terpsichoros brought to my attention (although I think I heard it on NPR as well) the Beloit College Mindset List. This provides what is claimed to be a world view of today’s entering college students (who were born in 1987). To me, this is a lot like the statement of “He doesn’t know what band Paul McCartney was in before Wings”. I’m not going to repeat the entire list here, but the following are the ones that made me feel particularly old:
1. Andy Warhol, Liberace, Jackie Gleason, and Lee Marvin have always been dead.
2. They don’t remember when “cut and paste” involved scissors.
3. Heart-lung transplants have always been possible.
5. Boston has been working on the “The Big Dig” all their lives.
6. With little need to practice, most of them do not know how to tie a tie.
8. They never had the fun of being thrown into the back of a station wagon with six others.
11. Philip Morris has always owned Kraft Foods.
14. Car stereos have always rivaled home component systems.
15. Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker have never preached on television.
16. Voice mail has always been available.
17. “Whatever” is not part of a question but an expression of sullen rebuke.
19. Condoms have always been advertised on television.
23. Ferdinand Marcos has never been in charge of the Philippines. And I’ll add: And Francisco Franco has always been dead.
25. Bill Gates has always been worth at least a billion dollars.
28. Michael Jackson has always been bad, and greed has always been good.
29. The Starship Enterprise has always looked dated.
30. Pixar has always existed.
32. Judicial appointments routinely have been “Borked.”
35. Police have always been able to search garbage without a search warrant.
36. It has always been possible to walk from England to mainland Europe on dry land.
37. They have grown up in a single superpower world.
39. American Motors has never existed.
41. Les Miserables has always been on stage.
45. There has always been a pyramid in front of the Louvre in Paris.
46. British Airways has always been privately owned.
54. They never saw the shuttle Challenger fly.
55. The TV networks have always had cable partners.
58. They never saw Pat Sajak or Arsenio Hall host a late night television show.
59. Matt Groening has always had a Life in Hell.
63. Time Life and Warner Communications have always been joined.
66. They never saw a Howard Johnson’s with 28 ice cream flavors.
70. Jimmy Carter has always been an elder statesman.
71. Miss Piggy and Kermit have always dwelt in Disneyland.
72. America’s Funniest Home Videos has always been on television.
What about you?
