Your Most Disturbing Realizations

[LizzieMaine]

Speaking of TV news, it's disturbing to realize that Walter Cronkite only did the CBS Evening News for nineteen years. Dan Rather did it for twenty four. There's an entire generation of adults alive now who were small children when Rather quit, and Cronkite is more remote a figure to them than H. V. Kaltenborn was to my generation.

 

[Trenchfriend]

But, to me:

Leonard Cohen is still alive, so:

LIFE'S GOOD!!

Hallelujah!!

 

[HudsonHawk]

Speaking of TV news, it's disturbing to realize that Walter Cronkite only did the CBS Evening News for nineteen years. Dan Rather did it for twenty four. There's an entire generation of adults alive now who were small children when Rather quit, and Cronkite is more remote a figure to them than H. V. Kaltenborn was to my generation.

I remember Walter Alston retiring as the Dodgers' manager, and that he'd been their manager since 1954...23 seasons, which was pretty much forever as far as I was concerned. Next season will make the 17th for Mike Scioscia as the Angels skipper, and he's only 58 years old. Do kids today really think of Scioscia the same way I thought of Alston?

 

[LizzieMaine]

What's really disturbing is that I still think of Scioscia as this young kid catcher who has yet to reach his full potential.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And speaking of baseball realizations, ponder this for a moment. One of Vin Scully's first assignments when he joined the Dodgers in the spring of 1950 was a spring training game against the Philadelphia Athletics, managed by Connie Mack -- who began his major league baseball career in 1886. Connie Mack retired at the close of the 1950 season, a doddering, senile old man, after 64 years in the game. Vin Scully is still an active broadcaster today -- and next season will begin his *67th* year at the Dodger microphone

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

I remember when Dave Garroway anchored the Today Show and John Cameron Swayze broadcast NBC's Camel News Caravan, which, as the title suggests, was sponsored by a tobacco company, another relic of TV's past.

 

[Trenchfriend]

"Married... with children/Al Bundy" is enormous popular in Germany (at least on men).

In 2017, we will realize, that the start of producing this series was THIRTY years ago!

 

[Fading Fast]

Similar to many of the above, it was a disturbing moment when Archie Manning's and Phil Simms' kids became pro quarterbacks and, now, the Manning boys aren't even young players. I remember the day the Giants drafted Phil Simms, hence, "how can his kid be playing in the pros!"

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

The weirdness works the other way, too. When I read that actress Oona Chaplin was Charlie Chaplin's granddaughter I thought surely this must be a mistake, they must mean great- or even great-great granddaughter. But it's true. Charlie was born in 1889 and Oona was born in 1987, when he would have been 98, had he lived. He married Oona O'Neil late in life, and their son likewise married late. Only two generations from the top silent star to the "Game of Thrones" actress.

 

[Harp]

* Veterans of the Second World War are to people living in the mid-2010s what Civil War veterans were to Americans living in the 1930s.

When I was a kid we had WWII vets in the 12th Special Forces. Many moons ago. One guy had been captured by the Germans and escaped. Long time past.

 

[filfoster]

to the OP, my most disturbing realization is that grown ups are not nearly as smart as I thought when I was young.
It may be that the grown ups then were, but the bar has moved lower since.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I remember when Dave Garroway anchored the Today Show and John Cameron Swayze broadcast NBC's Camel News Caravan, which, as the title suggests, was sponsored by a tobacco company, another relic of TV's past.

Speaking of Garroway, it is disturbing to realize that the last living member of the original "Today" show is J. Fred Muggs, who is alive and well and living in Florida.

 

[ChiTownScion]

I think the first time that historical perspective hit me was in 1977. I was in my first year of law school, and went back to visit my old university. I was chatting with a very cute little freshman gal, and the subject of JFK's assassination came up. Says she, "Oh yeah. We read about that in history class."

We're coming up on November 22 soon: JFK, if alive, would be 98 this year.

 

[GHT]

to the OP, my most disturbing realization is that grown ups are not nearly as smart as I thought when I was young.
It may be that the grown ups then were, but the bar has moved lower since.

Is it because that maybe the dumb kids you grew up with didn't morph into intelligent adults?
The realisation that I will hit seventy next birthday is disturbing enough. I'm a baby boomer, I don't do old. For goodness sake, I was a teenager when JFK was assassinated, when The Beatles were at the peak of their fame, when the UK were repealing ancient laws on sexuality and when LSD not only meant pounds shillings and pence. And in my head I am still that teenager, even though the rest of my body would argue differently.

 

[Redshoes51]

Trenchfriend said... "It's somehow strange, when I think about meeting my school-mates the first time on beginning of primary school. That was 1991, 24 years ago. Nearly quarter of a century."

Whippersnapper... try 1955...

~shoes~

 

[Stearmen]

Is it because that maybe the dumb kids you grew up with didn't morph into intelligent adults?
The realisation that I will hit seventy next birthday is disturbing enough. I'm a baby boomer, I don't do old. For goodness sake, I was a teenager when JFK was assassinated, when The Beatles were at the peak of their fame, when the UK were repealing ancient laws on sexuality and when LSD not only meant pounds shillings and pence. And in my head I am still that teenager, even though the rest of my body would argue differently.

A friend of mine said it best, "when I get on my Triumph Bonneville, I am an 18 year old fresh out of Parris Island!"

 

[Stearmen]

Don't know if it's disturbing but I notice when I read the news or watch it on TV the world keeps getting worse and worst. But when I look at my own life things keep getting better and better.

It's the 24/7 news cycle! They have to fill so much time, and bad sells. When I was a kid, I never heard if a girl was killed on a school bus in South Carolina, only if a train hit a bus and killed all the kids! The odds of you dying in a war are at an all time low, even if you are in the military. But you would not know that if you watch the news. But, like they say, 1000 planes landed safely today is not news!

 

[Trenchfriend]

Germany, the same.

Nowadays, we got not only silly season on summer, but spring, autum and winter, the hole must be filled, too.

"silly-season-stuff-service"

 

[Zombie_61]

...The realisation that I will hit seventy next birthday is disturbing enough. I'm a baby boomer, I don't do old. For goodness sake, I was a teenager when JFK was assassinated, when The Beatles were at the peak of their fame, when the UK were repealing ancient laws on sexuality and when LSD not only meant pounds shillings and pence. And in my head I am still that teenager, even though the rest of my body would argue differently.

One day when I was in my late teens I attended the birthday party of a good friend's uncle who was turning 30. Having been recently freed from high school and curious about what we might expect in our not-too-distant futures, my friend asked his uncle if he felt any different (as if 30 was some sort of milestone birthday). Without hesitation his uncle replied, smiling, "My mind is young and strong, but the body's tired." As often happens, that friend and I drifted apart as we grew older and pursued our respective lives, so I haven't seen him or his uncle in decades. But if I were able to ask his uncle the same question today, based on my own experiences I imagine his answer wouldn't be much different.

 

[Stearmen]

A few years back, I realized, if it wasn't for WWII, I would not be here! For most, it was because their Father went to a strange land (like England,) and married a native, for me it was different. My Grandfather died in 1944, and my Dad was sent home mid 1945. As you can imagine, being one of the few A1 males in that small town under the age of 40, he was in demand! My Mother did not give him the time of day before the war, but, when he came back, with silver wings on his jacket, his stock went up more then enough.