Natty
Questions
Q: How old were you when you first started working?
Q: What profession did you work in?
Q: How many hours did you have to work each week?
Q: What was your average salary per week? What was minimum wage then?
Q: How much did various items cost compared to these days.
Q: How have the roles of men and women changed in society and in the workplace?
Q: What work was most common on those days? How does this compare to now?
Q: What tools did you use to do your job?
Q: What was the most tedious part of your job?
Q: What new technology did you struggle with most?
Q: What changes have you seen in the way people work? How have offices, factories, farms and other places of work changed?
Q: Do you feel like modern technology has replaced your job?
Q: When did you get your first car? What was it like?
Q: What was it like to be a teenager then? What were common leisure activities for teens?
Q: How have peopleâs homes changed since you were a teenager?
Q: What appliances that are common in homes now did not exist at that time?
Q: How has the education system changed?
Q: When did you first see a television set, a jet airplane, a videotape recorder, a
Q: How did they know what was going on without the internet, television etc..?
Q: What changes in today's world do you disagree with?
Q: What changes do you like?
Q: If you could, would you prefer to live during that time or now in a modern world?
Answer
I'm 67 now, and have been retired a little over 10 years.
I started babysitting when I was 11 - yes you could do that then. My first job other than babysitting was a short office job in the summer I turned 16. I had various other non-professional jobs summers after that, and during the school year also when I was in college, working in retail and as office temp. Minimum wage then was 90 cents an hour if you were under 18, $1 an hour if older. Retail jobs paid minimum. Office temp jobs varied, but usually 1.25-1.60 an hour depending on the requirements of the job. Items cost a lot less then though. In 1964 when I graduated from college, I bought my first car, a Chevelle convertible, for $2800. And I can remember in the early 70's buying 3 pounds of hamburger for $1. My first house cost $14,500 in 1965 - 3 bedroom, one bath, single story, no basement, carport, decent neighborhood. And college at the local university was $13 per semester hour - and $50 a semester was enough for books and supplies.
After college, I taught high school math and science for a couple years, then got into the then-new field of computers for the rest of my career. The first year I taught, I made $4200. My last year working in IT, director level, I made a little over $100K. Working hours officially were 40 hours a week, although I usually worked more like 45-50.
In the 60's, want ads in the newspapers were headed as "help wanted-male" and "help wanted-female" - that sure wouldn't happen today! And on my first teaching job, there were separate salary schedules for men and for women - men got $200 more a year.
Technology has obviously changed many jobs, and created some and replaced some. I enjoyed being part of some of that change, and seeing technology advance.
The late 50's was a great time to be a teen. Activities were usually a group gathering at someone's house, playing records (no CD's then) and talking, snacking and maybe dancing. Going out was usually a movie or a school dance, then a pizza afterwards.
Homes are typically larger now. Families tend to have fewer kids now. Most kids I knew shared a bedroom with a sibling rather than have their own.
Appliances - geez. I remember when we got our first TV - before that, listened to the radio a lot, and radio had actual shows, not mostly just music and news like now. Microwaves, VCR's, DVD and CD players, cable TV, cell phones - all new since then. There was news on the radio though, so you got some info there, also from newspapers. You didn't know what was going on so instantaneously then like the Internet provides now.
First TV I saw was maybe a 5" screen - had a big magnifying glass sitting in front so you could see it. And even in the mid 60's when color TV was just coming in, people with a color TV would watch anything that was on in color, and neighbors would come over too - most shows were still just in black and white.
Education system - in some ways, is more advanced now, with kids reading in pre-K, taking algebra in 7th grade, and AP classes in high school, at least for the kids at the top. Unfortunately, kids at the bottom now seem more likely to miss out or drop out. So the spread is a lot greater. And teachers were there because they wanted to teach - nobody did it for the money, that's for sure! But in fairness to current teachers, and many really care about their students' education - back then teachers' job was to teach, now they're also often substitute parents and social workers in addition to trying to teach.
Changes I like - more info available, and travel is easier.
Changes I don't like - people are way too busy, and kids way too scheduled.
I think I'm pretty lucky to have grown up in a 50's world but also gotten to see what the current times have. I can't help wondering what my young grandchildren will see!
New Eminem and Dr.Dre +50 Cent...crack a.....?
*Dude*
Hmm sounds interesting, any actual news on Eminems latest effort though?
Opinions on that song?
Answer
havent heard the song, surprisingly, i been under a rock- or may as well have been- for the last few weeks. Isnt Em still a big fatty now?
I'm sure there will be some hot stuff on it but who knows nowadays with the crap coming out of the music industry. Seems like you gotta have Lil Wayne or T-pain on your track to even get radio play...lol
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