Feeling Old

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Some things to consider:

Are you feeling old? If not, consider this: The people who are starting college this fall across the nation were born in 1980.

- The Iranian hostage crisis occurred before they were conceived. - They have no memory of a time before M-TV.

- "New Wave" is their PARENTS' musical generation.

- Cyndi Lauper, Boy George, the Pretenders, the Kinks, the Sex Pistols -- are all old music they have heard of, if they have heard of it at all.

- They have no meaningful recollection of the Reagan era.

- They were prepubescent when the Persian Gulf War was waged.

- If they have heard the name "Oliver North," it was probably as a losing Congessional candidate, or perhaps in some obscure survey history text's reference, such as might be made to Huey Long or Teapot Dome.

- Black Monday 1987 is a significant to them as the Great Depression.

- Their world has always included AIDS.

- Having not lived through the Disco Scare, they can romanticize the 1970s.

- They see "Family Ties" as something middle aged ladies watch.

- They watched "Star Wars" years ago, when they were kids -- on video.

- Atari predates them, as do vinyl albums and cassette audiotapes.

- From their earliest years, a camera was something you used once and threw away.

- As far as they know, stamps have always cost about 32 cents.

- The oil crisis is history or which they probably know nothing--and why anyone WOULDN'T buy a suburban is beyond them.

- Most of them have probably never seen a real nun, even if they went to Catholic schools.