Since we are discussing crazy times... Where were you?

[Taco]

Let's drop back...
2008 housing crisis / stock crash
2001 sept
1980s aids epidemic
1970s gas crisis
1960s JFK/MLK assasination
1960s Vietnam/Draft

In these other crazy times, Im looking for a good story to change the subject... Anyone have a story in the above list, or other crazy time that didn't make it on the list?

[armedpolak]

Let's drop back...
2008 housing crisis / stock crash
2001 sept
1980s aids epidemic
1970s gas crisis
1960s JFK/MLK assasination
1960s Vietnam/Draft

In these other crazy times, Im looking for a good story to change the subject... Anyone have a story in the above list, or other crazy time that didn't make it on the list?

2008 - working here in S. FL. living in a 2 bedroom with wife and my first child... lost my job early 2009... got a better one 4 days later

2001 - junior in college (NCSU in Raleigh) walked into the cafeteria for breakfast, TVs were on but muted, saw one tower burning, didn't think much of it... walked into first class an hour later and people told me... bolted to my dean's office to use her phone to call NYC (close family member worked there)... I will never forget dean's face when I told her I need to call NYC...

1980s - a kid in communist Poland (born August 1980)... playing with sticks and stones like kids should have few vague memories of martial law, tanks on the streets of my town, empty stores, food lines, the general nasty attitude of store workers, and the thing I remember the most were the shortages: near daily shortages of water, electricity, gas in our apartment (blok) we lived in on the 3rd floor. remember a big water canister parked in the neighborhood where you would bring a bucket to to get some water if non was coming out of your faucet. remember taking "baths" in a small bucket of water. remember my mom waking up and heating up the house in the winter using the 4 gas burners on the kitchen stove because the central heating was... having a shortage due to capitalist saboteurs yea that's the type of shit they told us in schools... oh and the best part... school field trips to local potato fields to pick up potato bugs dropped by American spy planes... I kid you not that was the propaganda pumped into kids 24/7. of course nobody REALLY believed it but nobody could REALLY say it... my Dad did, the f'ing Polish arm of the KGB had a thick file on him and they came knocking when they found out he managed to escape to the USA... my mother and I were supposed to join him soon after but we were told by the government that we are not allowed to get a passport until HE comes back... and we knew what would happen to him if he DID come back... so that was the end of that family's integrity... I have exactly 3 memories of my father before he left when I was 2 years old, 1 involves him playing with me by rolling a tennis ball and me fetching it for him, 2nd involves me in a hospital after I tripped and busted my forehead open on a furniture corner fetching said tennis ball LOL, and the 3rd and last was the day he left... I'm standing in the room near the apartment door and watch him leave then I watch him from the window as he waves to me. I was 2yo. next time I saw him it took the fall of the CCCP and fall of communist party rule in Poland... it was 1994, I was 14.

good times

[Wolfdog]

One of my earliest memories is of the night JFK was assassinated. Back tv did not stay on all night, but it did that night. My mother would not quit watching and no amount of pleading or yelling by my father could get her to stop. He finally had enough and since he would never hurt my mother he picked up the console tv amd threw it through the picture window, then calmly closed the drapes and told her to go to bed.

[joker223]

Let's drop back...
2008 housing crisis / stock crash
2001 sept
1980s aids epidemic
1970s gas crisis
1960s JFK/MLK assasination
1960s Vietnam/Draft

In these other crazy times, Im looking for a good story to change the subject... Anyone have a story in the above list, or other crazy time that didn't make it on the list?

2008 - working here in S. FL. living in a 2 bedroom with wife and my first child... lost my job early 2009... got a better one 4 days later

2001 - junior in college (NCSU in Raleigh) walked into the cafeteria for breakfast, TVs were on but muted, saw one tower burning, didn't think much of it... walked into first class an hour later and people told me... bolted to my dean's office to use her phone to call NYC (close family member worked there)... I will never forget dean's face when I told her I need to call NYC...

1980s - a kid in communist Poland (born August 1980)... playing with sticks and stones like kids should have few vague memories of martial law, tanks on the streets of my town, empty stores, food lines, the general nasty attitude of store workers, and the thing I remember the most were the shortages: near daily shortages of water, electricity, gas in our apartment (blok) we lived in on the 3rd floor. remember a big water canister parked in the neighborhood where you would bring a bucket to to get some water if non was coming out of your faucet. remember taking "baths" in a small bucket of water. remember my mom waking up and heating up the house in the winter using the 4 gas burners on the kitchen stove because the central heating was... having a shortage due to capitalist saboteurs yea that's the type of shit they told us in schools... oh and the best part... school field trips to local potato fields to pick up potato bugs dropped by American spy planes... I kid you not that was the propaganda pumped into kids 24/7. of course nobody REALLY believed it but nobody could REALLY say it... my Dad did, the f'ing Polish arm of the KGB had a thick file on him and they came knocking when they found out he managed to escape to the USA... my mother and I were supposed to join him soon after but we were told by the government that we are not allowed to get a passport until HE comes back... and we knew what would happen to him if he DID come back... so that was the end of that family's integrity... I have exactly 3 memories of my father before he left when I was 2 years old, 1 involves him playing with me by rolling a tennis ball and me fetching it for him, 2nd involves me in a hospital after I tripped and busted my forehead open on a furniture corner fetching said tennis ball LOL, and the 3rd and last was the day he left... I'm standing in the room near the apartment door and watch him leave then I watch him from the window as he waves to me. I was 2yo. next time I saw him it took the fall of the CCCP and fall of communist party rule in Poland... it was 1994, I was 14.

good times

Now that's a story! Thanks for sharing.

[armedpolak]

Let's drop back...
2008 housing crisis / stock crash
2001 sept
1980s aids epidemic
1970s gas crisis
1960s JFK/MLK assasination
1960s Vietnam/Draft

In these other crazy times, Im looking for a good story to change the subject... Anyone have a story in the above list, or other crazy time that didn't make it on the list?

2008 - working here in S. FL. living in a 2 bedroom with wife and my first child... lost my job early 2009... got a better one 4 days later

2001 - junior in college (NCSU in Raleigh) walked into the cafeteria for breakfast, TVs were on but muted, saw one tower burning, didn't think much of it... walked into first class an hour later and people told me... bolted to my dean's office to use her phone to call NYC (close family member worked there)... I will never forget dean's face when I told her I need to call NYC...

1980s - a kid in communist Poland (born August 1980)... playing with sticks and stones like kids should have few vague memories of martial law, tanks on the streets of my town, empty stores, food lines, the general nasty attitude of store workers, and the thing I remember the most were the shortages: near daily shortages of water, electricity, gas in our apartment (blok) we lived in on the 3rd floor. remember a big water canister parked in the neighborhood where you would bring a bucket to to get some water if non was coming out of your faucet. remember taking "baths" in a small bucket of water. remember my mom waking up and heating up the house in the winter using the 4 gas burners on the kitchen stove because the central heating was... having a shortage due to capitalist saboteurs yea that's the type of shit they told us in schools... oh and the best part... school field trips to local potato fields to pick up potato bugs dropped by American spy planes... I kid you not that was the propaganda pumped into kids 24/7. of course nobody REALLY believed it but nobody could REALLY say it... my Dad did, the f'ing Polish arm of the KGB had a thick file on him and they came knocking when they found out he managed to escape to the USA... my mother and I were supposed to join him soon after but we were told by the government that we are not allowed to get a passport until HE comes back... and we knew what would happen to him if he DID come back... so that was the end of that family's integrity... I have exactly 3 memories of my father before he left when I was 2 years old, 1 involves him playing with me by rolling a tennis ball and me fetching it for him, 2nd involves me in a hospital after I tripped and busted my forehead open on a furniture corner fetching said tennis ball LOL, and the 3rd and last was the day he left... I'm standing in the room near the apartment door and watch him leave then I watch him from the window as he waves to me. I was 2yo. next time I saw him it took the fall of the CCCP and fall of communist party rule in Poland... it was 1994, I was 14.

good times

Now that's a story! Thanks for sharing.

my pleasure! I know you guys probably heard this a billion times from other migrants form commie countries but... I just can't believe people here in the USA buy into this socialist / communist crap. I gave up on explaining to young ones about the pitfalls of such systems, now I only educate my children... worse yet, I personally know people who came here from commie Poland, Cuba, or India (basically had huge communist influence into its form of government) and they still, after escaping such systems, spew this crap... like yea it can be done RIGHT this time here in the States... I just shake my head and walkaway when this crap comes up around me... so so sad...

[lakelandman]

2008 housing crisis / stock crash
2003-2011 Iraq War
2001 sept 11th
1990-1991 Gulf War
1986 Challenger disaster

2008 housing crisis/stock crash Living in Flordia working a lot of friends lost houses and jobs.

2003-2011 Iraq War Seeing friends ship out and coming back not the same.

2001 Sept 11th Was sleeping working the night shift a friend left a voicemail saying we had been bombed.

1990-1991 Gulf War saw a lot what happened on the news crazy times.

1986 Challenger disaster Was in the Elementary cafeteria watching it on the news with other kids when it blew up.

[jimmac]

Lets go back a bit further, I was almost 3 years old.
On December 7 1941, my Grandfather got the afternoon paper and I could see the shock on his face when he said "They Bombed Pearl Harbor". I had no Idea what that meant, but I knew it was a bad thing.
That is the oldest thing I can remember, like I said I was almost 3 years old. I was In Aurora Ill annoy.

[Ger42]

2008 housing crisis / stock crash........ Working had announced my retirement date watched my 401K lose close to half. Last day was 10/31/2008
2001 sept........ Up state NY talking to my son who called from NYC, were he lived, he called just after watching the second plane crash. Asked what he should do I had no answers for him.
1980s aids epidemic........ I was living in Chicago no impact until a friend of my wife's died.
1970s gas crisis........ My wife worked in Xray office wore white nurses outfit we traded cars when one needed gas she would go to one station that gave gas to medical people. 1970 Road Runner , 1972 Pinto.
1960s JFK/MLK assassination........ Driving to my uncle's house to spend time with my aunt from VA she came up because my uncle's wife dropped dead at 39 left him with 5 kids.
1960s Vietnam/Draft........ I Had joined Army Reserves to satisfy the Selective Service in 1961 employer said no advancement until I met my draft requirements.

[Jeepsnguns]

Let's drop back...
2008 housing crisis / stock crash
2001 sept
1980s aids epidemic
1970s gas crisis
1960s JFK/MLK assasination
1960s Vietnam/Draft

In these other crazy times, Im looking for a good story to change the subject... Anyone have a story in the above list, or other crazy time that didn't make it on the list?

Not a crazy story , more like dodged the bullet story.
I was about to be graduating Sr High in June of 1975 fully expecting to be drafted and shipped off to the cluster fuck in Vietnam.
The fall of Saigon happened April 30 1975.....a month and a half before graduating.....unbelievable.
Me and a whole shit load of other young bucks got a new lease on life that summer.

[neverenoughguns]

I remember September 2001. First plane hit, didn't think anything of it. Second plane hit, knew it was bad news. Like most American's, watched a lot of depressing tv over the next couple years. Visited ground zero last year for the first time, very somber place. Memorial and museum in the basement of the Twin Towers is absolutely sobering and amazing at the same time.