That’s my meme for the day:
I’m so old I remember when flying helicopters was dangerous and shopping for groceries was safe.
A viral-ready version for the viral age:
I’m so old I remember when flying helicopters was dangerous and shopping for groceries was safe.
Along with all you’ve done, you’re also a helicopter pilot. Write whatever stupid stuff you feel like writing — you’re awesome, Philip Greenspun!!
All things considered, I wish I was back in 1987. Even with Black Monday tanking the stock market to the tune of 23%, IBM was still a computer company, the Intel 80387DX was a fast machine, Windows was still in Version 1.1 until December, the Internet was UUNET/CompuServe (not even AOL), 2400 baud N81 was fast, cellular phones were the size of a small suitcase, and the music! “Walk Like an Egyptian” was the #1 song, and look at the rest:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_1987
The Beastie Boys were in the Top 100!
Remember when music television (MTV) actually played music (good music!)? And NYC nightclubs clubs like “Paladium”, “Tunnel”, and “Limelight” hadn’t been turned into condos? And you could board an international flight plane without ID (true story – last minute biz trip)? And a family with a single salary could buy a median-price house?
@80’s: Motörhead at the Palladium, May 14, 1982. I have a souvenir from that show.
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/motorhead/1982/the-palladium-new-york-ny-33df0c31.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_HEPL7HBEA
People gonna make ya wonder if you’re right
Keep ya wide awake and worried late at night
Why don’t ya tell ’em to beat it
Why don’t ya tell ’em to eat it
Just a bunch of clowns
Don’t let ’em grind ya down
Sons of bitches, crocodile tears in their eyes
We scare ’em shitless just by showin’ up alive
Why don’t you tell ’em to shove it
They might as well love it
Give you runaround
Don’t let ’em grind ya down
Evil bastards ain’t got nothin’ else to do
Make your life a misery and put you off your food
Don’t you dare to go under
Don’t let ’em steal your thunder
Listen to the sound
Well let ’em grind that down
I’ll trade clown world for the 80’s anytime. I remember when low G demonstrations were in the Robinson syllabus and sex was safe.
Awaiting video of you shopping for groceries in your helicopter. If you wait until after the TP sells out, there should be plenty of empty space for landing in the mall’s parking lot.
Yeah, this “viral meme” is going to die quietly in a pangolin.
In times like these, having something to laugh about is essential, so thanks for this. I’ve just “shared” it on Facebook.
The American Condition, COVID-19 2020 Edition:
Throughout all this I’ve kept waiting to see some good news about the American can-do spirit, a glimmer of brilliance that would recall American resourcefulness and our legendary ability to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. I’m talking about something in the way of inventions or production that would give me a reason to think we’ve still “got it.” Days go by and that looks more and more like a pipedream. [I’m not trying to minimize the heroic efforts and sacrifices of people in hospitals, I’m talking about seeing something that would bring them relief, a signal that we really weren’t completely incompetent and incapacitated, laid low by a virus and at the mercy of the Chinese Communist Party for 90% of our medicine.]
Here’s the closest thing I could find. This is America in a nutshell in 2020:
A woman who runs a needle exchange nonprofit for heroin addicts in Utah(!) got the idea from her son(!) (who she describes as her “genius son”) to make face masks with little penises on them, so that when people get too close, she can tell them to “kindly back the f*ck up.* The first batch had to be made in China. She posted it on Facebook and it went viral.
https://nypost.com/2020/04/14/mom-wears-penis-face-mask-so-people-keep-their-distance/
So far, sales of her masks have raised approximately $60k for her charity helping drug addicts, HIV+ people, Hep. C, and others living through the collapse of the gig economy in Utah. Since she had the first batch made in China, it’s a fair bet they’ll soon be on Amazon as Chinese knockoffs, so Jeff Bezos’ army of precariat can pick, pack and ship them.
We may be in a “war”, but this ain’t 1944.
https://books.google.com/books?id=gyeo5xTDyXgC&lpg=PA3&dq=Boys+Life+April+1944&pg=PA29#v=onepage&q=Boys%20Life%20April%201944&f=false