Race Schedule and Results

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

I feel old...

Every year for the last 13 years or so, the Beloit college makes a list about the entering college class.  It's always fun to read.  We live about two blocks from a college campus and every August, I'm reminded that I'm not getting any younger.  Here's this year's list... keep in mind that most people entering college this year were born in 1993.  Yikes.


The Mindset List for the Class of 2015:
Andre the Giant, River Phoenix, Frank Zappa, Arthur Ashe and the Commodore 64 have always been dead.
Their classmates could include Taylor Momsen, Angus Jones, Howard Stern's daughter Ashley, and the Dilley Sextuplets.
  1. There has always been an Internet ramp onto the information highway.
  2. Ferris Bueller and Sloane Peterson could be their parents.
  3. States and Velcro parents have always been requiring that they wear their bike helmets.
  4. The only significant labor disputes in their lifetimes have been in major league sports.
  5. There have always been at least two women on the Supreme Court, and women have always commanded U.S. Navy ships.
  6. They “swipe” cards, not merchandise.
  7. As they’ve grown up on websites and cell phones, adult experts have constantly fretted about their alleged deficits of empathy and concentration.
  8. Their school’s “blackboards” have always been getting smarter.
  9. “Don’t touch that dial!”….what dial?
  10. American tax forms have always been available in Spanish.
  11. More Americans have always traveled to Latin America than to Europe.
  12. Amazon has never been just a river in South America.
  13. Refer to LBJ, and they might assume you're talking about LeBron James.
  14. All their lives, Whitney Houston has always been declaring “I Will Always Love You.”
  15. O.J. Simpson has always been looking for the killers of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
  16. Women have never been too old to have children.
  17. Japan has always been importing rice.
  18. Jim Carrey has always been bigger than a pet detective.
  19. We have never asked, and they have never had to tell.
  20. Life has always been like a box of chocolates.
  21. They’ve always gone to school with Mohammed and Jesus.
  22. John Wayne Bobbitt has always slept with one eye open.
  23. There has never been an official Communist Party in Russia.
  24. “Yadda, yadda, yadda” has always come in handy to make long stories short.
  25. Video games have always had ratings.
  26. Chicken soup has always been soul food.
  27. The Rocky Horror Picture Show has always been available on TV.
  28. Jimmy Carter has always been a smiling elderly man who shows up on TV to promote fair elections and disaster relief.
  29. Arnold Palmer has always been a drink.
  30. Dial-up is soooooooooo last century!
  31. Women have always been kissing women on television.
  32. Their older siblings have told them about the days when Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera were Mouseketeers.
  33. Faux Christmas trees have always outsold real ones.
  34. They’ve always been able to dismiss boring old ideas with “been there, done that, gotten the T-shirt.”
  35. The bloody conflict between the government and a religious cult has always made Waco sound a little whacko.
  36. Unlike their older siblings, they spent bedtime on their backs until they learned to roll over.
  37. Music has always been available via free downloads.
  38. Grown-ups have always been arguing about health care policy.
  39. Moderate amounts of red wine and baby aspirin have always been thought good for the heart.
  40. Sears has never sold anything out of a Big Book that could also serve as a doorstop.
  41. The United States has always been shedding fur.
  42. Electric cars have always been humming in relative silence on the road.
  43. No longer known for just gambling and quickie divorces, Nevada has always been one of the fastest growing states in the Union.
  44. They’re the first generation to grow up hearing about the dangerous overuse of antibiotics.
  45. They pressured their parents to take them to Taco Bell or Burger King to get free pogs.
  46. Russian courts have always had juries.
  47. No state has ever failed to observe Martin Luther King Day.
  48. While they’ve been playing outside, their parents have always worried about nasty new bugs borne by birds and mosquitoes.
  49. Public schools have always made space available for advertising.
  50. Some of them have been inspired to actually cook by watching the Food Channel.
  51. Fidel Castro’s daughter and granddaughter have always lived in the United States.
  52. Their parents have always been able to create a will and other legal documents online.
  53. Charter schools have always been an alternative.
  54. They’ve grown up with George Stephanopoulos as the Dick Clark of political analysts.
  55. New kids have always been known as NKOTB.
  56. They’ve always wanted to be like Shaq or Kobe: Michael Who?
  57. They’ve often broken up with their significant others via texting, Facebook, or MySpace.
  58. Their parents sort of remember Woolworths as this store that used to be downtown.59.  
  59. Kim Jong-il has always been bluffing, but the West has always had to take him seriously.
  60. Frasier, Sam, Woody and Rebecca have never Cheerfully frequented a bar in Boston during primetime.
  61. Major League Baseball has never had fewer than three divisions and never lacked a wild card entry in the playoffs.
  62. Nurses have always been in short supply.
  63. They won’t go near a retailer that lacks a website.
  64. Altar girls have never been a big deal.
  65. When they were 3, their parents may have battled other parents in toy stores to buy them a Tickle Me Elmo while they lasted.
  66. It seems the United States has always been looking for an acceptable means of capital execution.
  67. Folks in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have always been able to energize with Pepsi Cola.
  68. Andy Warhol is a museum in Pittsburgh.
  69. They’ve grown up hearing about suspiciously vanishing frogs.
  70. They’ve always had the privilege of talking with a chatterbot.
  71. Refugees and prisoners have always been housed by the U.S. government at Guantanamo.
  72. Women have always been Venusians; men, Martians.
  73. McDonalds coffee has always been just a little too hot to handle.
  74. “PC” has come to mean Personal Computer, not Political Correctness.
  75. The New York Times and the Boston Globe have never been rival newspapers.
**I got this list from http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2015/.  If started college in the last 13 or so year, take a look at the website and see what your "Mindset List" was.  Mine was pretty interesting...**

So, does that make you feel old as well?  You’re welcome…

31 comments:

Jason said...

I will have to go back and finish reading this b/c the grey hairs started popping up as I was going through the list.

BUT

This one is crazy: Ferris Bueller and Sloane Peterson could be their parents becauseI love that movie.

Hey what happened to #71?

Big Daddy Diesel said...

Wow, ok, so now I have to do a post to make us feel better about this subject

Ya I feel old now.... sigh

Matty O said...

I hate you. Seriously had a hard time accepting some of these haha. crap.

Kristin Deaton said...

Jeeze what a buzz kill :-) yes we are old...But I like it that way!!!

Molly said...

Ha! Yep, it's pretty amazing to think of all the changes that have taken place in our lifetime that young kids take for granted - think about how much more history we still get to witness! :)

Unknown said...

old as dirt.

Kim said...

god we are so old.

Teamarcia said...

Older than dirt. But age is relative. I doubt when I'm 90 I'll look back and think I was so old right now.

Alisa said...

Oh man between reading this and finding out one of my co-workers was born in 1986---I am definitely feeling old today.

track coach and adorable wife said...

I have been feeling older and older all the time and this just sealed the deal! I can't believe it is almost time for my ten year reunion!

Anne-Marie said...

haha, that is a hilarious list!

My "baby" cousin turning 21 this summer makes me feel old!

One of my tri-training friends mentioned she was born in 1988 and I was like, 'oh man, I *remember* 1988'!

adena said...

Love it! Except i feel even older now.. um thanks?? haha

TriMOEngr said...

Attended my 20 year reunion this summer (and my husband's - different HS). Made me really take a moment to look at how the world has changed since 1991 (never mind that I graduated HS before the "mindset" group was BORN!) It does blow your mind. I saw one of these lists about 10 years ago and it was talking about how the group had never seen Big Macs come in styrofoam! LOL I remember thinking that was funny as I remembered when they first tried to sell them with these little posterboard rings around them with paper wrappers. I tell ya - 40 is looking SO YOUNG these days. And those 18 year olds? They look like BABIES!!

Jim ... 50after40 said...

I try to "think young" ... you just ruined that for today! Thanks! Where's my bran?

Heather-O said...

I feel even older after having visited that website and seeing that the year I started college is not even listed in the sidebar. It's kind of like when you get asked what year you were born when you register for something online and each year you have to scroll down further and further to find that date! I remember when it used to be towards the top of the list! Getting old sucks!

Molly said...

Since I watched ferris and sloan on vhs as a college freshman, yeah, I feel old!

Wes said...

You look old too :-) {DUCK AND COVER!}

Unknown said...

As old as it made me feel, those are fun. I don't think I am quite young enough to have one of those for when I started college, but when I graduated.

DRog said...

well just wait til you get to be MY age:)
haha

great list

Beal88 said...

Lol, great post!

Jon said...

We went to a quince annos this past spring. Oh man, those 14-15 year olds were litterally half our age and we sat at the "adults" table. Oh man.....it begins....

Caroline said...

well I am old enough to not be able to find MY list on this website...13 yrs ago I was almost your age dear!!!! it is all relative...this is pretty interesting...!

Unknown said...

I am stealing this LOL ... full credit will be given.

Ironman By Thirty said...

I have a 14 year old brother in law so I am constantly reminded how old I am getting.... and I'm not even 30 yet!

Alili said...

Awesome...add me to the old lady list. :)

Derek Hill said...

Thanks!! This was great

Caratunk Girl said...

Yeah. I feel OLD now!! haha

Jennie said...

Haha! I have a 14 year old brother. He alternately keeps me young and makes me feel like a fossil... depending on the day. :)

Richelle said...

I'm 27 and this list makes me feel old! So unfair!

The Unexpected Runner said...

I'm going to go yell at those darn kids to get off my lawn now. Then maybe I'll take a nap ;)

KC (my 140 point 6 mile journey) said...

The Ferris Bueller one makes me want to cry b/c it is sooooo true. That list is classic!
I just saw you post on FB this AM and since my phone is not cooperating with me so i can comment on fb, i hope you are ok after you crash yesterday. Sending you healing vibes Colleen. So sorry :(