# Useless "Remember When" Thread



## SinePari

Riding with new troopers who were born in the 1980s really sets me back a few steps. All of the fantastic movie references that my friends and I drop on each other are ineffective now. Just explaining them is draining, which always leads me to other references. With that in mind, drop some old school stuff in this thread.

My first video game consisted of two lines going up and down, and a blip going left and right; affectionately called "Blip."

Car seats? I remember laying across the back deck sideways under the window all the way down to Florida.

The girls in my dad's nudie mags looked like they had Buckwheat in the scissors lock.

Still had 8-tracks and none of this iPod shuffle techno wizardry. Making a mix tape meant keeping your boom box cassette recorder ready to go when your song came on the radio.

When they started drilling holes in my house for cable tv my mom said, "We ain't paying for tv. That's ridiculous." In 1981 MTV actually played *music*.

Sunday morning cartoons meant Davey and Goliath.

Word.


----------



## sdb29

How about Incident Reports that were typed? There were four copies so you had to go to the carbon paper box in the report room and put the carbon paper between the pages before you put them in the typewriter. 
Every week Unit 12 had to go to St Luke's Hospital and pick up the carbon paper they saved for us. They only used it once, you know.


----------



## Hush

As of just a few years ago, if not still, NYPD reports are typed on typewriters with carbons.

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## Nuke_TRT

I still remember having to hand write reports and such.


----------



## lofu

Hush said:


> As of just a few years ago, if not still, NYPD reports are typed on typewriters with carbons.
> 
> Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2


I understand there is a resistance to change in our profession but come on. That's rediculous.


----------



## justanotherparatrooper

there was no gps (better know where the fuck you were and where youre going and how youre going to get there) ,ONLY Drs and rich people had car phones or bag phones/if you were a "lucky one" you had a pager (refer to gps....better know where all the pay phones are),ALWAYS keep change for said pay phone.
scrambled porn.... wasnt no free computer porn like now


----------



## Inspector71

Everybody carried revolvers and some guys thought Smith Model 39/59's in Nickel were the balls!


----------



## HistoryHound

mtc said:


> Typing term papers on a "newfangled" typewriter - "newfangled" because it was electric and had dual ribbon cartriges - one for ink and one for correction!


Looking up something for that term paper, or any reason for that matter, required a trip to the library, flipping through the card catalog, jotting down a bunch of locations and heading up to the stacks. Just to add to the fun, often times the books would already be checked out or not in their proper place by the dewey decimal system and then you'd have to go to the books in the reference room.


----------



## LGriffin

SinePari said:


> Riding with new troopers who were born in the 1980s really sets me back a few steps. All of the fantastic movie references that my friends and I drop on each other are ineffective now. Just explaining them is draining, which always leads me to other references.


It must be a dry ride when the person sitting next to you has no basis of knowledge before "Dude, Where's My Car?" You may as well be riding around with Long Duck Dong trying to explain to him what Willis was Talkin' 'bout.

Frankly, I have nothing without references.

I never cared about who shot J.R. but I practiced wax on, wax off on a regular basis. Back then, movies were inspirational. We got all jacked up watching Rocky which resulted in a great deal of running very fast and jumping rope. That is, if I didn't loose too much sleep from watching Poltergeist.

If you have any questions, feel free to call 867-5309.

With regard to work, I got in before IMC got useful, so we used hand written incident cards and arrest cards to look up and update the last time we arrested a dope. Also, typing accident reports and using the templates blew, and I was too new to throw in misc. animals, but oddly not as much as having the "new" computer crash half way through a long arrest report.


----------



## Nuke_TRT

LGriffin said:


> If you have any questions, feel free to call 867-5309.


Jennie changed her number.


----------



## Deuce

New guys laugh at me writing an incident report and call me "old school".. They look at my street guide and ask "what's that?" A warrant check meant going to the back room, looking up an actual paper warrant and feeding it to the dispatcher on a conveyer belt like system.. Radios were called bricks because they were huge and heavy and we only has 2 channels; and you had to sign one out..

I actually tried seeing different shades of gray in my black and white tv.. Rabbit ears creeped me out.. My mothers VW bug had no heat so winter really sucked.. Seat belts? Think I saw those new fangled things when I was in my teens.. Listening to the same song over meant lifting up the needle and trying to find the right groove on the vinyl..


----------



## kwflatbed

Walking the beat with my friend Officer Ernie,3 mile round trip,ringing the call boxes
then an ice cream sundae sitting at the fountain in the drug store. His cruiser when needed was his POV equipped with lights and siren.
The price of the sundae if I remember was 25 cents.
B&W tv, rotary party line phones,mealtime sitting at the table with everyone there and
you sat until everyone was finished, and you had better use your manners.
Walk to school, the only ones who had a bus was the high school.
That was growing up in Weymouth.


----------



## 7costanza

I remember when MTV killed the radio star and V66. I remember when The Hilltop was an actual good restaurant and the Ground Round let me throw peanuts shells everywhere. I remember going to play video games for hrs at Aladdins Castle before I got my handheld tabletop games like Frogger and Galaxian and then Atari, Intellevision and Coleco Vision brought the excitement home. I remeber playing 4square, football, soccer, baseball, frisbee golf, dodgeball,capture the flag GI Joe OUTSIDE every dam day, until the St lights came on of course and no one got abducted. I remember movies that changed my life like Jaws, I couldnt go in the water for moons, ET, my Mother always used that phone home line and to me Christopher Reeves WAS Superman. I remember being forced to endure Lawrence Welk every night but I loved Sesame St, Mr. Rogers, Captn Kangaroo, Zoom and the Electric Co until I discoverd The Fall Guy, The Six million Dollar Man, Dukes of Hazard ( shout out to Catherine Bach) SWAT, the Lone Ranger, Bonanza, The Big Valley and being introduced to Meathead and Edith and to this day it still rings true.

_"Boy the way Glen Miller played, songs that made the hit parade, guys like us we had it made, those were the days, and you know where you were then, girls were girls and men were men, mister we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again, didn't need no welfare states everybody pulled his weight, gee our old Lasalle ran great, those were the days!"_


----------



## sdb29

When listings and such were run on an actual teletype somewhere in the station. You had to type a message that was transferred onto a thin paper strip that was fed into the teletype. One mistake and the strip was no good and you had to start from the beginning.
And how about no spell check so you had to learn the difference between "to, too,& two"


----------



## Guest

The most horrific thing for me is that the boot doesn't get my Seinfeld references. Oh well, I have to get back to my intense game of Pong now.


----------



## Guest

Who else knows the significance of.....4, 5, 7, 38, & 56?

Having to pop open the cylinder of your revolver to show the sergeant that it was loaded.

Writing out reports by hand, back when my printing was legible.

The old Boston warrant book that was the size of the Manhattan phone book.

Road games when you had to go pickup prisoners arrested by other agencies, pre-WMS.

Portable radios that were the size of small refrigerators, but were also durable enough to use as improvised impact weapons.

Square cruisers with no A/C, no AM/FM radio, vinyl bench seats, and 4bbl carburetors that made that really cool sound when you floored it and the secondaries opened up.

Judges that actually sent people to jail for offenses other than murder and armed robbery.


----------



## pahapoika

i like the kids

their great with computers
crank up the cons so i can go in and play the "good guy"
take the heat with all the rookie mistakes
some actually listen to decent music ( not that rap crap)
they can quote policy i forgot about a long time ago

and the military guys have some great stories about Iraq 

plus , junior guys free up the books for time off


----------



## Goose

SinePari said:


> Riding with new troopers who were born in the 1980s really sets me back a few steps. All of the fantastic movie references that my friends and I drop on each other are ineffective now. Just explaining them is draining, which always leads me to other references. With that in mind, drop some old school stuff in this thread.


Give them Netflix homework.


----------



## sdb29

Delta784 said:


> Who else knows the significance of.....4, 5, 7, 38, & 56?


The only channels you could get on TV. Except down here in New Bedford we could also get 10 and 12 out of Providence, and we had our very own TV station WTEV 6, which is now in Providence with a different call sign.


----------



## Nuke_TRT

7costanza said:


> _"Boy the way Glen Miller played, songs that made the hit parade, guys like us we had it made, those were the days, and you know where you were then, girls were girls and men were men, mister we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again, didn't need no welfare states everybody pulled his weight, gee our old Lasalle ran great, those were the days!"_


Easy over there Edith, now go get my beer will ya


----------



## Pvt. Cowboy

...getting into law enforcement around here didn't require nearly finding a wonka golden ticket?


----------



## 7costanza

Great stuff Sniperdillgaffer.


----------



## Dan Stark

riding in station wagon facing backwards in the 4th row watching traffic behind us. Good times.

Sent from my Incredible 2 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## justanotherparatrooper

riding in the back of an open pickup truck


----------



## frapmpd24

- Riding in the back seat of the Malibu station wagon, with no a/c, windows that only rolled down only half-way, with a little extra air from the small rectangular windows that barely opened.

- Saturday morning cartoons; watching The Muppet Show and Solid Gold on Saturday night with the family. Now those same acts are played on the radio during "hits of the 80's" - still on Saturday nights.

- Having to get off your ass to change the channel (UHF and VHF) on the TV, only to have the wind blow and ruin the reception. 

- Life without computers and playing outside instead.

- The first computer in school, an Apple with a green screen. Give a few free computers to schools nationwide in the 80's and two decades later when those same kids see that Apple symbol again as adults, it brings back memories and it's like hooking a fish... as I am typing from my iPhone.

- First Atari, then Nintendo; playing Super Mario Brothers when you couldn't go back in the game.

- Watching baseball before the Marlins, Rockies, Devil Rays, Diamond Backs, and Jamie Moyer were in the league.

- The Green Monster with a net and saying the phrase "There's always next year - usually by July."

- Getting that dreaded call home from the teacher, (on the rotary phone), my mother not questioning the teacher what she did wrong, but questioning me what I did. Then the uncomfortable feeling of the hearing the garage door open, knowing dad was home.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk (Neither of which were around before either).


----------



## sdb29

Before A/C and power windows in cruisers they used to take the window cranks off the back doors. Everybody carried a crank in their gear bag so you could roll down the back windows on hot nights.


----------



## GARDA

SinePari said:


> Riding with new troopers who were born in the 1980s really sets me back a few steps. All of the fantastic movie references that my friends and I drop on each other are ineffective now. Just explaining them is draining, which always leads me to other references. With that in mind, drop some old school stuff in this thread.


The last two "boots" who I took out on patrol set me back a few steps as well.

Both were born *after* I had graduated High School.
I remember jumping out of helicopters that year.

As a "boot" I wondered about what I needed to know,
But when I have one of them with me,
I can't help but wonder...is what I know enough for them?


----------



## pahapoika

GARDA said:


> As a "boot" I wondered _hard_ about what I needed to know,
> But when I have one of them with me,
> I can't help but wonder...is what I know enough, for them?


i talk with a trooper friend who's been retired for 25 years and he still has good advice. 

in the prison system most guys "get it" after a couple years . the rest become management.


----------



## Guest

LawMan3 said:


> Seems like a lot of interviews for LE jobs these days go like this...


Not only do you get nothing, but you get nothing and have to like it;


----------



## Guest

sdb29 said:


> Before A/C and power windows in cruisers they used to take the window cranks off the back doors. Everybody carried a crank in their gear bag so you could roll down the back windows on hot nights.


That made me think of another one.....cruisers with no cages. There were several on my current PD when I was hired, so you had to call for a cage car or the wagon when you made an arrest.


----------



## justanotherparatrooper




----------



## SinePari

Before Madden NFL on XBox and PS3, there was a big, flat aluminum table top painted like a football field. You put on these little plastic football player figures and pressed the on button to make it vibrate.

Your crazy parents took you to see The Exorcist because the price of a ticket was cheaper than getting a baby sitter.

You actually wrote letters with a pen and paper every Christmas and sent them to the North Pole, and the USPS used to actually deliver them.

When you played army and found the best stick that looked like a machine gun, you saved it for the next game until your mom threw it out.

You were part of the KISS Army, and had to dress like Gene Simmons every Halloween.

A concert t-shirt the next day meant YOU WERE THERE, MAN.

You wore a smelly mesh practice jersey to school.

Cars had ash trays.

A beer koozie with fake Coca Cola wrap was a must.

Army boot camp was hard.

Communism was still the threat.

You only went to the hospital if something was falling off or the blood was shooting up.

Bumper skiing was your A-game.

Shoppers World in Framingham meant: pizza, a few pairs of Levi's, and penny candy.


----------



## k12kop

Your principal and most of your teachers where combat vets.
You actually sweated in gym class.
And you wore a jock.
If you could not change a flat or set the points don't bother asking dad to use the car.
Don't even think of calling home from the station.


----------



## Guest

I'm technically an 80's baby (1980), but I remember most of the things already mentioned. I remember walking to the drug store w/ my sister at 8 and 10 yrs old by ourselves to spend our 50¢ on the little boxes of 10¢ candy (lemon heads and Boston baked beans). My mother worked nights, and we were left home alone at that age, and it wasn't a big deal. Computer class at school was awesome because we got to play 'Oregon Trail' and 'Where In the World is Carmen San Diego', and we used floppy disks. I wanted to be Punky Brewster. We watched Disney movies like The Gnomemobile and Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and loved Wild America. We didn't wear seat belts, and we rode in the front seat at 5 yrs old. My first camera was a little hot pink 110 that you had to attach flash cubes to.l, and I thought I was super cool when I got a walkman for my birthday. We didn't get Cabbage Patch dolls until they'd been out for 3 or 4 yrs because my mom couldn't afford the gouged prices when they first came out. Jellies were cool, but they made your feet way too sweaty. I felt smart because I loved the Dewey Decimal system. MTV actually played videos, but we weren't allowed to watch it. And trick or treating was safe, even at strangers' houses.

Those were the days! 

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2


----------



## HistoryHound

You could walk to the corner store (or not too far from your corner) and get candy for a penny a piece, Sweedish fish 2 for a penny. The nearest pharmacy and pretty much every store on Main street was owned by a family and odds are they knew your family going back a generation or two. You knew most if not all of your neighbors. You addressed every adult as Mr. or Mrs., gave up your seat if there weren't enough chairs and held doors open because you were raised to respect your elders. You knew what the phrase children were meant to be seen and not heard meant and didn't have to be reminded of it when company was over or you were visiting friends. If need be you could occupy yourself for hours with nothing more than a deck of cards, paper and something to write with or you brought a book to read.


----------



## Guest

I, nor anybody I knew, ever thought of complaining when a PO told us to get the F out or chucked our license across the street. You were just happy he did it and went on his way. 

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2


----------



## sdb29

Being able to tell somebody to get the F out or throw their licenses across the street without worrying about generating a complaint. 

Say, have I dealt with some of you guys in the past?


----------



## 7costanza

I remember rolling my eyes and sighing everytime my Grandfather and then Father went through their" I remember when " list.


----------



## USAF286

HistoryHound said:


> You could walk to the corner store (or not too far from your corner) and get candy for a penny a piece, Sweedish fish 2 for a penny. The nearest pharmacy and pretty much every store on Main street was owned by a family and odds are they knew your family going back a generation or two. You knew most if not all of your neighbors. You addressed every adult as Mr. or Mrs., gave up your seat if there weren't enough chairs and held doors open because you were raised to respect your elders. You knew what the phrase children were meant to be seen and not heard meant and didn't have to be reminded of it when company was over or you were visiting friends. If need be you could occupy yourself for hours with nothing more than a deck of cards, paper and something to write with or you brought a book to read.


Take out the candy prices and the military has taught me the rest.... Little solitaire and a letter to home


----------



## topcop14

When changing the channel on the Tv was turning a dial and then tuning the station in.
The best cop shows were CHPS and TJ Hooker.
Starching your collar of your jean jacket so it stands up
Pegging your jeans
Yellow ribbons for the Iran Hostages .

And I think Mark Wills covers it.


----------



## cc3915

topcop14 said:


> When changing the channel on the Tv was turning a dial and then tuning the station in.


Then, depending on where you lived, wrapping tin foil around the UHF antenna in order to get a signal without "ghosts".


----------



## Nuke_TRT

topcop14 said:


> When changing the channel on the Tv was turning a dial and then tuning the station in.


Turning, I remember push buttons


----------



## cc3915

Having a CB base at the police station (supposedly to monitor emergency ch. 9) and talking to the ladies all night long on the mid shift.


----------



## justanotherparatrooper

cc3915 said:


> Having a CB base at the police station (supposedly to monitor emergency ch. 9) and talking to the ladies all night long on the mid shift.


----------



## Nuke_TRT

J D Buck Savage


----------



## Meat Eater

Going to the drive in move with the family. My father made screens for the car window to keep the bugs. Driving to NH in my older brothers first used car a 1965 Rambler American Wagon and .25 cent gas.


----------



## sdb29

Some nights we'd have more beat men then car men. My first steady assignment was Route 6. I hated the beat when I first started, but learned to appreciate it after a few years. 
I used to wear a wool choker in the winter, and the Sergeant used to call me for a meet on lates (Midnights) and put his hand on my badge to make sure it was cold and I hadn't been in the duck at the fire station.


----------



## cc3915

Checking in once an hour from the call boxes on your assigned route. Each "ring" was recorded automatically on a punch tape in a locked room as well as in a huge bound journal by the desk officer. The admin Lt. would check the tapes and the journal once a week to make sure the rings jived.


----------



## Guest

sdb29 said:


> Being able to tell somebody to get the F out or throw their licenses across the street without worrying about generating a complaint.


There will be many humorous stories in the book I write that will be published either post-retirement or posthumously, depending on the advice of my attorney.


----------



## Guest

sdb29 said:


> Some nights we'd have more beat men then car men. My first steady assignment was Route 6. I hated the beat when I first started, but learned to appreciate it after a few years.
> I used to wear a wool choker in the winter, and the Sergeant used to call me for a meet on lates (Midnights) and put his hand on my badge to make sure it was cold and I hadn't been in the duck at the fire station.


We still had 4 walking beats when I got on, and a kindly old-timer (RIP) told me about the cold badge routine, so I took his advice and left my badge on the roof of my car in the winter. When the douche sergeant (now retired but unfortunately not RIP) called me to meet him, I'd pin it on when I got out of my car, so it was ice cold when he touched it.


----------



## Johnny Law

In the summertime, waking up and going out to play, not to return until the streetlights came on or you heard your name being yelled to come home from two streets over.

Saturday morning cartoons, which ended at noon. You knew it was time to clear out when ABC's Wide World of Sports came on "The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat".

Riding your bike EVERYWHERE, because you wouldn't get far with Mom or Dad driving you nowhere.

Corner store shopping, with candy "buttons" on wax paper (tasted like shit), swedish fish (best value and taste), rolls of caps that you either shot in your Peacemaker replica with simulated pearl handles or smashed with a hammer, or lit on fire with a sharp rock and some friction.

Burning ants or leaves with a magnifying glass

Walking to school with other kids in the neighborhood, and when you transferred up to a higher grade and had to take the bus, everyone met at a common area and was picked up at the same time, not this pussyish picking up/dropping off every 50 feet for one kid!

Having to chew that red dye pill and seeing where the plaque was building up on your teeth so that the school nurse could teach you better oral hygiene.

Report card time, which were written out by hand by the teacher. Having to show Mom and Dad your grades and dreading that if you got a shit mark!

Fights where there were only two combatants, and when it was over you either had a nemesis or you were friends from that point forth.

Weekends where your only worries were who's party you were going to and were you going to get "some" from your girlfriend.


----------



## HistoryHound

Johnny Law said:


> Corner store shopping, with candy "buttons" on wax paper (tasted like shit), swedish fish (best value and taste), rolls of caps that you either shot in your Peacemaker replica with simulated pearl handles or smashed with a hammer, or lit on fire with a sharp rock and some friction.


I forgot about the candy buttons and the fact that it was impossible to get all of them off the paper without having a little paper stuck to at least a few of them. I think the only thing that tasted worse than those and were just about as unsanitary were the candy necklaces. Oh and let's not forget the candy cigarettes.


----------



## Johnny Law

HistoryHound said:


> I forgot about the candy buttons and the fact that it was impossible to get all of them off the paper without having a little paper stuck to at least a few of them. I think the only thing that tasted worse than those and were just about as unsanitary were the candy necklaces. Oh and let's not forget the candy cigarettes.


 Yep, don't forget those impossibly big, multi colored, cavity maker lollypops either. You know the ones, with braided ropes of candy, packed into some circular mold and on a wooden stick. Not a fan after eating one and almost puking.


----------



## cc3915




----------



## Dan Stark

Prodigy ISP 

I remember spending hours playing stupid text based games, and fantasy baseball.


----------



## fra444

DAMN!!!! You MO FO's is OOOOOOOLD!!!!!


----------



## cc3915

Dan Stark said:


> Prodigy ISP
> 
> I remember spending hours playing stupid text based games, and fantasy baseball.


Remember Compuserve and local dial up BB's?

Sent from my iPhone via Tapatalk


----------



## Guest

cc3915 said:


> Remember Compuserve and local dial up BB's?


My very first e-mail address was about 15 numbers @compuserve.com


----------



## Dan Stark

cc3915 said:


> Remember Compuserve and local dial up BB's?
> 
> Sent from my iPhone via Tapatalk


Oh yeah. We had compuserve and prodigy. My dad was a tech at Atec before it folded

Sent from my Incredible 2 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## Nuke_TRT

DOS 2.0, DOS 3.1, up to DOS 6, all prior to the windblows crap

cd \
del *.*


----------



## cc3915

Nuke_TRT said:


> DOS 2.0, DOS 3.1, up to DOS 6, all prior to the windblows crap
> 
> cd \
> del *.*


format c: /s


----------



## cc3915

How about one of these? I filled up the one at my old house with cement around 1983.


----------



## GARDA

I remember when fewer of us missed important sh!t being put out on the cruiser radio. 

It seems that every shift nowadays has a constant and irritating _"Where did 'Ofc. X or Tpr. X' last say he/she was, what's their location?" or_ _"Go again with the vehicle's description/registration/etc?" _while inexplicably somehow, almost all of these inquiries seem to follow 2 or 3 previous broadcasts of the very info they are requesting. 

Weaker still, is when one of our own has radioed a car stop, followed by info that the subject(s) stopped has a violent / lengthy BOP, and/or the car/individual(s) is now being searched, etc... AND THEN apparently all these transmissions can be missed by their nearest help (whether that is another patrol or a detail cruiser in the area). 

Is this a generational thing? Are we all just more distracted nowadays with our multi-function smartphones or too self-involved? Is it Inattention? Complacency? Apathy???

I'll tell you what I think it is... nothing short of a blue-on-blue crime.

I remember when it was taught that you stopped WTH you were doing and listened to the cruiser radio when it was spoken into by your co-workers and your dispatcher. I don't care if that particular co-worker who has the car stopped is not very popular around the watercooler, you always start sliding toward their location. Most of the time they're gonna wave-you-off on the radio after you check to see if they're all set, but you continue anyway don't you?!

AND HERE'S WHY...

Because anyone with any length of service should know that the term "I should be all set" doesn't necessarily apply in this profession. 

I Remember When the Thin Blue Line was not as thin as it is now.


----------



## Nuke_TRT

GARDA said:


> Most of the time they're gonna wave-you-off on the radio after you check to see if they're all set, but you continue anyway don't you?!


Back in the day, didn't matter if you were waved off, you still went because you didn't want to miss any shenanigans


----------



## justanotherparatrooper

Here ya go Garda








...this will help brother


----------



## GARDA

justanotherparatrooper said:


> Here ya go Garda
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ...this will help brother












It tastes better as a liquid JAP!


----------



## justanotherparatrooper

Next m&g Garda....be safe


----------



## cc3915

No computer, but teletype machine with punch hole tape. One mistake and you had to start all over again.


----------



## sdb29

cc3915 said:


> No computer, but teletype machine with punch hole tape. One mistake and you had to start all over again.


And the scary part is I remember the format to run a listing on a TT:

Q:NEB0311
13:123ABC (reg.number)
28: PC
22:5

I haven't done that in 25 years.

Now ask me what I had for lunch today.


----------



## cc3915

sdb29 said:


> And the scary part is I remember the format to run a listing on a TT:
> 
> Q:NEB0311
> 13:123ABC (reg.number)
> 28C
> 22:5
> 
> I haven't done that in 25 years.


You're good.....the only thing I remember is the transmit sequence: LTRS LTRS FIGS H

And I remember my agency code as Q:FAM0107


----------



## Guest

cc3915 said:


> No computer, but teletype machine with punch hole tape. One mistake and you had to start all over again.


You know you've been a cop for a long time when you know what it means when dispatch says "Call the tape".


----------



## cc3915

Delta784 said:


> You know you've been a cop for a long time when you know what it means when dispatch says "Call the tape".


Or, "it's in the gate".


----------



## SinePari

GARDA said:


> I remember when fewer of us missed important sh!t being put out on the cruiser radio.
> 
> It seems that every shift nowadays has a constant and irritating _"Where did 'Ofc. X or Tpr. X' last say he/she was, what's their location?" or_ _"Go again with the vehicle's description/registration/etc?" _while inexplicably somehow, almost all of these inquiries seem to follow 2 or 3 previous broadcasts of the very info they are requesting.
> 
> Weaker still, is when one of our own has radioed a car stop, followed by info that the subject(s) stopped has a violent / lengthy BOP, and/or the car/individual(s) is now being searched, etc... AND THEN apparently all these transmissions can be missed by their nearest help (whether that is another patrol or a detail cruiser in the area).
> 
> Is this a generational thing? Are we all just more distracted nowadays with our multi-function smartphones or too self-involved? Is it Inattention? Complacency? Apathy???
> 
> I'll tell you what I think it is... nothing short of a blue-on-blue crime.
> 
> I remember when it was taught that you stopped WTH you were doing and listened to the cruiser radio when it was spoken into by your co-workers and your dispatcher. I don't care if that particular co-worker who has the car stopped is not very popular around the watercooler, you always start sliding toward their location. Most of the time they're gonna wave-you-off on the radio after you check to see if they're all set, but you continue anyway don't you?!
> 
> AND HERE'S WHY...
> 
> Because anyone with any length of service should know that the term "I should be all set" doesn't necessarily apply in this profession.
> 
> I Remember When the Thin Blue Line was not as thin as it is now.


OOOOOORRRRR...it may be that some of the other coworkers are JUST as busy as the event you described, also fully engaged in their own attention to the task at hand. As you put it, those radio transmissions on the other contact don't always get heard, when you're WORKING with tow trucks, fire trucks, ambulances, or frisking, writing, searching, someone on the side of a 4-lane highway. The only way that happens as you described is when your coworker is sitting in the median listening to the game. Other than that one shouldn't assume nobody else is out there working.

////RANT OFF////


----------



## HistoryHound

Nuke_TRT said:


> DOS 2.0, DOS 3.1, up to DOS 6, all prior to the windblows crap
> 
> cd \
> del *.*


I still miss DOS. I remember when Windows 3.0 came out, I worked for a software store and got to use it for free. Hated it. Everyone assured me that I would eventually get used to Windows and love it. I'm still waiting.



cc3915 said:


> How about one of these? I filled up the one at my old house with cement around 1983.


I still have one of those in the yard. Every once in a while I think we should remove the lid and fill it in so we don't have to worry about hitting it with the back tire when we back down the driveway. But, I'm afraid of what it might look like down there or what critters might be living in there after all these years.


----------



## GARDA

SinePari said:


> OOOOOORRRRR...it may be that some of the other coworkers are JUST as busy as the event you described, also fully engaged in their own attention to the task at hand. As you put it, those radio transmissions on the other contact don't always get heard, when you're WORKING with tow trucks, fire trucks, ambulances, or frisking, writing, searching, someone on the side of a 4-lane highway. The only way that happens as you described is when your coworker is sitting in the median listening to the game. *Other than that one shouldn't assume nobody else is out there working.*
> 
> ////RANT OFF////


I remember when this thread was about Remembering When. 

It's often a bad sign in any thread when people defend themselves against charges which haven't been made.

I think it goes without saying that there are a few legitimate reasons you can occasionally miss shit on the radio,
and then there's NOT.

No need for anyone else to come up with an alibi unless they're also feeling directly accused. Sheesh.


----------



## Deuce

GARDA said:


> No need for anyone else to come up with an alibi unless they're also feeling directly accused. Sheesh.


Wrong guy to imply as a malingerer...


----------



## GARDA

GARDA said:


> It's often a bad sign in any thread when people defend themselves against charges which haven't been made.


It's even worse when their buddy defends that same person against charges which haven't been made.



Deuce said:


> Wrong guy to imply as a malingerer...


Never implied, but feel free to infer anything you want from my posts.

This place cracks me up.


----------



## justanotherparatrooper




----------



## cc3915

This was the first type of radar I used. It was even old then.


----------



## LGriffin

cc3915 said:


> This was the first type of radar I used. It was even old then.


I thought mine was an albatross! How did you mount that?


----------



## cc3915

LGriffin said:


> I thought mine was an albatross! How did you mount that?


We would mount the antenna in the back window and put the receiver on the hood or the trunk, then wave in the speeders. It was usually a 2 or 3 man job. LOL


----------



## CJIS

Remember when a good majority of people actually gave a care about their country and fellow man and had pride in what they did for a living? Now its what's on TV? Who won the _____ etc. and what can I get for nothing.

Very Sad.


----------



## 7costanza

This thread has potential for Gold status.


----------



## 263FPD

sdb29 said:


> How about Incident Reports that were typed? There were four copies so you had to go to the carbon paper box in the report room and put the carbon paper between the pages before you put them in the typewriter.
> Every week Unit 12 had to go to St Luke's Hospital and pick up the carbon paper they saved for us. They only used it once, you know.


And these days, if they still used carbon paper, they wouldn't give you shit because it would be a HIPPA violation to do so.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## 263FPD

cc3915 said:


> We would mount the antenna in the back window and put the receiver on the hood or the trunk, then wave in the speeders. It was usually a 2 or 3 man job. LOL


No digital readout either if I am not mistaken. An actual needle to show speed. Am I right?

Never mind. Should have paid attention above.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## wwonka

pahapoika said:


> i talk with a trooper friend who's been retired for 25 years and he still has good advice.
> 
> in the prison system most guys "get it" after a couple years . the rest become management.


Sad but true. 
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk


----------



## Kilvinsky

=I remember riding my bike in the open air South Shore Plaza on Sunday, WHEN IT WAS CLOSED! Plus FINDING my first dog there.
=I recall bench seats too, got better rest back then but the seats could be brutal especially if you were the passenger and your partner was a midget.
=Listening to the Mets and hearing the Dodge, Kansas sheriff's department coming through loud and clear (I did the homework and that is exactly who that was)
=Braintree PD had a rainbow fleet (a picture of which is on their webpage) 
=No one having a webpage, or a web unless you had a spider in the house.
=Learing how to use the teletype, finally getting it right up until the last thing and then...BOOM either the tape ripped early or this one guy I worked with would walk into the room and something about him (NO, NOTHING GAY) would cause me to hit a wrong button and start all over again. Shortly after learning it and being able to do it well, we got a computer. Then when I finally got THAT right, I left for a job that, at the time had no NCIC/LEAPS and civilian dispatchers.
=Tango, especially when my stomach could tolerate it. It didn't after a year of consuming it.
=When my high school was still a fairly new building and not a total mess.
=Fearing for our lives when the Headmaster would walk the halls.
=Buying an FM converter for my car radio.
=When Chickatawbut Road in the Blue Hills had no guardrails, only big white boulders that a car could easilly go OVER at 40mph.
=Riding my bike through Blue Hill Cemetary.
=Watching the soft core porn movies at the Drive-In from the hill above, drunk.
=Riding a bike at all.
=The only "cell" I knew of was the one my Dad would let me rot in if he found out I was IN one.
=Taking the bus to Quincy Center and thinking how cool we were do to that at age 12.


----------



## Kilvinsky

sdb29 said:


> And the scary part is I remember the format to run a listing on a TT:
> 
> Q:NEB0311
> 13:123ABC (reg.number)
> 28: PC
> 22:5
> 
> I haven't done that in 25 years.
> 
> Now ask me what I had for lunch today.


The only thing I really recall was having to hit NUMBERS NUMBERS or LETTERS LETTERS every single time I changed it up. We used a different all inclusive free standing machine, big GREEN mutha.


----------



## SinePari

Anywaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay. After this thread took a detour to Planned Parenthood...

Pop Warner football...where you were told to "kill" the other kid.
OD Green fatigues in the military.
Jump boots were for paratroopers, not cheese dicks in supply.
SNL cast with Farley, Meyers, Carvey, Hartman, Sandler
Fun n games in Framingham. I still take the kids there.
American Legion chicken parm...god only knows where it came from.
Street hockey in the tennis courts
Getting my own phone in my bedroom. Same number so I had to jump the calls before mom would answer and start talking to my ho's.


----------



## USAF286

You called someones house because that was the only option


----------



## Kilvinsky

SinePari said:


> SNL cast with Farley, Meyers, Carvey, Hartman, Sandler
> .


I remember the first episode ever and thinking, "eh, I guess." but then as they got their running speed realizing this was a great show. I recall at a party one night being a bit buzzed and Chevy Chase on Weekend Update having a set of pictures behind him. The first was a guy on fire, second, the guy running, the third him jumping into a lake and Chase said, "Coming up, President Ford has a barbecue." It WAS that funny, but it was the aforementioned Tango that had me laughing my ass off periodically through the night whenever I pictured it.

I know I'm in the MassCops minority here, but I STILL love this show.


----------



## Deuce

SinePari said:


> OD Green fatigues in the military..


After breaking in, sooooo damn comfortable..


----------



## cc3915

Kilvinsky said:


> Listening to the Mets and hearing the Dodge, Kansas sheriff's department coming through loud and clear (I did the homework and that is exactly who that was)


So damn annoying, especially on the mid shift.


----------



## USAF286

"Remember when" the Pledge of Allegiance was said before school and not considered offensive?


----------



## SinePari

USAF286 said:


> "Remember when" the Pledge of Allegiance was said before school and not considered offensive?


Good Judge in Worcester District Court still does this at the beginning of each session.


----------



## LGriffin

*My Dad used to play this in the car when we were kids. My friends used to ask for it when they got in the car.*


----------



## HistoryHound

LGriffin said:


> *My Dad used to play this in the car when we were kids. My friends used to ask for it when they got in the car.*


Your's too? Geesh if you weren't young enough to be my daughter, I'd swear you were my sister posting under an assumed name.


----------



## cousteau

I miss when your kid (me at the time) could walk down the street with your .22, or hell, a Red Ryder or a Crosman Powermaster 760, and it was normal.


----------



## justanotherparatrooper

cousteau said:


> I miss when your kid (me at the time) could walk down the street with your .22, or hell, a Red Ryder or a Crosman Powermaster 760, and it was normal.


 Do that now and see what happens


----------



## cc3915

cousteau said:


> I miss when your kid (me at the time) could walk down the street with your .22, or hell, a Red Ryder or a Crosman Powermaster 760, and it was normal.


A few years ago, I went to a meeting at a local Voc school and during the tour I was shown an area that was now used for storage, but at the time the school was built, it was an indoor range. Yes, they actually had rifle shooting as one of the classes you could take. The principal told me that the kids would take their rifles to school with them on the bus, then return home with them in the afternoon.


----------



## Johnny Law

cc3915 said:


> A few years ago, I went to a meeting at a local Voc school and during the tour I was shown an area that was now used for storage, but at the time the school was built, it was an indoor range. Yes, they actually had rifle shooting as one of the classes you could take. The principal told me that the kids would take their rifles to school with them on the bus, then return home with them in the afternoon.


 Back when you had to give extemporaneous speeches or an instructional in a foreign language class, there were kids who would bring a shotgun or rifle into class as an aid to the speech. No one was afraid, everyone asked questions, and that was the end of it. Of course, we actually had no school for a week at the start of hunting season too, that's how popular it was.


----------



## SinePari

LGriffin said:


> *My Dad used to play this in the car when we were kids. My friends used to ask for it when they got in the car.*


"Only 3..."


----------



## Kilvinsky

I remember being a kid and not knowing what sex was all about, then being married to my first wife and knowing, but not being able to appreciate what sex was all about, and now after things have cooled with my second wife, FORGETTING what sex is all about.


----------



## k12kop

Kilvinsky said:


> I remember being a kid and not knowing what sex was all about, then being married to my first wife and knowing, but not being able to appreciate what sex was all about, and now after things have cooled with my second wife, FORGETTING what sex is all about.


Or getting to the point you would rather take a healthy dump than listen to her yapping while you try to do the dirty deed!


----------



## MaDuce

Remember when illegal immigration was illegal.


----------



## GARDA

I remember when one of these was your evening's only exit strategy.


----------



## Johnny Law

MaDuce said:


> Remember when illegal immigration was illegal.


 I remember when they were called illegal aliens, when Phil Collins sang about how it was no fun bein' an illegal alien, and when ICE was called Immigration and Naturalization Services.

Yo ese, I was born in East LA!


----------



## Kilvinsky

I can actually recall paying 25 cents in a vending machine for a coke, not a dollar AND 25 cents....who am I kidding, it's 2 bucks many places now.

I also remember my teenage years even though I was drunk a good chunk of them! Occassionally I'd laugh at my friends who went on to bigger and 'better?" things. If I get caught, it's a small fine or just a kick in the ass, if YOU get caught, FELONY!!!!


----------



## nemedic

Remember when Bobby Boucher showed up at halftime and the Mud Dogs won the Bourbon Bowl?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2zv1wYBqCA


----------



## LGriffin

I remember playing dodgeball in gym class


----------



## Guest

LGriffin said:


> I remember playing dodgeball in gym class


My kids actually play dodgeball in gym class......with the gym teacher supervising!!


----------



## cc3915

When "white powder" was found somewhere there were no evacuations or hazmat teams needed. It was just left over from a powdered sugar donut.


----------



## USAF286

Getting sent to a sports camp during the summer and do stuff with kids my age did that *didn't* involve electronics or some movie about wizards...and I'm sure my mother enjoyed my hyper ass out of her house too!


----------



## Kilvinsky

Soft Core porn at the South Shore Twin Drive-In and sitting on the hill above it with my friends getting buzzed and being amazed at what we were watching!


----------



## LGriffin

I remember going to the store and buying items on sale because they appreciated my patronage WITHOUT requiring that I carry special store card on my key chain.


----------



## cc3915

LGriffin said:


> I remember going to the store and buying items on sale because they appreciated my patronage WITHOUT requiring that I carry special store card on my key chain.


Roche Bros. still does that, but their non sale items are through the roof.


----------



## Guest

Kilvinsky said:


> Soft Core porn at the South Shore Twin Drive-In and sitting on the hill above it with my friends getting buzzed and being amazed at what we were watching!


Or packing about 27 people into Mom's station wagon, because the South Shore Twin Drive-In charged by the carload.


----------



## HistoryHound

LGriffin said:


> I remember going to the store and buying items on sale because they appreciated my patronage WITHOUT requiring that I carry special store card on my key chain.


Market Basket doesn't have the stupid card thing. As for "useless remember when", I remember when Market Basket was Demoulas's. It used to aggravate the kids when I'd call it Demoulas. I know it's Market Basket now, but it was always Demoulas when I went with my grandparents.

I remember when I could get off the couch by myself on the first try and without having to do the arm windmill thing that somehow keeps me from falling over backwards.


----------



## cc3915

HistoryHound said:


> I remember when Market Basket was Demoulas's.


I remember when I went to school with some of the DeMoulas clan. The girl had a horse and rode it all over town.


----------



## SinePari

I remember (not too long ago) when job computers let you get on Craigslist, YouTube, and Ebay. You know, for investigatory purposes


----------



## Kilvinsky

LECSniper said:


> All fun and games until you had to buck up to see who was driving home:


I'm talking about age 14-16 BEFORE any of had a license and we all lived within 1/4 mile of GRANDVIEW, which is where the current AMC Cinema is. It was the best of all worlds, the Plaza on one side to hang out at when sober, the woods (almost all gone now), the cemetary and the vast expanse of Grandview to escape to when the cops showed up. We could stagger like hell and not have our bearings and STILL make it through those places and not fall and break our necks because we were so familiar with the territory. I look back and wonder, why am I still alive?


----------



## Kilvinsky

Delta784 said:


> Or packing about 27 people into Mom's station wagon, because the South Shore Twin Drive-In charged by the carload.


When I was a Special, I may have nearly caught you a few times, but I was there to: A) make a few bucks. B) Watch the movie. C) Flirt with the girl working at the ticket booth even though I KNEW I had a snow balls chance in hell with her.

It's funny, for YEARS, ONLY the regulars took that until it became a hell of a lot of work. Then, once it became an almost exclusive detail for the Specials, things calmed down by nearly 90% and it was one of the easiest details you could imagine! Ah, memories.

BTW, I am not suggesting that the Specials calmed it. It was pure luck and the generation of assholes who HAD gone had moved on to bigger and better crime. We were LUCKY AS HELL!


----------



## Guest

Kilvinsky said:


> When I was a Special, I may have nearly caught you a few times, but I was there to: A) make a few bucks. B) Watch the movie. C) Flirt with the girl working at the ticket booth even though I KNEW I had a snow balls chance in hell with her.
> 
> It's funny, for YEARS, ONLY the regulars took that until it became a hell of a lot of work. Then, once it became an almost exclusive detail for the Specials, things calmed down by nearly 90% and it was one of the easiest details you could imagine! Ah, memories.
> 
> BTW, I am not suggesting that the Specials calmed it. It was pure luck and the generation of assholes who HAD gone had moved on to bigger and better crime. We were LUCKY AS HELL!


The drive-in was RIP by the time I became a Braintree Special, but Bickford's and then Motel 6 (a.k.a. Bickford's 2) became pretty much Specials-only details, due to the aggravation factor of dealing with all the post-last call drunks with the munchies for over-priced omelets and greasy burgers.


----------



## Nuke_TRT

Using street guides to find an address.


----------



## Kilvinsky

*This is close to MY age group, almost exactly right for my brother. "Remember When" by Alan Jackson makes me choke up for reasons I won't go into.*


----------

