I'm so old I Remember when:

[EmmaDonovan]

 

[EmmaDonovan]

 

[EmmaDonovan]

 

[MROO]

Wow. Congratulations!
Nobody would ever give me a medal for physical fitness, but I was like a little monkey on those ropes and could easily get up to the very top and hang out!

You just ricocheted me back to Junior High! I have a rather long story, but it was fun to recall:

Unless I was sitting on a horse I was never what you would call the athletic type. I was fit, but the coordination for sports just wasn't there. Thinking back reminds me of Junior High PE. Gymnastics was the only unit I excelled in, and that was limited to a handful of apparatus - unparallels, the vaulting horse and the balance beam (NOT that blasted rope!) I guess my equestrienne activities paid off, because I ended up as a "second" on the beam with our competition team. Luckily, our two top performers were healthy enough that I never actually had to compete. I think I would have choked in front of judges!

I was SO bad in softball that team captains fought over me ... as in who got stuck! Rather than keeping me from constantly holding up the game with errors and "I got it, I got, I got it ... ooops" or warming the bench (and tempers on both sides) our PE teacher made a truly genius move. She taught me how to score properly. I REALLY studied those rules! I could code the rise and direction of each hit, which players handled the ball and in what order, record the type of out or error made - all within the space of those tiny little, corner-halved boxes. By the time the unit was done, I'd gone from being the biggest liability to the one everyone turned to when it was time to review the game. I even got recruited by my Dad's Slo-Pitch team to keep score at "official" games. It did wonders for my confidence - I got an A in that unit!

Of course, that was back in the days when teachers could actually teach to a child's abilities. Nowadays, everybody has to either play adequately or fail - or bars get lowered enough so everyone can pass.

So there it is - an un-derailing for the thread:
I'm so old I remember when ... teachers could (and were allowed to) work with a child's strength instead of evaluating their weaknesses - teaching to the ability, not to "The Test."

NOTE TO ADD - Before anyone comes after me for kicking teachers, I work in the public school system. The teachers are all amazing and do everything they can to help each child succeed to the very best of their own abilities. It's the SYSTEM that's broken!

 

[MROO]

My landline is on a UPS for constant power. It works even if the tower is having problems and they do where I am.

What happens if you dial 911 from an address a few doors down? Can they determine exactly which residence you are calling from? I don't know... If so Big Brother is getting good.

I remember when ... Cold War fears were purely speculation. In today's world, Big Brother has already appropriated the personal data and is actively recruiting technology for its use. We can only hope and pray that it will be used with great discretion and not shared with private sector interests.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

 

[EmmaDonovan]

This was my Saturday morning favorite show, accompanied by a bowl of peanut butter Cap'n Crunch cereal.

Fun fact: Cap'n Crunch's full name is Horatio Magellan Crunch.

 

[Sally PB]

I was SO bad in softball

I was SO bad, period. When choosing sides, it was a toss up as to who would be picked last: A girl who had been badly burned as a child and (physically) couldn't run; a girl who was morbidly obese; or Sally-the-klutz who couldn't throw, run, bat, hit, dribble, or any of the other physical things necessary to play any team sport.

Too bad we didn't have any shooting sports. In my 30s, I took up Bullseye Pistol shooting and I can hit a target about 3" in diameter with a handgun, one handed, at 50 yards, with my non-dominant hand.

 

[jxp]

Those that can, do. Those that can't _____.

 

[Cebarmlds]

I was not good at team sports either, never chosen for a team until there wasn't anyone else left! But I could do sit-ups and the other physical fitness requirements. Don't forget burpees