Friday Fun Quiz - Are you qualified for youth marketing?
I know I am guilty of it. Getting into the head of today’s youth gets harder and harder for every year you get older. Lucky I am immature and surround myself with teenagers and 20-somethings. Even if that does make me the “Creepy old dude”. Here a few things to remind you of your age and what it was like to be “young”.
- Your houseplants are alive, and you can’t smoke any of them.
- Having sex in a twin bed is out of the question. Having sex anywhere but in bed is out of the question.
- You keep more food than beer in the fridge and you actually buy vegetables.
- 6:00 AM is when you get up, not when you go to bed and not going to bed is not an option.
- You hear your favorite song in an elevator.
- You constantly have to explain pop culture references to your younger coworkers.
- You watch the Weather Channel to plan your day (or weekend).
- Your friends marry and divorce instead of “hook up” and “breakup.”
- You go from 130 days of vacation time to 14.
- Jeans and a sweater no longer qualify as “dressed up.”
- You’re the one calling the police because those %&@# kids next door won’t turn down the stereo.
- Older relatives feel comfortable telling sex jokes around you.
- You swear in front of your parents.
- You don’t know what time Taco Bell closes anymore.
- Your car insurance goes down and your car payments go up.
- You feed your dog “Science Diet” instead of McDonald’s leftovers.
- Sleeping on the couch makes your back hurt.
- You take naps.
- Dinner and a movie is the whole date instead of the beginning of one.
- Eating a basket of chicken wings at three in the morning would severely upset, rather than settle, your stomach.
- You go to the drug store for ibuprofen and antacid, not condoms and pregnancy tests.
- A good bottle of wine is no longer “Boone’s Strawberry Hill”
- You actually eat breakfast food at breakfast time.
- “I just can’t drink the way I used to” replaces “I’m never going to drink that much again.”
- Ninety percent of the time you spend in front of a computer is for real work.
- You drink at home to save money before going to a bar.
- When you find out your friend is pregnant you congratulate them instead of asking “Damn! What the hell happened?”
Bonus:
You read this entire list looking desperately for one sign that it doesn’t apply to you and can’t find one to save your sorry old butt.
So there you go. It’s not really my list. But I did modify it a little (cleaned up the language a little). Just a little reflection for me. Some of this I only stopped or started about 5 years ago. I usually don’t feel old, except when I had to explain to Kristen (our youngest designer) the humor of “The Greatest American Hero” - the premise of the show was completely without merit for her. A teacher with a super blond afro gets a super-suit from aliens that gives him super powers, but he loses the instruction manual. Then he teams up with an FBI agent to fight crime while still trying to live his life as a teacher. That is television GOLD! Fun for the whole family!
TV shows from the 80’s were cool. But that is a post for another Friday.
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Comments
Mary, you are so right. Especially when it is movies like that which were huge at the time. The soundtrack was #1, the movie was a hit, the music video was on MTV every hour (back when there were music videos on MTV).
I had to explain what a 45 record was the other day and what a “B-Side” track was (flip side of a record single). I am still pretty young but I remember this stuff that is basically Smithsonian fodder now.
Some things I was thinking about over the weekend. My mom’s 84 t-top mustang (does anyone even make t-tops anymore?). Everyone I know staying home to watch the premier of the Michael Jackson’s Thriller video. The A/B flip box for cable television. TV Remotes that made an audible “CLICK” when you pushed the button. My parents giving me their 8-track player when I was 10 years old because they got a new Hi-Fi. This explains my affection for mowtown by the way.
Pretty soon, as DSL becomes the only way to access the internet and wireless becomes more prevalent, explaining what a modem is will become a challenge.
“What was life like before the internet dad?”
::Sigh::
Right you are! And explaining the noise the modem used to make when you were connecting will be almost as believable as that shiny, rolled-up fax paper where the ink would disappear after a few years 
[...] the full story here This entry was posted on Thursday, October 11th, 2007 at 6:31 pm and is filed under fun quiz. You [...]
I realized I was old a few years ago when I had to explain to a fresh-out-of-school designer what “Romancing the Stone” meant when we used it as a headline for a magazine story.