Whatever Happened To The Good Old Yardstick

Author Carla Rea

November 9th, 2023 10:05 AM

Whatever happened to yardsticks

Show of hands: Do you know what a yardstick is…better yet, whatever happened to the good old yardstick? Start Googling the fun, kids! If you’re under thirty, or maybe even forty: It was a long ruler, but three times longer. Cause, math: Three feet equals one yard. (Do NOT ask me what a ruler is, or we simply cannot be friends). This is what The Mike & Carla Morning Show wanted to know this morning!

Did You Have a Yardstick In Your House?

There was that time way back in the 70’s when they told us we were going to the metric system in the United States. All of us tiny kids panicked! OMG – it’s happening next year! It’s happening next month! It’s happening WEDNESDAY! That would have been the end of this measuring instrument forever!

Metric day never happened.

At one time not so long ago, everyone used to have at least one yardstick in their house. But now you never see them. Do you still have one in your home? Why? And how did you get it? Most likely it was passed down from your mom and dad. Or even grandma or grandpa.

This Is What You Actually Did With A Yardstick

As kids mom and dad would measure us with it. Then mark the wall with our progress, which I did not have much of. Topped out at a whopping five feet tall. It was always fun trying to top that last pencil mark. My grandmother would use it to measure fabric in her sewing days.

As a kid we had three yardsticks in the house. The kitchen yardstick, the downstairs pantry area yardstick, and an upstairs yardstick. They were used more often for everything but measuring. I used a yardstick to get the cereal from the top shelf. Or to get anything that was higher up. I think that was the catalyst for that reacher grabber tool.

Sliding it under the couch, or the refrigerator to retrieve the dog toys, coins, Skittles, or potato chip that went down under the couch. And using them as swords for yardstick sword fighting was always fun. Those are things they were really used for.

But the ultimate use for a yardstick? A BACK SCRATCHER! Ahhhhhhhhhhh, yessssssss. So whatever happened to the yardstick? In the year 2023, I wonder if there is even a need for them. And I still panic, wondering if we’re going to go to the metric system next week.

More on this story, and others, in today’s edition of “A Few Things You Should Know.”

Carla Rea is the morning show co-host on “The Mike and Carla Morning Show" on 96.3 KKLZ, in Las Vegas. She has been working with her partner and friend Mike O'Brian for the past 25 plus years. At KKLZ for 12 years. Carla Rea is a Gracie Award winner. She started out in talk radio, "when talk radio was still fun" Rea says. Prior to, and along with doing the morning show, Carla is also a comedian. You may have seen her on Conan O'Brien, Evening at The Improv, Showtime, or several comedy clubs across the country. Carla also worked as a light feature reporter at KSNV/NBC Las Vegas, going behind the scenes at various shows, and restaurants on the Las Vegas strip. As a content creator 96.3 KKLZ, Carla writes in a sarcastic, cheeky, unapologetic way on Las Vegas, movies, TV, celebrities, and this thing we call life.

Millennials And Gen X Say Gen Z Missed Out

Millennials and Gen X are talking on Reddit about the things from THEIR childhood that Gen Z never got to experience, like the simple excitement of AOL Instant Messenger, and “you’ve got mail!”

Every generation has nostalgia that the newer generations are totally missing out on, and will never fully understand. Like how Boomers would walk 10 miles to school, in two feet of snow, barefoot, uphill both ways, with hot potatoes in their pocket to keep them warm.

Millennials & Gen X Say Gen Z Is Missing Out!

There’s a thread on social media where Millennials and Gen X are talking about the things from THEIR childhood that Gen Z never got to experience. Many said it was nice when all of their bad fashion choices, relationships, and screw ups didn’t end up on the social net. AMEN!

And remember when you would go to a concert and WATCH it? Seeing your favorite band, without millions of phones in the air blocking your view. One person mentioned specifically, “Someone saying something idiotic to someone and getting punched in the face for it, and not hiding behind a keyboard.”

Parents letting their kids run free, all day. Stranger Things was actually a pretty accurate depiction of how much freedom kids had. Riding your bike wherever and being back when the streetlights came on. Playing outside ,constantly, every day, and just making sure you got home for dinner. Not many obligations, maybe practice a few times a week for basketball, or baseball, or whatever.

Handwritten letters, mix tapes, feeling safe at school, and being able to move out on your own, because it was still relatively affordable. You went to events and actually talked to people, instead of TikTok being more important, than what was actually taking place in front of you.

And of course, I have to mention it – porn. If you wanted porn you literally had to go on an expedition to find old porno mags in the woods. Or under your friend’s dad’s bed. But I digress…

Scroll down to see what we are talking about right from the mouths of Millennials And Gen Xer’s:

1. The excitement of getting back developed film
Getting those pictures – and negatives – back was one of the greatest, and simplest pleasures in all of life! Seemed like it took forever to get them, but once you did, everyone had to get together to look at them. Now it just takes forever to find that ONE picture you’re looking for on your phone.
2. Browsing the video rental store
You spent a good amount of time just looking for something to watch on Friday night. Especially if all five copies of “Back to the Future” were already gone.
3. Checking, and reading, the 'TV Guide"
The TV Guide was an actual small magazine. We’d get all excited about a show or movie that would be on later in the week, and it made the whole week more bearable! Having everything on-demand has ruined that excitement – forever.
4. Musical involvement.
Spotify, Pandora, etc. have made everything so available that it’s destroyed a sense of connection to music. When you were only buying a few albums, cassettes, or CDs every year, you got to know those albums inside and out.
5. Mix tapes
If you really liked someone you took a whole lot of time to make them a custom mix tape, that represented every facet of your relationship! It wasn’t easy, but you did it, because only YOU could put those songs on one tape!
6. Handwritten letters
There was really no other way. You wrote letters to family, friends – often even if they lived just lived across town! To this day if I get a handwritten letter, I am absolutely blown away at the fact that someone took that time. Then, of course, I feel obligated to write them one…
7. Being uncontactable
If no one was able to contact you for a weekend, it wasn’t a big deal. Now people take it more personally if you don’t respond immediately.
8. Politics
Politics was something you heard about occasionally, and rarely invaded your life. Now it’s 24/7 with every issue being politicized.
9. Going to the movies
Going to the movies without having to mortgage your house was an actual thing. Oh – and a mortgage. That used to be a fun thing, too…
10. Longer attention spans
Teachers say that middle and high schoolers can barely sit still through a movie in class. Yikes!