A little humor…

To start the week!

By today’s standards, none of us were supposed to ever make it. 

HIGH SCHOOL —  1957  vs  2026

Scenario 1: 

Jack goes duck hunting before school and then pulls into the school parking lot with his shotgun in his truck’s gun rack.

1957 –  Vice Principal comes over, looks at Jack’s shotgun, goes to his car and gets his shotgun to show Jack.

2026 –  School goes into lock down, FBI called,  Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again.  Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers.

Scenario 2: 

Johnny and Mark get into a fist fight after school.

1957 –  Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up buddies.

2026 –  Police called and SWAT team arrives — they arrest both Johnny and Mark.   They are both charged with assault and both expelled – even though Johnny started it .

Scenario 3: 

Jeffrey will not be in class, he disrupts other students.

1957 –  Jeffrey sent to the Principal’s office and given a good paddling by the Principal.  He then returns to class, sits still and does not disrupt class again.

2026 –  Jeffrey is given huge doses of Ritalin.  He becomes a zombie.  He is then tested for ADD.  The family gets extra money (SSI) from the government because Jeffrey has a disability.

Scenario 4: 

Billy breaks a window in his neighbor’s car and his Dad gives him a whipping.

1957 –  Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college and  becomes a successful businessman.

2026 –  Billy’s dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy is removed to foster care and joins a gang.  The state psychologist is told by Billy’s sister that she remembers being spanked herself and their dad goes to prison.  Billy’s mom has an affair with the psychologist.

Scenario 5: 

Mark gets a headache and takes some aspirin to school.

1957 –  Mark shares his aspirin with the Principal out on the smoking dock .

2026 –  The police are called and Mark is expelled from school for drug violations.  His car is then searched for drugs and weapons.

Scenario 6: 

Pedro fails high school English.

1957 –  Pedro goes to summer school, passes English and goes to college.

2026 –  Pedro’s cause is taken up by a radical group.   Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a requirement forgraduation is racist.  ACLU files a class action lawsuit against the state school system and Pedro’s English teacher.  English is then banned from the basic curriculum.  Pedro is given his diploma anyway, but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he cannot speak English.

Scenario 7: 

Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from the Fourth of July, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle and blows up a red ant bed..

1957 –  Ants die.

2026 –  ATF, Homeland Security and the FBI are all called.  Johnny is charged with domestic terrorism.   The FBI investigates his parents – and all siblings are removed from their home. All computers are confiscated.  Johnny’s dad is placed on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.

Scenario 8: 

Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee ..   He is found crying by his teacher, Mary.  Mary hugs him to comfort him.

1957   – In a short time, Johnny feels better and goes on playing.

2026  – Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job.  She faces 3 years in State Prison.  Johnny undergoes 5 years of therapy.

Sadly, I guess this one really isn’t humor… dammit…

Comments

A little humor… — 8 Comments

  1. More truth than humor, unfortunately. Wonder what massive trouble I would be in today for doing the things I was doing in high school in Texas during the late 60’s

  2. I’d laugh more if the event I was at, Vintage Computing Festival East, hadn’t been swatted two hours before the end. I missed Lee Felsenstein’s talk on the history and future of personal computing. I had questions for him about why Processor Technology failed to succeed in the late 70’s like Apple, Radio Shack, and Commodore, despite being first to market with a keyboard/computer combo with video output, his Sol-20. Instead, I waited in the cold drizzle for my wife to come pick me up, because she’d taken the kiddos to a museum 20 minutes away, and the police wanted all the buildings emptied.

  3. Back in the mid ‘70s, my small town high school had a school sponsored trap and skeet club. And a really good shop program with classes in woodworking, metalworking , and auto repair. We also had a very successful Air Force ROTC program that got a member admitted to the Air Force academy two years in a row.

  4. Tom- You and me both!

    LL- Sadly, yes.

    TOS- Interesting… Just found out there will be one in Dallas next month.

  5. VCF’s are neat. The number of computers I got to see that I’d never seen in person, or never even heard of before, was impressive. I got some hands on time on an Apple Lisa, saw Cosmac Elf computers, Ohio Scientific computers, etc.

    VCF East has the distinction of being held at the museum complex that was once Camp Evans. That has some big iron and some more rare examples – like an Apple. The Univac in the computer museum collection was the digital replacement for teleprompter, analog fire control computers aboard the early DDGs. Alas, the naval “peripherals” are no longer attached, just the teletype and teleprinter, but the complex does have a fair assortment of military radars, some of which were originally developed out of there.

  6. When I was in high school if students were going to fight you usually heard some one say meet me at the bridge. That got them off school property and no school consequences. I did see one tough guy duke it out with the gym teacher during gym class. I don’t know for sure what happened to him but we never saw again!