Middle Aged Memories

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  • nativemainer
    nativemainer Member Posts: 7,923

    I think 'gym' must be an east coast thing. We called it Gym until high school, and even then it was referred to as "gym" even though the paperwork said "PE"

    I never heard of having a choice of gym classes. We had one option, whatever the Gym teacher decided we would do that class. I hated it, and took extra classes to qualify for getting OUT of gym class!

  • SlowDeepBreaths
    SlowDeepBreaths Member Posts: 6,702

    Rocky, sounds like you had a ball when you were younger! I regret I wasn't a wild child!! haha

    Although, I did have tons of fun!! I never would have hitch hiked. I was too cautious. My mom was Italian and paranoid so that should explain many things about me. I'm lucky I even got out of the house!! Although, I did used to sneak out when she was working.

    NativeMainer, In HS I had the best P.E. teacher. One year he made bowling part of our P.E. class. We would meet at the bowling alley. I was really bad about getting there on time every morning. He was so nice about it though. He would always tease me saying it was nice of me to finally show up. I was his TA in my senior year. He was my last class of the day. As long as I got all of my work done, he would let me leave early. I sure did love that teacher. He looked like Clark Kent, so I used to call him Clark. By far my most favorite teacher I ever had.

  • minustwo
    minustwo Member Posts: 13,356

    Native - I'm from No Calif and we called it Gym Class. We didn't have choices either, but we had swimming every year. At the time, you couldn't graduate HS until you could swim. My Mother referred to the gymnasium from her younger years. And we had sock hops in the gym when I was in Jr. High & HS.

    In college it was called PE & we had to take two semesters in college to graduate. I took "Folk Dancing", a fun mixed class taught over a lunch hour; and what was then called "Modern Dance".

    Wow, Slow - gym class at the bowling alley? And Clark Kent for a teacher? Be still my heart.

  • SlowDeepBreaths
    SlowDeepBreaths Member Posts: 6,702

    MT, I know! The man didn't have an ounce of fat on his body. He wore the same kinda glasses that Clark Kent wore. The kindest teacher you could ever meet. Very tall. He was good to all of us.

    I had an English teacher that wasn't as excepting of my tardiness. She used to get so angry at me. She was strict and mean at times. But I learned more from her than any teacher I ever had.

  • elimar
    elimar Member Posts: 5,886

    I must have missed this page of memories last time...the hitchhiking!!!! Yep! Did that A LOT in my teen pre-driving years.

  • SlowDeepBreaths
    SlowDeepBreaths Member Posts: 6,702

    Now wait a minute Eli, I know you wrote much more about your adventure last night. I was so sleepy when I read it, and I thought I would come here in the morning and respond, and now your whole adventure is gone!!! I was so impressed with your wild side!!! hahaha....a wild Eli....I love it!!

  • SlowDeepBreaths
    SlowDeepBreaths Member Posts: 6,702

    Remember this look?

    image

    I am ashamed to say I still have those socks. Time to clean out my sock drawer.

  • nativemainer
    nativemainer Member Posts: 7,923

    Don't get rid of those socks, they are GREAT for cold winter days (and nights)!


  • minustwo
    minustwo Member Posts: 13,356

    Native Maine - I agree, but now I have two large drawers crammed full of socks that I've saved for that special need. And that's after sending a huge batch to Salvation Army.

  • nativemainer
    nativemainer Member Posts: 7,923

    MinusTwo--2 drawers full is probably too many of those socks, good as they are!


  • patrn10
    patrn10 Member Posts: 110

    NativeMainer, I work in a Maine HS and it is still called "gym class" LOL but now 2 physical education classes are a graduation requirement ! (Unless medically excused).

  • minustwo
    minustwo Member Posts: 13,356

    native - of course you're right. But there are winter socks & summer socks. Thick socks & thin for certain shoes. Low cut tennis socks to my ankle when it's 100 degrees and knee socks that I've been wearing in the winter (yup - I've been freezing in Texas in the winter). Black socks, white socks, gym socks, dress "socks", patterned socks. Then the socks I wear to bed - again because my stupid feet always feel cold with the neuropathy. Intellectually I know they are not cold, and in fact they don't feel cold when I touch them, but the "interior" chill often keeps me awake at night. Oh, and slipper socks. Sigh!!. I need to sort some more. Our sisters on the "just decluttering" thread would be appalled.

    Found one of my old 45 records - the first issue of Elvis singing 'Hound Dog' on one side and 'Don't Be Cruel' on the flip. Probably 1957 or 58. I'm in the process of getting my phonograph hooked back up to my amp. it will be fun to see if it still plays.

  • nativemainer
    nativemainer Member Posts: 7,923

    Pat--I think there was a 4class requirement when I was in HS, but after taking 2 classes I could get out of taking Gym by taking more than a certain number of classes per semester.I preferred the bigger class load over Gym class!

    MinusTwo--I don't have neuropathy, but I sleep with socks on in the winter for the same reason.My feet feel cold and keep me awake.Don't care if it's all in our heads or not, wearing socks is a simple fix!Funny, I never think of temps getting very lowin Texas, but of course they must from time to time.

  • elimar
    elimar Member Posts: 5,886

    My h.s requirement was 4 semesters of gym, but after the first semester swim or modern dance were alternative options.

    Remember how, if you had your period, you could get the nurse to give you a pass to sit on the sidelines in gym? Well, I never actually did that. To me, it was more preferable to tampon thru' anything gym could throw at me, than to be observed sitting off to the side by a boy. Let's just say I did not want to broadcast the cycle of my menses to my nearby male classmates.

  • nativemainer
    nativemainer Member Posts: 7,923

    I remember being able to skip doing the sit ups if we had our period, but that was all we could get out of. Didn't have any alternatives, either. Wish that had been an option.

  • SlowDeepBreaths
    SlowDeepBreaths Member Posts: 6,702

    We didn't have that option. How embarrassing that would have been though.

  • minustwo
    minustwo Member Posts: 13,356

    Oh goodness you girls were lucky. I'm a bit older than some of you and my Mother was really old fashioned. Tampax was not allowed, so it was those horrible thick pads & belts. When I came home from my first year of college using tampax, my Mother hysterically rushed me to the doc so he could explain how I was now no longer a virgin and..... Of course the doc didn't say that so my chances of finding a husband were saved!!!

  • nativemainer
    nativemainer Member Posts: 7,923

    I remember hearing that a girl couldn't use tampax until after she was no longer a virgin when I was a teenager.

    "Why?' I asked.

    "Because the hymen isn't broken, and you don't want to break the hymen and lose your virginity to a tapax."

    Me: "then how does the blood come out while you are a virgin?"

    Never did get an answer to that question!


  • patrn10
    patrn10 Member Posts: 110

    I am a school nurse and rarely give passes for "cramps". I always tell the girls to participate for 15 minutes and come back if they truly can't participate. Exercise is so beneficial for cramps. I hardly ever have anyone come back.

  • BookLady1
    BookLady1 Member Posts: 196

    Times have changed! I recall laying on a cot in the air conditioned nurses room to recover from my cramps back in Jr. High ( NOT middle school). Nasty pads and belts and special undies - my 23 year old daughter doesn't believe I lived in such backward times! Yay tampons!

  • SlowDeepBreaths
    SlowDeepBreaths Member Posts: 6,702

    My mother was VERY against me wearing tampons. I wore them anyway. Such a rebel!! haha

  • rockym
    rockym Member Posts: 384

    Just to add to the tally... my family was off to a beach holiday when I had my period for the 2nd time. Mom got me tampons and I think my friend's mom showed me what was up.. literally :-). My daughter had her first period in June and I showed her how tampons are so much cleaner and easier. She was a bit nervous, but went for it. She's only had 2 periods so far, but I'm hoping she will eventuall only use tampons. My how times have changed

  • nativemainer
    nativemainer Member Posts: 7,923

    image

    image

    Meds.

  • minustwo
    minustwo Member Posts: 13,356

    I love the "send $0.10 for handling" to get 5 free samples.

  • elimar
    elimar Member Posts: 5,886

    My two thought today were:

    1) Am I always remembering this kind of stuff because I am not learning enough new stuff to keep my mind occupied? (I don't think so because I still thought of all this nostalgia even when I was learning all there was to know about my BC, and that was a LOT.)

    2) Am I leading myself right down the path to Alzheimer's? (How long til I cannot remember what I had for lunch, but can clearly remember the day I wore the orange fishnets on top of the yellow fishnets to get a cool psychedelic pattern effect, and the dress I wore them with was orange with yellow and green horizontal stripes and had a chain belt! No pictures me wearing that exist but I see the entire thing in my mind like looking into a mirror. I loved that outfit!!!)

  • minustwo
    minustwo Member Posts: 13,356

    I still have the half slip I wore under my favorite REALLY short mini dress after panty hose came out. Bright red, also with stripes. I would say perhaps the slip covers my cheeks. Oh my. Maybe it looks short because my rear end has followed gravity & slipped down w/age?

  • nativemainer
    nativemainer Member Posts: 7,923

    $0.10 for shipping, $0.65 for 40 tampons, prices sure have changed!

    El--no worries about Alzheimer's!The memory of the dress and fishnet stockings has multiple connections in your brain--to emotions, to sight, probably to the feeling of the dress and stockings, to other people's reactions.All that makes fora stronger memory that what you had for lunch.Unless lunch was in a fantastic location with exotic food and served by a super hot hunk of a waiter that you had a tryst with after!If all that happened and you don't remember lunch, THEN I'd worry!Not to mention how many of those special outfits have your worn and how many routine lunches have you eaten? Just the number difference has an effect, too.


  • eph3_12
    eph3_12 Member Posts: 2,704

    Where can I sign up for that lunch, NM?



  • elimar
    elimar Member Posts: 5,886

    Hey, thanks NM! You saved me some time since you thought of my fantasy of the day for me already. Ah, my days of trysting are all behind me now, but the fantasies can live on.

  • nativemainer
    nativemainer Member Posts: 7,923

    ah, umm, what lunch? I forget. . . .


    Happy