniture didn't exist yet.

I believed her.

FunHRBanker

I always love those "You know you're a child of the 80s when..." type of things. How true!

Cinderella

Nope, I was born in 77.

LeslieC

>Nope, I was born in 77.


oh my... I graduated in '77. I've been working as long as you've been alive.. scarey...

Parabeagle

Wow! When you were born I'd already been in the service for two years (actually helping people sign up for a Masters program in something called "human resources" at Gonzaga U.)! That's spooky! x:o

Cinderella

I am 26 and I remember all of those things except thermal paper and slide rules.

Of course, maybe this is because my parents were 41 and 53 when I was born.

Cinderella

It's okay with me if you think I'm being a little too sensitive. I'm usually "a lot too sensitive" but not so much on the forum. I get sick and tired of being told that my generation "has it so easy" and that we're "lazy" and we "don't know the value of a dollar" and blah blah blah. The original post didn't say those things specifically, but the tone reminded me of the babble that occurs so often. That's why I mentioned it.

System

I remember when my Dad bought our first remote-control TV. It only had two buttons, and it was attached to the TV with a long cord that we always tripped over, yanking it out of the TV. But, hey - it was remote control!

Now my TV is a little more modern, but it's still older than these freshmen.

James Sokolowski
HRhero.com

System

Lighten up. All generations have their stigmas. My parents' generation lived through the war and the depression and had to walk three miles to school with snow up to their knees - the boomers were lucky to have food on their plate.

The boomers staged liberal demonstrations all over the country, burning their bras, holding rock concerts, protesting the war, and smoked dope at 'love-ins' shouting 'Peace, Love, and Rock-n-Roll.'

We spoiled the gen-x'ers and gave them everything we didn't have.

Don't let general statements like these cramp your style - they're general statements. I kept my bras and didn't spoil my kids.

Ignore what people say and continue to make a difference.

Cinderella

The funny thing is, is that MY father lived through the depression and was IN WWII. My mother was born at the tail end of the depression, put baked potatoes in her pockets to keep her warm on the way to school (in Minnesota), and didn't live in a home with an indoor toilet until she went to COLLEGE.
My point is, my parents are NOT boomers. They are boomer's parent's ages and I'm 26.

I'm not letting general statements cramp my style, I'm stating an opinion. You don't agree with my opinion and that is fine.

Safety Witch

In an attempt to get my son to mow the lawn with a power-mower, I told him I used to use a push mower. Even bought one to show him how they worked. He wasn't impressed. Said it was cruel and unusual punishment to make your kid use a push mower!

That was when he was Beaver Cleaver's age.

He's now 28.

System

Cinderella, let me try to clear this up. Nothing I said was intended to be derogatory, perhaps I should have chosen different phrases. You weren't stating an opinion, you were expressing your feelings by saying you were "sick and tired" of some negative qualities attributed to your generation. Yes, that's your right. But more important than the tags placed on a generation are those by which an individual is known by. You are an individual with the good fortune of being raised with a set of values that are foreign to MOST other 26 year olds. All I was saying was to stop fretting about what people say unless they're talking about you. My lesson here is to butt out and not offer advice when it wasn't asked for in the first place.

sonny

I have seen this or similar many times. Never once did it occur to be that it was "looking down at young ins" It has always been my take that it is just demonstrates how much the world and techonology has changed in a relatively short period of time. Just my take on it. .