JCC You know you feel old when...

When you see this:

 

And it's not even an old phone booth. Certainly not the type that Clark Kent could change into Superman.

 

A student walk by and went to "Happy Rex Manning Day" to me since today is indeed Rex Manning Day. I asked her what is that from. Her response, "its trending on Twitter!"



That is why I did not wish her the same since....



Edit: Also Kurt Kobain's body was found twenty season years ago today. It's really hard to grasp that one. It really feels like yesterday I was in my high school weight room lifting for jock gym class (athletes in my high school were thrown in their own gym class) when the radio DJ on Q101 broke in with the announcement and could barely get the words out. Everyone just stop lifting and was silent for what felt like minutes.

 

I have the extended version of Empire Records on DVD and have been trying to talk my son into watching it. If you ever worked a retail job, especially in the 90's this is a must see! I have parts of this movie memorized.

 

I'm a 90s teen and I don't even know what the hell Rex Manning day is.

 

Well it's definitely a cult classic, but if you remember shopping at record stores or liked the gothic kids in the 90's, this is a fun watch. The movie is, Empire Records. Damn the man Save the Empire!

 

Agree @Runjedirun and they choose today to be "Rex Manning Day" to coincide with Kurt's body being found as the voice of the 1990's was regrettably lost. That movie is just a perfect capsule of time. Like you said, the clothes, the music, the attitude all of them had and like I said to a coworker today the share experience of being young hanging around a music store is just perfectly capsuled in that movie. I often tell students that if you really want to know what is like for me in high school, watch "Empire Records" and "Scream" though ignore the murder stuff LOL! And that shared communal experience has just been lost. Even corporate as all giddyap like Tower Records was more then a record store, it was a integral part of our life. It is where we hung out and listen to his music sometimes with complete strangers, it's where we race off to on our lunch break whenever a "big album" came out (and for us since it was the mid 90's it was all grunge era stuff like STP, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam etc) and while one of us would go to grab the album, the others would would run across the street to grab McDonald's as we order just a bunch of food and quickly eat in the school parking lot (or sometimes on the way back from school depending on how we were doing on time) before our next class listening to whatever album just came out, it's where we stood in line outside for concert tickets and even saw some artist play free shows at. All of that is now gone and sorry to sound like an old foggy but I do think that share experience being gone is leading to people especially young people of feeling distant and isolated. As I said many times to my students, music is supposed to be a shared experience that brings people together regardless of who they are and where they come from (one of my favorite quotes from Kurt Cobain is about that as he talked about he didn't care where someone came from that liked his music....we all have problems as he put it!) yet that cannot happen if were all at home listening to it digitally by ourselves or in our earbuds, pandemic aside. Part of me truly wishes that some equity group takes a stab at bring back Tower Records just like they are with Toys 'r' Us. Yes, Tower Records is corporate but I rather have that for young people to have that shared music experience then none at all

Going back to the movie, I totally have a lot of it memorized and sometimes even quote it which while my wife and I can go tit for tact with, some of my younger co-workers have no idea what I am quoting. Like today I took out a few quarters and pretended I was going to glue them to the carpet. The young teacher who was watching did not have a clue on what I was referencing. They so missed out LOL! And yes I did work in retail during the 90's as a teenager though it was at Blockbuster Video (btw if you not need it, watch The Last Blockbuster on Netflix if you can, it's fantastic!) but I wound up quitting after not even six months since I found a job as a porter at a used car lot which I absolutely loved. So I did have the great experience of working in retail during the mid-90's though my experience was a mix of Randall in "Clerks" meets Randy in "Scream".

 

...first thing in a morning you come down the stairs both feet on each step like a toddler.

 

@Luke02 I went to high school jail, we could not leave for lunch. You had to sign your name on a list if you went to the bathroom between classes! I am so glad I don't live near that school and my kids won't experience that. However, I still like GA concerts, people line up, especially for Hanson. Most Hanson fans have memories of buying one last ticket in person for the '98 Albertane Tour, after that it's been all online purchases, but at least with the small venues and GA shows we get to bond in line all day. That's how I have made some of my best friends.

I worked at Borders which was a fun place to shop and work, but corporate was clueless and just handed the keys of their stores to Amazon. Even in the early '00's we had no website. Or if we did you couldn't shop there. I also worked at Finish Line (shoes not music) and Starbucks. I have had soooo many jobs!

Another music lover's movie is Wayne's World I and II. I was surprised to know how much Zac Hanson knows about those movies, but it's mostly because of the music represented in them and since music is his job he loves music, all music.

 

@Runjedirun Outside of off campus lunch, I was in high school jail as well. Couple of the highlights or lowlights I should say include a stuffy dress code, church at least once a month (it was a Catholic High School so no getting out of that), teachers slamming doors in your face if the ball ring before you got in the room (which if it happened more then once meant an automatic after school detention for being tardy twice, no exceptions), brothers and priests (again Catholic High School) walking around with yardsticks which while they had move past the point they would really hit them with it, they would certainly whack your desk or something if they did not think you were paying attention, religious classes all four years which include one year reading the entire Bible from cover to cover (Old Testament during the fall and then the New Testament in the spring), detention being a time to not do your homework but rather write an essay or perhaps read a Bible passage and then write about it depending on what the person overseeing detention that day wanted you to write about and if it wasn't up to their requirement, you had a detention all ready to go the next day so you get to do it all over again (I only had one detention in high school and that was for a frickening dress code violation!), mandatory prayers during Lent in the Chapel or auditorium (you had to sign up for that and yes they definitely check to see you went or you guess it automatic detention), etc. We were aloud to use the bathroom between classes without signing up for that but again the teachers would slam the door in your face the moment the bell rang and a few even had a strict no bathroom policy once class began. "You have plenty of time to go between classes" they would say which is utter bull because we were not allowed to carry backpacks around obviously therefore you to often run to your locker to change out books and stuff then hurry to your next class much of the time unless you want to lug around like 4 textbooks or something. And obviously no food or drink in the classroom. Only place you were allowed to eat was the cafe and yes even gum chewing warranted a detention.

And yet at the same time we were allowed as upperclassmen to go off campus for lunch if we wished (and had our parents permission) but not only did you have to be in good academic standing (which in their mind was a 2.5 out of 4.0 GPA) but also no detentions or anything like that outstanding. I guess it was good motivation to keep your grades up and stay out of trouble even though the school lunches were one of the few good things about my high school as it was all homemade and the lunch ladies were good cooks. And along with off campus lunch for upperclassmen, you were allowed as an upperclassmen to go outside during your lunch/free period when it was nice outside behind the cafe in this quad area where there were some picnic tables and stuff set up (when it was warm) but you were also allowed to play Hacky Sack (I wonder how many get that reference) and well smoke. And not only would the teachers not care if you were smoking, some would even come out and smoke with us (though I never smoke but would be hanging out with some people who did). Heck a few even would bum cigarettes off us! I once talk about all that with a classmate of mine years later after we graduated. How in the world were they so strict with us and yet at the same time outside smoking with us as we played Hacky Sack and hung out? Only thing she and I could come up with is that it was a different world plus perhaps some of the teachers realized that were too strict with us and only following it because that is what the administration wanted. Certainly not an education I want for my kids therefore they will never go near my old high school really but I do not hold ill will towards them. My high school years were not horrible just to quote Forrest Gulp very confusing which helps explain why I became a high school teacher.

LOL! I remember Border Books as we used to hang out there but that was more like my college years and post graduation. I think everyone worked retail when they were young at some point but Blockbuster Video was actually my only real retail job. I worked at a gym for most of my college years (both on campus and then near home on breaks) and was a summer day camp counselor for a few years which yes every single stereotype about that job is true, at least when I was one. I honestly think working in customer service/retail is good for young people. Most jobs/careers in existence are primarily customer service therefore it is a good crash in it. About the only job I ever had that did not feel like customer service in some form or another (and yes being a teacher is definitely customer service a lot of the time, ever meet an enraged parent LOL!) was working at the car lot since pretty much all I did was clean cars and drive them off to get detailed before coming back. I loved that job LOL!

And Wayne's World I & II are so in my wheel barrier. I mean come on I was a teenager outside in the Chicago suburbs when that was popular (I believe I was in 8th grade when the first movie came out) so of course Wayne's World is like gospel to me!

 

When's the first time you felt old? Years ago my old band played a gig and after our set somebody on the audience came up to me and said, "it's cool that you guys are still doing this at your age!" At the time nobody in my band was older than 28!

 

When I realized a candidate for GOAT in Tennis, that guy who'd already won 11 Grand Slams on every surface but clay, was 7 months younger than me

It's gotten better since. Now I could be the father of the Tour de France's reigning champion

 

When you realize the Undertaker is well and truly retired and won't be at WrestleMania.

 

And we'd seen him debut, too...

 

Yup.

 

As long as Tom Brady doesn't retire someone in pro sports will be a year older than me, so I'm still young.

 

When I read Michael Jordan was going to be a grandfather was one moment I remember feeling old. Being at my twenty year reunion from high school was another. And the big one? When I started being called "Sir" and in particular "Mr. My Last Name". That is when I knew I got old and honestly is part of the reason why the kids call me by a nickname instead of my real last name since every time I look someone calls me by my last name, I want to turn around and go "When did you get here dad? I just assume my dad is standing behind me and that is who they are referring to instead of me.

@Runjedirun that is a good one as I always used Tiger Woods as my eternal youth stick since he graduated two years ahead of me in high school. Even with all the injuries and stuff, I always would go, "Hey he is two years older then me and chasing down Jack Nicklaus so I am still young!".

 

I remember it like it was yesterday.

 

I literally had never heard of Rex Manning before this thread today (and now all of a sudden I see people talking about Rex Manning Day all over social media).

I have no idea if this makes me feel old or young.

 

I haven't heard of Rex Manning either.

 

When you had to look up what NFT means.

 

Should I ask, or leave it filed under "Didn't want to know that"?

 

I'm still not totally sure. Cryptocurrency for art, or something like that?

 

This song is almost 20 years old...

 

Describing a job as "paper pusher" is met with a blank look.