In middle school I got a nanopet (those things were the coolest at that age). In high School, I had soooo many gel pens! I think my mom bought me so many because she wanted them, and felt too old so was vicariously living through me (I asked for them, and she almost never said no. She was good about saying no to a lot of things, so I wasn't completely spoiled...just mostly spoiled being the baby and all)
@TheCO2 Well, yes. As long as they will get some aort of enjoyment out of the toys you buy for "them". Or you are buying them the toys thay they want as well.
I was always the last to have the cool things and it was usually when they were getting to the point of not being cool, anymore. It's still that way, today. I would much rather have something that has been tested and works, over something cool and new that doesn't work.
In elementary and middle school, I didn't really care about what was "cool". I was homeschooled in high school, so I didn't need to worry about such things. It was wonderful.
@alphapeaches huh, my mom loves Chai lattes, too. And listens to obscure music. And has an odd fashion sense. And is pretty judgy about people who like anything popular. GOODLORDMYMOMISAHIPSTER
I was the kid who got to skip the first half of a school day to see Episode I, and the second half of the day was the day every boy wanted to talk to me, even older guys. We were young enough that we didn't care about spoilers, and the pod racing DID make up for the rest of the movie. Now, I watch something first and people avoid me like the plague until they see it; the pod racing falls just short of saving the movie. But that was a beautiful day.
Starter Pullover jackets were all the rage in junior high. By the time I got one, the fad had passed and something else had taken over as "cool." I can't believe I used to worry about stuff like that. Now I'm a grown ass man who goes to the grocery store in sweat pants and a Zelda T-Shirt with zero fks given.
I had a Miami Hurricanes Starter jacket in middle school, probably the coolest thing I ever owned. Everything else was stuff handed down from my brothers.
My family wasn't very well-off, so I usually ended up with the "knock-offs"... you know, like that cool WalkMan that everyone had? My "Lenoxx Sound" version didn't have rewind capability (you turned the tape over and fast-forwarded) and it ate every other tape.
That said, eventually I usually had the cool thing that everybody used to have.
@chuegen This was a lot of my story too. And, yaknow what, it wasn't so bad. That's probably more true in retrospect than it felt in the moment, but still.
We were poor, so "never" was the obvious answer here. However, the only time I felt like I didn't get something that we could afford was when my mom refused to allow me to own a pair of clackers (I had saved enough money to buy them on my own), due to stories about them shattering into pieces and shards of plastic blinding kids. (How did stories like that spread so fast in the pre-internet age?)
I wasn't entirely aware of what was cool, being a nerd, and rarely in possession even if I did know, being poor. There were moments, I suppose. Actually, there were times when I thought I had the coolest thing--and nobody else had it--but nobody cared. But that's cool.
And have I mentioned that I was a really weird kid? Because I was a really weird kid.
Either I got the thing after it was cool, or I got the thing and my ownership of it made it uncool. For example, I got the giant, double-barreled Super Soaker the Christmas right before all the kids in my neighborhood got over water gun fights.
Was in a family etc that placed me on the border of "society", from a nice neighborhood, so was always getting invited to social stuff. Only i couldnt make it work. I wasnt trying to be weird or cool or hip or anything. I just couldnt suss out the rules, and always did or said something out-of-context and people would react ever so slightly in a visible way if you were watching for it. After a while i started avoiding such events.
I suspect i do exactly the same thing now, decades later, with anyone, including people who are cool. I dont get it, whatever "it" is.
However, fit right in with people who did nothing but read or write or study or code or play chess or poker or a musical instrument, or, to some degree, with people who smoked dope.
I wouldnt have been capable of being cool even if i'd had the cool stuff. But i did manage to pester some really nice things out of parents, such as tennis lessons and cello week and best, a series of v nice horses. And they put up w my book collection that caused a series of bookcases to collapse, just lent me the $ for better bookcases.
I think i confused them, but they were nice about it.
When I was in 8th grade, I had an IPhone 3 or 4 it was 5 years ago,but looking at it today I think to myself that I had something that became cool, and I am the weirdest and the lowest in popularity, but now as a senior, I'm at the top. Funny things happen to people who fall off an entire flight of stairs p, top straight to the bottom, and only get a sprained ankle, with a boot for a week
Yeah, but once I got her, I didn't want her anymore . . . learned that whole "careful what you wish for" lesson. Never forgot it.
@Pavlov
@nadroj I'm pretty sure you were already thinking this, but, yaknow, for those who might not be.
Trapper Keeper. Then I realized it didn't magically make me cool...
In HS I had a steel clipboard/strorage tray that I carried my papers in.
It did not catch on.
@mcanavino heh, me too. I still have it 35 yrs later and use it at work. Who's laughing now?
In HS, I had a Casio ML-81 Melody Calculator.
In middle school I got a nanopet (those things were the coolest at that age).
In high School, I had soooo many gel pens! I think my mom bought me so many because she wanted them, and felt too old so was vicariously living through me (I asked for them, and she almost never said no. She was good about saying no to a lot of things, so I wasn't completely spoiled...just mostly spoiled being the baby and all)
@MrsBeckett You mean we're not suppose to have kids so we can have an excuse to keep buying toys?
@TheCO2 you can add an additional $300,000 to your toy budget if you skip the kids.
@thismyusername Now I find this out, after 5 kids. Damn the luck!
@TheCO2 Well, yes. As long as they will get some aort of enjoyment out of the toys you buy for "them". Or you are buying them the toys thay they want as well.
@MrsBeckett Of course they get enjoyment out of the toys. I let them watch me play with everything.
I was always the last to have the cool things and it was usually when they were getting to the point of not being cool, anymore. It's still that way, today. I would much rather have something that has been tested and works, over something cool and new that doesn't work.
@TheCO2 I never had the cool stuff. Hubby ALWAYS had the cool stuff. It's been much easier to adjust to having a kid for me!
In elementary and middle school, I didn't really care about what was "cool". I was homeschooled in high school, so I didn't need to worry about such things. It was wonderful.
Yeah, I'm a hipster, so... I don't recognize things as "cool" if everybody "has to have it."
sips chai latte
@alphapeaches huh, my mom loves Chai lattes, too. And listens to obscure music. And has an odd fashion sense. And is pretty judgy about people who like anything popular. GOODLORDMYMOMISAHIPSTER
I was the kid who got to skip the first half of a school day to see Episode I, and the second half of the day was the day every boy wanted to talk to me, even older guys. We were young enough that we didn't care about spoilers, and the pod racing DID make up for the rest of the movie. Now, I watch something first and people avoid me like the plague until they see it; the pod racing falls just short of saving the movie. But that was a beautiful day.
The Atari 2600/VCS. Yes, that dates me. I was the mac-daddy at Space Invaders; I could go for hours.
I was a nerd, nothing I did/had was cool.
Starter Pullover jackets were all the rage in junior high.
By the time I got one, the fad had passed and something else had taken over as "cool." I can't believe I used to worry about stuff like that. Now I'm a grown ass man who goes to the grocery store in sweat pants and a Zelda T-Shirt with zero fks given.
@jestermx6
p.s. You can say "fuck" here.
@sammydog01 that picture is almost accurate for an entry level job i had at one point haha.
p.s. my phone auto-corrected for me.
Hoop and a stick.... man, I was the envy of all!
First one in the sax section, baby...
I had a Miami Hurricanes Starter jacket in middle school, probably the coolest thing I ever owned. Everything else was stuff handed down from my brothers.
@The_Baron no doubt. []_[]
@The_Baron I would have loved to have a Hurricanes Starter jacket.
I have two answers.
My family wasn't very well-off, so I usually ended up with the "knock-offs"... you know, like that cool WalkMan that everyone had? My "Lenoxx Sound" version didn't have rewind capability (you turned the tape over and fast-forwarded) and it ate every other tape.
That said, eventually I usually had the cool thing that everybody used to have.
@chuegen This was a lot of my story too. And, yaknow what, it wasn't so bad. That's probably more true in retrospect than it felt in the moment, but still.
We were poor, so "never" was the obvious answer here. However, the only time I felt like I didn't get something that we could afford was when my mom refused to allow me to own a pair of clackers (I had saved enough money to buy them on my own), due to stories about them shattering into pieces and shards of plastic blinding kids. (How did stories like that spread so fast in the pre-internet age?)
@DrWorm I had those! Maybe I was cool after all? I just remember almost losing teeth.
I got Freezy Freakies once for Christmas!
I wasn't entirely aware of what was cool, being a nerd, and rarely in possession even if I did know, being poor. There were moments, I suppose. Actually, there were times when I thought I had the coolest thing--and nobody else had it--but nobody cared. But that's cool.
And have I mentioned that I was a really weird kid? Because I was a really weird kid.
@joelmw keepin' it weird too I see. ;)
@kc5rbq
Either I got the thing after it was cool, or I got the thing and my ownership of it made it uncool. For example, I got the giant, double-barreled Super Soaker the Christmas right before all the kids in my neighborhood got over water gun fights.
Such is my life.
Was in a family etc that placed me on the border of "society", from a nice neighborhood, so was always getting invited to social stuff. Only i couldnt make it work. I wasnt trying to be weird or cool or hip or anything. I just couldnt suss out the rules, and always did or said something out-of-context and people would react ever so slightly in a visible way if you were watching for it. After a while i started avoiding such events.
I suspect i do exactly the same thing now, decades later, with anyone, including people who are cool. I dont get it, whatever "it" is.
However, fit right in with people who did nothing but read or write or study or code or play chess or poker or a musical instrument, or, to some degree, with people who smoked dope.
I wouldnt have been capable of being cool even if i'd had the cool stuff. But i did manage to pester some really nice things out of parents, such as tennis lessons and cello week and best, a series of v nice horses. And they put up w my book collection that caused a series of bookcases to collapse, just lent me the $ for better bookcases.
I think i confused them, but they were nice about it.
@f00l best of both worlds
Plus, you can play 18 Holes on it afterword.
"afterward", before the grammar nazi's attack - bastards.
When I was in 8th grade, I had an IPhone 3 or 4 it was 5 years ago,but looking at it today I think to myself that I had something that became cool, and I am the weirdest and the lowest in popularity, but now as a senior, I'm at the top. Funny things happen to people who fall off an entire flight of stairs p, top straight to the bottom, and only get a sprained ankle, with a boot for a week