More stuff I don't get

[UnquietDad]

My last "stuff I don't get" was about being a bloke, but this one is just about being in my 30s and increasingly detached from the growing numbers of "young people" around. (Have you noticed there are more of them? And don't you think policemen are getting younger as well?...)

What the hell is "streetwear" when it's at home, and when did it start being used as an acceptable description of anything? Do you have to be in a street to wear it? Can it be any street, or does it have to be an especially cutting-edge and urban one? Does a road or a lane count? An alley?

Why do so many people have tattoos and piercings these days, and what are they actually for? I don't mean just "I've got the right to do what I want" kind of answers, I mean - WHY? What is the actual PURPOSE of them, as opposed to not having them??

What's with all the, like, talking like this? With all the, like, "like"? And I was like, yeah, and he was like, that is like SO over. And the, like, rising intonation?

Wny do teenagers talk to each other on msn rather than on the phone or meeting up?

Why do mobile phones need to have so many functions on them? What's the point? I mean, their USP is that they are phones, right, which are... mobile? Correct me if I'm wrong? If I want a camera or a portable gaming machine I will sodding well buy one.

And MySpace. What the feck is that all about?

Agree about tatts.

Now. Can someone tell me? Is it because as we get older, we become unable to be more accepting, we get set on our ways, we find change difficult to cope with OR is it because youngsters (get me - im only 30) are far more open to suggestion and persuasion, particularly in relation to following trends?

I hate the feeling that once, I just walked around and, like, just knew stuff. OK I didn;t talk like that, but I knew the stuff that needed to be known.

I read NME and Melody Maker and knew about music. I knew about walkmen and stereos. I knew about fashion, and the difference between goths and George Michael fans. I knew it wasn't really that cool to have a "Frankie Says Relax" t-shirt.

These days I wander round town looking at 18 year olds and think they look and speak like aliens. I don;t know where to get the information to find out about things that matter any more.

Mostly I don;t care but sometimes I feel like I've spent 20 years in cryopreservation and someone has let me out for a moment.

I think perhaps it's time to join the WI.

I know that feeling - I just knew music stuff and techy computery stuff and film stuff. These days i feel as if I am a right granddad. It occurred to me the other day that I don't have the first colue how to link up an iPod or other mp3 player to my computer. I'll probably have to ask my niece.

Most annoyingly of all I can't pinpoint where or when this cultural slippage actually happened.

And I still don't know what bloody "streetwear" is!!

Unquietdad - the iPod probably connects with USB at a guess. Just look for a symbol/shaped plug on your computer that matches the one on your music thingy. If you're lucky, it'll be plug and play and you wont have to faff around with installing any software on your pc.

Your mobile phone query is amusing, because this precise subject has been discussed a lot in the mobile industry (how much can we load phones? Do people want to carry just one gadget, or can we sell them 2?)
Your phone is just a phone - but phones nowadays to text and data. And gadgets can be so much more interesting and useful, if they are linked to the internet. Eg, do you want a GPS system with a limited library of maps in it, or would you rather have a mobile phone assisted GPS system, that is sensitive enough to use indoors, and can get any map anywhere in the world?
Personally, I love having a camera, games and ringtones in my phone. They are so good for keeping my children entertained. And no, I dont want to carry a separate phone, mp3 and camera everywhere I go.

you can get "simple" mobile phones from Vodafone unquiet dad. You can use them to make and receive phone calls and text. and thats it.....

a phone company out here has just launched broadcast satellite TV on mobile phones. WHY? the screen is tiny, whats the point?

Oh and another thing I don't get - eBooks. whats wrong with paper ones?

welcome to the world of old fogery .

I have particular empathy for the "like" rant - it drives me nuts and my oldest is only 5 . I keep muttering "it isn't like anything, it just is" - don't think I am making much headway though - peer pressure is so much stronger than parent pressure it seems .

I have a nice "normal" phone. That's all it does is phone people, people can phone me and i can text. Why would i want a phone that does anything else?
As for carrier bags with names on - well when i was younger i had a carrier bag with William Low's on it, so there!.
It's the inability of any youngsters to feel the cold that amazes me. We were at Murrayfield on saturday and as we were waiting outside for our mates i was watching everyone pass. these three girls went in, all dressed identically in very (very) short skirts, either thin tights or none at all, vest type tops, and thin shrugs. Then they had scarfs and gloves. Surely if you are that bloody cold that you need to wear a scarf and gloves then you should have a coat on? I bet they were frozen, cos i was quite cold and i had a t-shirt, a sweatshirt a bodywarmer, a jacket, hat scarf and gloves.
I also have in my loft many of the "new Fashions" they wear, chunky beads, leggings, leg-warmers etc. I could flog them.

unquietdad!!

You've made me spray banana out of my mouth over the keyboard. My first ever spray...

Grumpy old men/women topic please. Mustn't grumble, but oh, doesn't it feel good when you do?

I'm with you on all of those UQD.

I also so don't get....

cot bumpers

'novelty' children's beds

'I'm a celebrity' (you'd be better off wearing a placard stating 'I have a shit and meaningless life')

Toys R Us

Legoland

soft play areas#

Harvester Inns

dips in plastic containers

WKD and vodka jelly shots

in car DVD systems

a million and one remote controls

having more than about 3 handbags

Oh and about 10 000 other things

I don't get handbags fullstop.....let alone more than 3..

Ta for the iPod tips! I don't own one at the moment, although I do listen to downloaded music on the PC, which makes me feel dangerously cutting-edge. It's the new "taping off the radio". Has anybody heard the new Tilly And The Wall single? See, I am trendy.

Went looking for a CD for my niece - she is into Green Day and "punk" and alternative and all that - and it was almost impossible to find one with the kind of music she likes which didn't feature at least one band called Headfrig, or Billy and the Cunts, or Insane Uterine Devastation, or Assfuck, or something equally tasteful.

I think the Japanese started doing these retro-minimalist mobiles that "just phone" - they took off in a big way. The other "old git" thing I do is to consider my mobile only as a device for my convenience when I want to phone out, so i don't leave it switched on - after all, it runs the battery down. This drives DW and others mad.

myspace is great for looking up all ex boyfriends and confirming that theya re still total twats.
That's what I use it for

Message withdrawn

vvvq I think people stop "getting it" because their priorities change, particularly when they have children.

My SIL for example, although several years older than me (and I'm ancient) still "gets it" to a certain extent beacuse she doesn't have any kids (and never will now) so she has more time and energy (and money)to spend on other things.

Personally I leave it to my 9 year old dd to tell me what's cool and what isn't

yes I too have a simple phone

and was sold it by a bloke behind the counter who was easily young enough to be my child and I could see the patronising scorn in his eyes when he showed me its v limited functions...

having said that, dh has an all singing and dancing phone and I tried to look up a few websites on it but found all the writing was way too small to read properly (so decided I had definitely become an Old Git).

re the myspace thing (which I suppose I don't really get either) - one of our friends is in the music industry and is really into myspace (and other similar sites). I remember she used to get really excited when other people wanted to be a 'friend' of hers on there (because it displays your friends!). I think it must be an image thing because she is v popular in real life but did used to spend hours looking at that site.

lol, at Grumpy old man before his time.
You need to talk to Hub, I am sure he has his finger on the pulse.

I don't.

(have my finger on the pulse).

I don't even have a mobile phone... But I will be getting one soon. Unlike you, Unquiet, I like complex pointless gadgets and I've been waiting for a bluetoothing, Wifi, 3G, Quad band, smartphone, ideally with a camera and keyboard and built-in GPS.... I reckon I should be satisfied in the next few months as there are some handsets just coming out now which look splendid.

If you're after something simple, I'd get a Nokia Grannyphone.

lol at listening to music on the computer being the new taping off the radio.
My mother still asks me what music is cool as in another life was quite 'with it' (to use dear MIL's turn of phrase.)

It seems to have escaped her that I am now 39 and hopelessly old fashioned.
I Quoted an appropriate Stones lyric in a lecture on classical conditioning yesterday
('Every time you call my name,I salivate like a Pavlov dog') and the lecturer looked at me as if I was mad....nay barking.

(Come on Unquiet Dad,I bet you can tell me the song and the album.)

Can't actually - never a huge Stones fan!

My mum says "with it" as well.

Oh

I thought you were one of mine UQD.......

Hmmm,there is an entire generation of women talking about people or objects being 'with it'.

I would imagine they also embraced Stork margarine and Nimble bread when first launched.

I think streetwear is an apt description for clothes that are particularly suitable for "hanging out" (I'm afraid I have no idea what current term is) on the street with your "mates". - Not hang about home wear, not party slapper wear, something inbetween. Don't worry unquiet dad, I don't suppose you will need any streetwear.

To not have a mobile phone these days is quite shocking to many people - people say to me, "But how can I contact you?" Ahhhh, you could use my landline and leave a message, maybe?

I quite like having the screen of age to hide my intrinsic nerdery behind.

I do find the fact that DD1's teacher looks like a cute sixth-former rather disturbing, though. Especially as her teacher is a bloke.

So streetwear is what we used to call "casual clothes", then?
Only at vastly inflated prices for the silly labels on them?