I'm not sure if there's a poll feature here, so I'll just ask straight-up. How old is the average user here?

Are there any fellow teens?

I graduated from High School in 1962.

I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up...

> I still don't know what I want to be when I grow
> up...

That reminds me of an experience I had several years ago. I was driving some children to a sporting event and one of them, a 12-year-old who labors under the illusion that I am successful, asked me how old I had been when I figured out what I wanted to do with my life. I paused for a second and then said, "I'll let you know when I get there."

Life is so much a process of constant self-reinvention as we adapt to changing circumstances. . .

>> Life is so much a process of constant self-reinvention as we adapt to changing circumstances. . .<<

Once you make it to AP, that part is no longer necessary.

We don't know what we want you to be when you grow up either EOD :)

Or even whether we want him to grow up.

If he did, he could drink--and drive!

I was already married in 1962 and awaiting my first child.

I wasn't married, but I desperately wanted to get Paula B. with child, and I practiced constantly!

We're all Swifties.

Can't tell if you're kidding

Uncertainty is one of the more interesting spices of life!

True, but theres a reason I'm an exmo. I hate not knowing the truth.

Chez Wrote:
-------------------------------
> I hate not knowing the truth.


You should, at the very least, learn to co-exist with this condition since it is, by our very nature, a constant.

Plus, even when you think you're safe in assuming a Truth, that Truth can change; can almost be counted on to change.

You can't even be sure you know the truth about yourself!

It's possible that there are attributes of our humanity that are even more important than knowing the truth.

As a test, try to list some non-science "truths" that you deem to be unassailable. (If you were The Cat, I'd let you list some scientific "truths" just for shiz and giggles.)

elderolddog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Chez Wrote:
> -------------------------------
> > I hate not knowing the truth.
>
>
> You should, at the very least, learn to co-exist
> with this condition since it is, by our very
> nature, a constant.
>
> Plus, even when you think you're safe in assuming
> a Truth, that Truth can change; can almost be
> counted on to change.
>
> You can't even be sure you know the truth about
> yourself!
>
> It's possible that there are attributes of our
> humanity that are even more important than knowing
> the truth.
>
> As a test, try to list some non-science "truths"
> that you deem to be unassailable. (If you were The
> Cat, I'd let you list some scientific "truths"
> just for shiz and giggles.)

No one will break Nolan Ryan's strikeout record. No one will break Joe D's 56 games with a hit record. I think of those as truths.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/02/2023 11:26PM by tensolator.

Fifty-nine, my heart left the church at 40. I pretended. The Corona illness kept me out of church for a year plus. That was after three plus years in a bishopric. I pretended.

Chez Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Can't tell if you're kidding

Kidding, I'd guess. :)

I don't know of many (any?) very young posters (aka teens) but maybe you can start a trend!

That doesn't mean you won't find accurate informative information here. Don't be shy to ask questions. We goof off quite a bit but there are some very experienced and knowledgeable people who can answer just about any question related to Mormonism that anybody could come up with.

The meaning of life etc - that is still up for debate. :)

Homework assignment.

The day I left on my mission, I boarded a Western Airlines 737 - first series. Walked across the tarmac to stairs that had been wheeled out to the plane on a cold January morning to board. Had a full size sandwich and drink in flight (no charge), no wi-fi (did not exist), and there was no issue or charges for checking your bags. You could stretch your legs, knees were not pressed against the seat before you, and space for your shoulders. If you wanted a blanket or small pillow, you just got one from the overhead.

Gasoline was around 85 to 95 Cents per gallon depending upon your location.

I'm guessing late 70s early 80s was when this happened?

Right on the mark - 1978.

Western Airways. The Only Way to Fly they said and they were right. Coach on Western was better than domestic first class today.

And people were dressed nicely, polite, and no one was harassing and punching the Stewardesses. That's how old I am.

The Western flight for the mission was my first flight ever.

There is a funny story about that flight I must tell.

We had a person on board who had indulged himself to much at the airport when it came to his liquor. Half into the flight he became agitated. So we landed in Casper, Wyoming. They opened the door, walked him to the off load ramp, and across the tarmac. Once it was far enough away, the pilot fired up the engines, we swung around and took off. We were probably no more than 10 minutes on the ground.

Love it.

On the last leg of my return home---LA to SLC-- they handed us cards with the winners of ten horse races on them. Then they showed a film of ten horse races. Everyone was cheering on the horses because if the one on your card won you were given a bottle of champagne.

I wanted to win so badly because I thought it would be hysterical for a returning missionary to get off the plane with a bottle of Champagne. I got nosed out at the last second of the last race. Very disappointing.

Those were the days . . .

1971

I still have three pocket knives with various airline logos.

We were handed one when we boarded the flight.

Just wow. That alone tells us a huge story about where we are now as a country compared to then. And dates you, haha.

Done & Done Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Love it.
>
> On the last leg of my return home---LA to SLC--
> they handed us cards with the winners of ten horse
> races on them. Then they showed a film of ten
> horse races. Everyone was cheering on the horses
> because if the one on your card won you were given
> a bottle of champagne.
>
> I wanted to win so badly because I thought it
> would be hysterical for a returning missionary to
> get off the plane with a bottle of Champagne. I
> got nosed out at the last second of the last race.
> Very disappointing.
>
> Those were the days . . .
>
> 1971

Well obviously the mob was involved.

I thought, in 1983, when The Who broke up, I would never have AA chance to see them in concert. In 1989, for my college graduation, my brother and I saw The Who in concert in the Oakland Colosseum. Life is funny like that.

I remember when you were almost always given a meal on a flight. On a coast-to-coast flight, it was steak, potatoes, vegetable, and a roll. Very nice. Seats were wider and more generously spaced. You didn't have to pay extra for luggage, preferred seating, etc. It was a lot more civilized.

Older than dirt.
Whiter than the driven snow.

Not as old as e-dog....just barely.

There are all ages here. They come and go. There are a lot of old geezers here who will tell you like it is. There is a lot of wisdom here.

I'm mostly jealous I didn't catch on to Mormonism as early as you did.

I just had my 50th high school reunion.

They had high schools 50 years ago? I guess EOD lied to me yet again. . .



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/28/2023 03:47PM by Lot's Wife.

Well, we called them "Prepas" back then, short for Preparatoria...

What Gladys calls me... <poof!>



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/28/2023 04:38PM by elderolddog.

All that about a one-room school and a schoolmarm wasn't true?

Then what is your excuse for stopping at sixth grade?

Sixth grade was my "safe space" ...

That excuse loses its credibility after four or five years.

I won't say my age, but I remember when we got our first TV. It was a black and white, came in a cabinet with doors, and the picture tended to scroll up or down on it's own.

I also remember being sick, home from school watching TV when Kennedy was assassinated. My mom told me it was serious. I remember President Eisenhower and David O. McKay was the mormon profit.

We had a phone but it was on a party line. Captain Kangaroo my favorite show along with Howdy Doodee Time and the Mickey Mouse Club with Annette Funicello. My Dad liked Have Gun Will Travel, Rawhide, and boxing with Sonny Liston.

Penny candy was plentiful and a nickle Payday candy bar was huge. Primary was on a Wednesday afternoon and the school bus would drop off the whole busload there.

Our car had a bird with wings on the front of the hood. Sometimes my Dad would let me ride there holding onto the wings while he drove us to church. We drank milk my Dad milked from our one cow.

I guess I would be around seven decades or so old. Do you remember pennies by the inch?

LOL I remember my family's first black and white TV. We had to hit it a lot to keep the picture from moving up and down. TVs back then took a lot of abuse. We were either adjusting the antenna, turning the knob or hitting it. Today's TV viewers don't know how easy they have it.

I remember the JFK funeral, I was mad that it preempted one of my favorite shows on that ole black and white. I had no idea of the significance of that event. When we finally got a color TV, it was whoo..hoo! But the screen did scroll often as well.

I preferred the Milky Way Bar that had that thick layer of soft Caramel that would stick to anything and everything.

Dad had the 8 passenger Buick station wagon, he would put down the lift-gate, and we would dangle our legs as he drove down the road. Grandpa was a rancher, and he would let us drive his tank of an Impala in the acres upon acres of open land he had, with nothing you could hit.

Those were good days.

51…

But I was about 31 when I found this site.

I Can't speak for the average user, but being well above average, I'm 62.

Now if you want to know the average age of all of us, you need to get all our ages and divide by the number of us.

> I Can't speak for the average user...


I love that, as an AP, you can still be so modest!

He's had the Third Anointing, which comes with special garments and a plastic whistle.

>> He's had the Third Anointing <<

That's why my nickname is Tripod.

I see what you did there

Modest is as modest does....and don't forget....modest is hottest! That's why chicks dig me.

62? Youngster.
63 here.

I was in first grade when Kennedy was shot. I remember watching the funeral in school.

I haven't yet reached my 50th high school reunion.

We had a TV from what I remember when I showed up. I forgot about the picture scrolling up and down by itself. That was so irritating! My parents didn't have a color TV until I bought them one in my 20s.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/28/2023 04:07PM by cl2.

You and I are the same age. I also was in first grade when President Kennedy was shot. In a few weeks, it will have been 60 years, and I clearly remember it. Actually, I remember the Cuban missile crisis, but I didn’t understand what was going on (though I do remember my mom being worried).

I think there have been a few movies made about it and I haven't seen any of them. I need to watch one.

It is my dad's birth date, November 22. He died 14-1/2 years ago.

And my twins were born on the 21st.

It is shocking to look back and see how much has changed. I used to think they had invented everything, so what was there left to invent? OH MY!

I remember it clearly, too, and I remember sitting in my chair 2nd row from the back and 1 row over from the doors the day we watched the funeral. My teacher was Mrs. Kotter.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/29/2023 10:08AM by cl2.

“I think there have been a few movies made about it and I haven't seen any of them. I need to watch one.”

My personal recommendation would be “Parkland” (starring Zac Enron and Bill Bob Thornton).

One to avoid (IMO): “JFK” (the Oliver Stone film).

We do get teens and 20-somethings, Chez, but they tend to come and go. The board gets all ages, but it tends to skew older. We love our younger posters -- you get to save yourself a lot of heartache by getting out early. If you have any questions, we can likely help, and if you just want to vent, there are a lot of great listeners here.

I’m old enough that there only 16 temples in the entire world when I served my mission. Now there are that many temples announced during a slow GC session.

Also during my mission, blacks couldn’t receive the priesthood, nor could they do the ordinances necessary for exaltation, all indigenous people throughout the Americas were Lamanites, JS translated the BoM using the Urim and Thummim, there was only one version of the First Vision, and members actually quoted from the PoGP in talks and lessons.

I’m in my late 60’s.

I remember watching the Beatles come to the U.S. on the news on our black and white TV set. I also remember watching all the news about President Kennedy.

I can recall the Vietnam War protests and my parents and I got caught in the rioting at Golden State Park. Cops on horseback were chasing us and everyone there. All we had wanted to do was visit and see the points of interest there; we got more than we bargained for!

Congratulations on figuring out the LDS church while you’re young; that is an accomplishment.

Excuse me. We are all above average.

I'm not average, never have been, never will be.

I identify as under 16 for taxation and criminal purposes, and over 65 when I am collecting my state pension.

49 here.

I've been around here (with a different name that I realized, years on, had a spelling error that turned it into a whole other name. *cringe*) since 2005ish. Though I come and go. But in that time, I have seen posts by several teens in roughly your situation. They usually move on either when they reach a more stable point in their post-mormon life, or, I suspect, when they return to the church for familial peace/financial support/guilt.

Stick around, everyone is here to help. Except a certain TBM member from Alabama whose name is in all caps. He'll try to persuade your return.

Just be safe and delete your history, and use a proxy/vpn/anonymizer if you're connecting via wifi at home or a mormon friend/family member's home.