Just a few observations about teenagers and misconceptions about life. I became a teenager in 1966, got married in 1970 and dropped out of high school. Just the facts there.
When I was a teenager:
We weren’t allowed to wear jeans to school. Only “coordinating pant suits”.
We weren’t allowed to wear PANTS to school until I reached high school.
We didn’t have air conditioning in classrooms until high school, and then only the “new” wing had a/c.
At our house we had “swamp coolers” which don’t work well in high humidity. Finally got a window a/c unit to cool the living room and kitchen. Not the bedrooms.
I wasn’t allowed to date until I was 16. Curious how I ended up married at 17, huh?
On dates, I wasn’t allowed to go to the movies, or to dances. Still curious how I ended up married at 17?
I learned to drive in a portable building full of simulators. Kinda like a gigantic video game.
Video games had not been invented yet, so driver’s ed in the simulator, was just … driver’s ed.
The only phones we had were wired into the wall in a very open place of the house. Conversations were never private.
The word “cell” was rarely heard outside of science class or the county jail. The word “Text” was the first half of “textbook”….
Dragging Main Street was great entertainment on the weekends if you were lucky enough to have a car.
Gasoline was about 22 cents a gallon then.
LBJ was not a freeway in Dallas. Richard Nixon was elected President of the United States.
Yes, he really was a crook after all.
On Saturdays we washed our hair, rolled it on brush rollers, sat under a hood dryer until our ears burned bright red.
For really special occasions, we would go to the beauty shop for a fancy “up-do”. I have pictures to prove this. 🙂
Just normal everyday people, had gun racks in their truck’s rear window, with real guns hanging on them.
No special gun license was needed. Most people had common sense. Most. I am from Texas, after all.
I thought people over 30 were ancient and didn’t know anything about my life.
I was wrong. Everyone has been a teenager.
These are just a few things that come to mind, some of the differences between then and now. I work with a lot of teenagers and I hear a lot of the same complaints I made way back then in the prehistoric age. Please share your thoughts with me!
texastwangdebi 