How old is Grandpa???

[larrymeyer]

How old is Grandpa???


Stay with this -- the answer is at the end. It will blow you away.


One evening a grandson was talking to his grandfather about current events.
The grandson asked his grandfather what he thought about the shootings at schools, the computer age, and just things in general.

The Grandfather replied, 'Well, let me think a minute, I was born before:

' television

' penicillin

' polio shots

' frozen foods

' Xerox

' contact lenses

' Frisbees and

' the pill

There were no:

' credit cards

' laser beams or

' ball-point pens

Man had not invented:

' hose

' air conditioners

' dishwashers

' clothes dryers

' and the clothes were hung out to dry in the fresh air and

' man hadn't yet walked on the moon


Your Grandmother 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.

Serving your country was a privilege; living in this country was a bigger privilege.

We thought fast food was what people ate during Lent.

Having a meaningful relationship meant getting along with your cousins.

Draft dodgers were those who closed front doors as the evening breeze started.

Time-sharing meant time the family spent together in the evenings and weekends-not purchasing condominiums.


We never heard of FM radios, tape decks, CDs, electric typewriters, yogurt, or guys wearing earrings.

We listened to Big Bands, Jack Benny , and the President's speeches on our radios.

And I don't ever remember any kid blowing his brains out listening to Tommy Dorsey .

If you saw anything with 'Made in Japan ' on it, it was junk

The term 'making out' referred to how you did on your school exam.

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 a nickel.

And if you didn't want to splurge, you could spend your nickel on enough stamps to mail 1 letter and 2 postcards.

You could buy a new Chevy Coupe for $600, . . . But who could afford one?
Too bad, because gas was 11 cents a gallon.

In my day:

' '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,

' ' chip' meant a piece of wood,

' 'hardware' was found in a hardware store and

' 'software' wasn't even a word.




And we were the last generation to actually believe that a lady needed a husband to have a baby.
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 this old man in mind...you are in for a shock!

Read on to see -- pretty scary if you think about it and pretty sad at the same time.
Are you ready ?????










This man would be only 59 years old.

[psnyder]

Thats crazy. Weird almost when you think about it.

[RoyJackson]

I'm 59 and, although a lot of the things weren't invented or popularized in 1950, they were quite available in my early to mid-manhood.

Pot has been around for many many years and was legal up until about 1938, and was quite popular in my late teen years.
Rock music got it's start in the mid 1950's, when I was 5 years old.
Got my first PC training in 1982 (DOS back then, using BASIC on an Apple PC).

So, the OP may have been accurate 15-20 years (probably 30-50 years ago, actually) ago, in some regards, for a 59 year old man...but not in 2009.

I think I first read that "How Old is Grandpa" in Readers Digest in the mid 1960's. It's been around, with minor variations, for quite a while.

[Brick]

I would guess you're looking for "Grandpa" to be about our age. But some of the things in your post where around (though not "popularized") during the mid to late 1930's, some earlier. For example Clarence Birdseye's frozen foods patent was before 1929 and penicillin dates from 1928.

I hate to say it, but Grandpa has gotten older.