Beloit College Mindset List
By Jim Lynch on Aug 23, 2006 in Fun Stuff
It’s time once again for the annual Beloit College Mindset List, or as I like to call it the Make Me Feel Old List. The list, “looks at the cultural touchstones that have shaped the lives of today’s first-year students.” Here are just a few highlights from that list:
- ~They have never heard anyone actually “ring it up” on a cash register.
- ~They are wireless, yet always connected.
- ~Smoking has never been permitted on U.S. airlines.
- ~DNA fingerprinting has always been admissible evidence in court.
- ~”Google” has always been a verb.
- ~Bar codes have always been on everything, from library cards and snail mail to retail items.
- ~Carbon copies are oddities found in their grandparents’ attics.
- ~They have rarely mailed anything using a stamp.
- ~Small white holiday lights have always been in style.
- ~Beach volleyball has always been a recognized sport.
- ~Professional athletes have always competed in the Olympics.
And in their political world:
- ~They have known only two presidents.
- ~A stained blue dress is as famous to their generation as a third-rate burglary was to their parents’.
- ~The U.S. has always been studying global warming to confirm its existence.
- ~Richard M. Daley has always been the Mayor of Chicago.
And the one world event that will really make you feel old:
~~The Soviet Union has never existed and therefore is about as scary as the student union.~~
Time for me to go oil my walker.
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