Episode Transcript
[00:00:04] Speaker A: Welcome to 35 64, a podcast for the middle. If you're between 35 and 64 years old, that's you, my friend. At this age, we've earned something special, something young adults just don't have.
Wrinkles, gray hair.
Okay. Choking aside, us midlifers have wisdom and confidence that only comes from having been there and done that. We know who we are, and we know time is precious.
I'm your host, Karen stones. Just so we're on the same page, your life did not peak at 30. It's not too late. You're not too old, and you're definitely not dead. Okay. All right, so let's dive in. I promise this is going to be fun. So, Andy, I'm going to throw mine at you, and let's see. Let's see if you think it's true. You know you're old. When you had a pager, did you have a beeper? A pagere?
[00:01:20] Speaker B: I did not. But I knew lots of people that did.
[00:01:23] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:01:23] Speaker B: Do you remember calling your mom from a pay phone?
[00:01:26] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:01:27] Speaker B: And collect call, because you didn't have any money. Collect call. And go pick me up really quickly before, instead of saying your name, come pick me up.
[00:01:35] Speaker A: Do you accept these charges?
[00:01:36] Speaker C: No.
[00:01:38] Speaker A: Yeah, well, I would. We would use pagers and, like, public phones and have people call the public phone. Yeah, you know, like that.
[00:01:48] Speaker B: I'm waiting by the phone.
[00:01:49] Speaker A: There's no public phones anymore.
[00:01:51] Speaker B: No, there isn't. You know you're old when you no longer need an alarm clock.
[00:01:55] Speaker A: Oh, yes.
[00:01:57] Speaker B: We don't even have to ask Alexa to set an alarm. We just wake right up now.
[00:02:01] Speaker A: What time do you wake up?
[00:02:02] Speaker B: Four or five. You know what time I go to sleep?
[00:02:05] Speaker A: What?
[00:02:05] Speaker B: I'm falling asleep by nine. Nine?
[00:02:07] Speaker A: Oh, that's not bad.
[00:02:08] Speaker B: So, you know you're old when you're up watching, like, your night is to watch tv till tend on the weekend.
[00:02:16] Speaker A: Yeah, you gotta force yourself.
[00:02:18] Speaker B: I have to sit up. I can't lay down. I have to sit up so I can finish watching whatever movie we're watching.
[00:02:24] Speaker A: You know you're old when you had a boombox, my kids didn't know what that was. My kids did not know what a boombox was. When I mentioned that I used to play tapes on it and record the radio and those things, they are kind of around, but no one has them anymore.
[00:02:48] Speaker C: Yeah, that's funny. My kids know what one is because we. They thought it was cool.
[00:02:53] Speaker A: That.
[00:02:53] Speaker C: That's a good one. That's a really good one. I mean, of course, the standard. I mean, I have. The standard is, you know, you're old when you used to have to pick up a telephone and, you know, dial up on it. A rotary phone. But my favorite thing about what came to mind is, you know you're old when your friend comes up to you and goes, oh, you have some dirt on your face and it's a brown spot. Oh, you know you're old when someone tries to wipe one of your brown spots off. There you go.
[00:03:23] Speaker A: You know you're experiencing a midlife crisis if you sign up for a marathon out of the blue.
[00:03:33] Speaker D: Oh, my gosh. Yes, yes, yes.
[00:03:36] Speaker A: We.
[00:03:36] Speaker D: I just went through that with my husband, actually. Not that he's going through a crisis, but he wanted to run a triathlon before 40, and he did it. In fact, he did an ironman, too.
[00:03:47] Speaker A: You know you're old when you used a VCR.
[00:03:55] Speaker E: Oh, man.
[00:03:56] Speaker F: You know what's so funny?
[00:03:57] Speaker A: I'm old.
[00:03:58] Speaker F: Cause I can get up right now and walk and bring a VCR within a minute, have my own rest.
[00:04:03] Speaker A: Love it. Okay.
[00:04:05] Speaker F: You know you're old when you try to get up out of the chair repeatedly and just end up rocking yourself back to sleep.
[00:04:16] Speaker A: Back to sleep. You know you're old when you're sleeping in a chair, first off.
[00:04:21] Speaker F: Right?
[00:04:23] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:04:25] Speaker F: That is so true.
[00:04:26] Speaker A: You know your old. When you had a Walkman.
[00:04:32] Speaker G: Oh, yeah.
[00:04:33] Speaker A: Do you remember those? Did you have one?
[00:04:36] Speaker G: I had a Walkman. I had a Casio.
I had a Casio one. And then what was the Walkman was Sony. Right. So I think we had the Casio version because we bought it at Radio Shack.
[00:04:50] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:04:52] Speaker D: So good.
[00:04:53] Speaker G: And I found out that was off brand. So eventually, when my Casio cassette tape player went out, I got the Sony Walkman. And then what was really cool was when the disc man came out, and then you couldn't tell me anything. I was hot stuff.
You know, your old win.
You bend over to do a simple task, like picking up a piece of paper or tying your shoes or something, and you throw your back out.
Have you done this?
[00:05:26] Speaker A: You're out for days, you know. Okay, I'm gonna admit I haven't thrown out my back, but I know so many people who have.
My boyfriend was, like, putting a seatbelt on and just turning around to turn to pull the seatbelt down, and he was in, like, pain for days.
[00:05:48] Speaker G: It can be dangerous, too. I most recently did it. I was. My daughter was sick a few days ago, and she, you know, she stayed home from school and everything, and she was just like, I'm ready to go to bed. She's eight. Like, I'm ready to go to bed.
And I said, you know what? Don't you move. I'm going to carry you to so sweet. Because mom is strong, right? It said so on the card. I am strong.
So I picked her up carrying her. She's got her legs wrapped around my waist going up the stairs. I get to the second to last step, and my back, I could just feel it pop.
[00:06:32] Speaker A: Oh, no.
[00:06:33] Speaker G: And I just let out the strangest noise, I'm sure. And she's like, mom, are you okay? Are you okay? You can put me down. I was like, no, I'm fine, I'm fine. It's fine.
But I did have to put her down while I was standing on the stairs. I couldn't move. I could not move.
Unfortunately, I didn't fall. But it was just one of those things where, you know, core. I've got to work on my core.
[00:07:02] Speaker A: You know you're old when you pee a little bit, when you jump on the trampoline.
Everyone out there, I know who you are.
[00:07:16] Speaker B: I'm gonna say, okay. I agree with that, except for the fact that I haven't jumped on a trampoline in probably ten years. Cause the last time I did, I got such a bad headache after doing it.
[00:07:26] Speaker A: I remember having moms when I had a trampoline come over and use mine in the backyard, and they would all giggle and laugh and sort of say, ooh, you know.
[00:07:37] Speaker B: And now you know what that was about.
[00:07:39] Speaker A: Now I know what that was about.
[00:07:41] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:07:41] Speaker A: Okay. Do you have a joke for me?
[00:07:43] Speaker B: Yeah. Okay. You know you're old when the oldie station is playing the songs you loved in high school.
[00:07:51] Speaker A: Oh, no.
Oh, no.
You know you're old when you had a trapper keeper.
[00:08:03] Speaker F: Oh, man, that's good. I did have a trapper keeper. I love that thing. Those were the coolest things. My trapper keeper actually held my peachy folders. Remember those peachy folders with the little athletes on them?
[00:08:16] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:08:16] Speaker F: They might even had some times tables on it, too. I have one for you. You ready?
[00:08:20] Speaker A: I'm ready.
[00:08:22] Speaker F: You know, you're old when you grunt to do things that you never used to grunt to do, and you actually feel good about grunting.
[00:08:35] Speaker A: Like, give me the grunt sound that you use on the regular.
[00:08:39] Speaker F: We were. My wife and I were traveling this last week. We had a rental car. It's not the usual car I'm used to getting in and out of. And I'm like, ugh. You know, and it's just afterward we're kind of joking about it. I'm like, you know, I think, like, people who do, like, karate and martial arts, they make that noise to get that physical power. That's like, what the grunts become to do normal everyday activities. I think, you know, your old win, you start to grunt to do a whole bunch of stuff.
[00:09:08] Speaker A: Okay. You know you're old when you have a gray eyebrow.
Piece of gray coming through.
[00:09:18] Speaker F: You know what? Um, that's good. I don't know that I have the gray eyebrows yet. I'm going to have to ask my wife to see if she can point them out for me. We'll have to look for them. I I have quite a few more gray hairs than I used to have and a lot of them are on my face, so I guess it wouldn't surprise me if I had a gray eyebrow.
[00:09:36] Speaker A: You know you're old when you refuse to use e deposit so you still stand in line at the bank.
[00:09:47] Speaker E: You know what you are. That I will agree with that one in that, you know, oh, no, no, wait a minute. You know you're old if you're still writing checks.
[00:09:57] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, there's always that. Oh, yeah.
[00:10:01] Speaker E: They still pop up if there is a checkbook in your pocket, in your purse, in your back, your checkbook. Sorry. You're old.
[00:10:12] Speaker A: You know you're old when you have a cd collection.
[00:10:20] Speaker D: Oh, that was my high school years right there with the whole, the whole binder.
[00:10:24] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:10:25] Speaker D: And like, the mixed cds. I'm pretty sure I had a CD that said, like, boys suck or something. You know, something like girl power, you know, full, full of Spice Girls and, you know, you know you're old when you turn on SNL and the new artist, you have zero idea who they are, what they're saying, what they're wearing, and what is going on in the background.
That's what I'm like. I'm old, you know?
[00:10:52] Speaker A: You know you're old when you used a fax machine.
[00:11:01] Speaker H: Been there, done that.
[00:11:02] Speaker A: Yeah. Do you think our kids even know what a fax machine is?
[00:11:06] Speaker H: Oh, that's hilarious. I never thought about that.
[00:11:09] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. You know, sometimes people didn't have a fax line, like in business, so they would like toggle between a fax and a phone. And remember if you ever dialed into the line and it was like, horrible noise. Yeah, horrible sound.
I don't think a lot of young people know what that is.
[00:11:28] Speaker H: No, you're probably right.
[00:11:30] Speaker A: Yeah, that's funny. Okay, so you've got one for me.
[00:11:33] Speaker H: So you know your old win. And this is especially if you live in California.
You use your heated seats in your car, like, every day, not because it's cold, but because it relaxes your back.
[00:11:49] Speaker A: Okay, that's good. Yeah. Yes. You know you're old when you had a home phone number.
[00:11:56] Speaker H: Oh, my gosh.
[00:11:58] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:58] Speaker H: We held onto ours for way too long. Literally, the only people that would call us on it were our grandparents. And we finally were like, okay, use this number instead.
[00:12:06] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:12:07] Speaker H: Why are we paying for a home phone?
[00:12:09] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:12:09] Speaker H: You know you're old when you carry a tissue around with you, like, all the time, just in case your nose starts running. I don't know if that's a me thing.
[00:12:20] Speaker A: Like tissues in your purse and your backpack and whatever.
[00:12:23] Speaker H: Yes.
[00:12:24] Speaker A: Yes. You know your middle age when you can look at your closet and spot at least one to two items of clothing that no longer fit, but you're keeping them because you think one day you will, oh, gosh, do you have old school clothes or is this a female thing?
[00:12:51] Speaker I: I probably have clothes that I should have thrown away a long time ago, like a typical guy. Like, are you still wearing that shirt? You know? Yeah, I still like that shirt.
[00:12:59] Speaker A: Here's my other one for you. You know you're old when a road trip that used to be, I would say, nonstop, you've made three bathroom stops.
[00:13:18] Speaker I: Oh, wow.
[00:13:22] Speaker A: Totally true.
[00:13:23] Speaker I: I am one of those guys that my wife jokes. She's like, you never have to use the bathroom. She thinks, I've got a problem with that. I can go. I don't get up in the middle of the night generally. I don't necessarily stop. So I'm the worst. Maybe I don't drink enough water, but I haven't crossed over into that yet, to be honest. I have a friend, though, joking aside, we go to the movies, he has to sit on the aisle.
[00:13:52] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:13:53] Speaker I: Legitimately has to sit on the aisle, because then a two hour movie is going to get up three times.
[00:13:58] Speaker A: You know your middle age when you won't text somebody after 09:00 p.m. but you will text them as early as.
[00:14:06] Speaker F: 06:00 a.m.
oh, man, I totally do that. I totally do that. Like, texts that come in at night, I mean, sometimes I'll get to them, you know, I'm like, hey, you don't have to wake up to it. I mean, you don't have to do that.
[00:14:20] Speaker A: So not only are you strangely talking about, but you're almost obsessed with the weather. In fact, you even look at the Doppler radar.
[00:14:34] Speaker F: Wow.
So me, I'm not. I mean, I. Wow. Yeah, I look at the. I'll look at the weather if I need to. Like, if I know I'm gonna do something where the weather's involved, I'll look at it, but I am not looking at the weather.
[00:14:50] Speaker A: Right?
[00:14:50] Speaker F: I mean, shoot, I'm. I'm looking at sales figures before I do anything in the morning. I'm like, what? Orders came in yesterday? Where are we at with our sales numbers before I'm looking at the weather? But that's just me.
[00:15:02] Speaker A: You know your middle age when you have to ask yourself, is it too early to go to bed now?
What do you think?
[00:15:13] Speaker F: See, that depends.
[00:15:15] Speaker E: Okay.
[00:15:15] Speaker A: Yep, yep, that depends.
[00:15:17] Speaker E: So, all right, so nobody misses sleep. Nobody wants to miss sleep.
[00:15:22] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:15:23] Speaker E: I love sleep.
[00:15:23] Speaker F: Just a minute.
[00:15:24] Speaker E: So I know you are old when you go to bed early and you have nothing early to get up for. The better question is. The better question is Karen is like, you know you're old if you want to have supper at 430.
[00:15:41] Speaker A: And you.
[00:15:42] Speaker E: Say the word supper.
[00:15:44] Speaker A: You know you're middle age when you have a picture of a bird on your phone.
Bonus points. If you currently watch some sort of webcam that monitors a nest or a bird somewhere. Tell me about it. Am I right?
[00:16:04] Speaker E: Yes, you're right. Because you really have to be a certain type of person to watch something that's that stagnant. But you're right.
[00:16:14] Speaker F: Yeah.
[00:16:14] Speaker E: If you sit watching static content, there's something wrong. Like traffic cams. If you get up in the morning and like, let me watch a traffic cam and see what's happening and just looking instead of just putting in the ride in Google, for instance, and heading out and let Google guide you. I know this is crazy. I was like, I had this argument with my kids sometimes. Why do you trust Google? And sure enough, Google. Darn that thing. It's always right. It just knows exactly where traffic is. Never mind your shortcuts. So if you're watching traffic cams at home before you leave, or worse, you know you're old when you're turning on the radio, waiting for the traffic update. Now you're old. Okay. You know you're old when most of your references are from black and white tv shows.
[00:16:54] Speaker A: Oh, wow. That's.
[00:16:57] Speaker E: If you're whistling the tune from Andy Griffith or oh, my God, or Dick Van Dyke or something like that. You're pretty old. Okay.
[00:17:07] Speaker A: Yeah. Do you think that's elder status?
[00:17:10] Speaker E: Yeah.
Geezer status is if you from a black and white show, you're borderline. If you're still talking about here's a story of a lovely lady, the Brady bunch. Come on, you know you're approaching Yezer status.
[00:17:26] Speaker A: Okay, okay, okay. I do know that song. I didn't want to subject everybody to my singing.
[00:17:33] Speaker E: I have no shame. Okay.
[00:17:36] Speaker A: And that brings us to the end of another episode. I hope you enjoyed the conversation as much as I did.
Okay, so if you haven't already, make sure to hit that subscribe button so you never miss another episode. If you're loving what you hear. I would be incredibly grateful if you took just a moment to rate and review this show on your favorite podcast platform. It helps others discover us, and it's a great place to share your thoughts, suggestions, and ideas for future episodes. For even more exclusive content and detailed show notes, check out our website at. That's spelled out 3564.com. As always, a huge, huge thank you for spending time with me today during this episode. I appreciate that you tuned in. I'm going to leave you the same way I do every episode. Remember, it's not too late, you're not too old, and you're definitely not dead. Okay, until next time, friends.
[00:18:54] Speaker C: Bye.
