In other news (apolitical thread)...

[FearlessF]

nailed it

[medinabuckeye1]

I wonder how much of this is not due to persistent differences that come from it, but due to people quitting sports?

I'm sure this is correct but I also think they are related.  Reading through your experience, how much of not enjoying it was a product of the fact that you weren't one of the oldest/most developed/best kids on the field?  

Just looking at my son's experience with 4/5 and 5/6 year old BB, he really didn't like it last year when he wasn't ready and was basically the least prepared kid on the court (totally my fault for not knowing what I needed to do to get him ready).  To his credit, he chose to play again this year because he wanted to "get a hoop".  This year he wasn't the best kid on the court but he wasn't the worst and he enjoyed it a lot more.  I think if he was the best kid on the court, he'd love it.  

Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if it wasn't a Sisyphean experience.

Look at you pulling out the Million Dollar Words, making me go to dictionary.com.  

[medinabuckeye1]

Jesus Medina. You started late with the kids !  I think we’re the same age, my youngest is 18 and about to graduate HS, oldest is about to graduate college. And I was older than a lot of parents at my kids schools. Most of the parents of kids my age were 5-10 years younger. And heavily  tattooed.

Yeah, I sure did.  

We talked about generations not long ago and it isn't just me, the generations in my family are LONG:

When my four kids were born I was:

• 43, about to turn 44
• 44-1/2
• 45 about to turn 46
• 46-1/2

My dad was born in 1940 and was 34, almost 35 when I was born in 1975.  My mom was born in 1944 and was 30 when I was born.  In the mid-1970's, that was unusually old for first-time parents and they were 40 and almost 36 when my younger brother was born.  

Then my grandparents were born in 1900, 1909, 1910, and 1910 so they were 30-44 when my parents were born.  


My wife is my age so when we are out people often assume that we are grandparents.  The other day I was in a store with my youngest and some guy actually assumed that I was dad rather than grandpa.  He said something, I don't remember what but it referenced me as "dad" rather than grandpa.  So I said that I was happy he didn't think I was grandpa and he said "Oh no, Grandpa wouldn't have strapped him in the cart like you did."  LoL.  

[medinabuckeye1]

I once scored a nice windfall after investing in the maker of PicoSure, the emerging leader in tattoo removal technology.    They were eventually bought out by hologic so I took the cash.

I looked at everyone younger than me and thought, everyone has a tattoo and many of them will want to remove them. 

I'm not anti-tattoo but figured that was a growth industry. 

This has always been the reason for my reluctance to get any tattoos.  They last forever.  Sometimes I see young people with tattoos and think to myself, "How is that going to look on an old lady/man in the nursing home?"

[medinabuckeye1]

I have a reoccurring dream where I get a tattoo, and then instantly regret it. I'm always relieved to discover that it was all just a dream, and that I don't actually have a tattoo, once I wake up. So, I've heeded the warning and never got one.

One Spring Break while I was at Ohio State I went to Florida with some friends.  The bar we mostly frequented had a tattoo parlor literally on the way out of the bar and I just thought "Oh that isn't good."  

I immediately thought of Jimmy Buffet's lyrics:
"With nothing to show but this brand new tattoo
But it's a real beauty, a Mexican cutie
How it got here I haven't a clue."  

[betarhoalphadelta]

I have a tribal armband tattoo.  It matches my Affliction t-shirts and looks great with my skinny jeans.

I figured it was an Ed Hardy tee and a Von Dutch hat. 

[utee94]

I figured it was an Ed Hardy tee and a Von Dutch hat.

That's for weekends.  I was talking about my business attire during the week.

[betarhoalphadelta]

I'm sure this is correct but I also think they are related.  Reading through your experience, how much of not enjoying it was a product of the fact that you weren't one of the oldest/most developed/best kids on the field? 

Yeah, that's the point I was trying to make. The game for me was extra hard (and thus extra hard to enjoy) because I was consistently one of the youngest kids on the field. 

[medinabuckeye1]

Speaking of long generations (this probably belongs in the Weird History thread):

The 10th US President, John Tyler still has a living grandson.  

John Tyler was born just after the Revolutionary War on March 29, 1790 in Charles City County, Virginia.  

He was the "Tyler" in the famous "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" slogan.  Tippecanoe was a reference to Whig Presidential Candidate William Henry Harrison who was the hero of the Battle of Tippecanoe.  The Harrison/Tyler ticket won the 1840 US Presidential Election but Tyler only served a month as VP due to Harrison catching pneumonia and dying.  

Tyler thus served as US President from April 4, 1841-March 4, 1845 when he was 51-54 years old.  He was a member of the Confederate Congress until just before his death in 1862 and he is the only US President to be laid to rest under a flag NOT of the US.  

Tyler's first wife was his age and was First Lady when Tyler entered the White House but she died while her husband was President.  Tyler then married Julia Gardiner while in the White House.  Julia was born in 1820 so she was just 24 at the time while Tyler was 54.  John Tyler and Julia Gardiner Tyler had 7 children including:

Lyon Gardiner Tyler was born to former President John Tyler and Julia Gardiner Tyler on August 24, 1853.  Like his father, Lyon's first wife died and, again like his father, Lyon remarried to a much younger woman and had children in his old age.  That included:

Harrison Ruffin Tyler was born November 9, 1928 when his father was 75.  Harrison is now 96 years old.  

[FearlessF]

tattoos require time & money

there are many other things I value more than any tattoo

[Riffraft]

I followed the general rule of my generation when it came to tattoos...

...don't ink nuthin' that won't be covered by business attire.

I still only have two. Might get more someday. Might not. Depends whether there's something important enough to do it.

Wife has zero. She's talked about it, but she also hates needles... So...

Got my first tatoo about 6 months ago, a paraphase of Micah 6:8, Seek Justice, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly, on my upper inside forearm.  My wife has I believe 10 tatoos on various parts of her body, all were in area that were covered because she was in the financial industry, since then the last 2 are visible.  She had been trying to convince me to get at least one for a long time, I finally gave in.

I can no longer say, I only come with the holes I was born with and the marking on my skin, except for scars. Piercings are just not happening

[betarhoalphadelta]

I remember wanting an earring as a kid. Glad my parent's didn't let that happen. I'm not anti-piercing, but I realize in retrospect that it's certainly not "me". I'm not an earring guy. 

The one I don't understand is those hoops that stretch out your ear lobes. THAT seems like a very poor long-term decision.

[MikeDeTiger]

I perceive the business world is having to adjust its appearance standards because the workforce personnel without visible tattoos is increasingly vanishing.  It's very rare I come across young people anymore without tattoos I can see. 

My stepsons have them, but they are covered up by professional attire.  But I know and work with a lot of young women who don't always dress in long sleeves, and it's always a bit jarring to see giant tats in an office.  And judging by the bank branches I venture into, even public-facing businesses have had to drop those standards.  I used to work at a bank and there's no way they would've ever hired someone with visible tattoos.  Now it seems they have no choice.  Other than to keep replacing all the tellers with ATMs and ITMs, that is.  
 

[utee94]

I perceive the business world is having to adjust its appearance standards because the workforce personnel without visible tattoos is increasingly vanishing.  It's very rare I come across young people anymore without tattoos I can see. 

My stepsons have them, but they are covered up by professional attire.  But I know and work with a lot of young women who don't always dress in long sleeves, and it's always a bit jarring to see giant tats in an office.  And judging by the bank branches I venture into, even public-facing businesses have had to drop those standards.  I used to work at a bank and there's no way they would've ever hired someone with visible tattoos.  Now it seems they have no choice.  Other than to keep replacing all the tellers with ATMs and ITMs, that is. 
 

Agree with this.  Even at a fairly conservative tech company like the one I work for, it's definitely trending more in this direction.  There will come a point in the next decade when the "young people with visible tattoos" will become the "old people working in upper management" and then I don't think there will be any stigma at all, about it.