Comments (92)

1. 1 — We watched the OJ trial in class, too. Not just the verdict, either. It was a criminology class and the teacher clearly had OJ fever, so we watched 10 minutes at the end of class every day for weeks.

   2 — How do book advances work? If you don’t sell enough books, do you have to pay it back?

   3 — My dad gave my brother and me a silver dollar and ordered us to settle all disputes with it. Strangely it really worked most of the time. We lived by the coin!

   posted by Karl on 12-5-2008 at 2:37 pm

2. I can recall twice getting to watch stuff in class “as it happened.” One was intentional, the other accidental.

   First, we got to watch coverage of the Mt. St. Helens eruption back in 1980 [3rd grade]. There was a clear science tie-in there since we were learning about volcanoes at the time.

   Second, we just happened to be watching the Challenger lift-off when it exploded in 1986 [9th grade]. I guess we were watching it because there was a teacher on board. It’s the only space shuttle launch I remember watching in school since the first one — Columbia in 1981. We were all pretty shaken up, wondering WTF we just saw.

   posted by Edward on 12-5-2008 at 2:40 pm

3. 1. I was in high school during the first Gulf War. Several teachers would watch news updates in their classrooms. I also remember watching the Iran Contra hearings, but I must have been in 5th or 6th grade at the time, and don’t really remember why that was part of our education.

   posted by Cindy on 12-5-2008 at 2:41 pm

4. 1. The one time my teacher brought the tv into class was when I was in sixth grade- the breaking news?- the September 11th attacks.

   2.My question is this- why are emotions associated with visceral feelings-butterflies in the stomach for nervousness, gut-wrenching fear, a broken heart…?

   3. My sisters and I are all pretty close, so we agreed on cartoons. Our favorites were Mighty Max, Gargoyles, and of course, Double Dragon!

   posted by Kelly on 12-5-2008 at 2:41 pm

5. 1. 4th Grade English was interrupted to tune in to the news of the Challenger disaster. I think it’s amazing how few people think about the impact of the Challenger disaster, but how many kids born since then have actually believed they would one day have the opportunity to live on the moon?

   2. Why do we persist in using the Electoral College system for our national elections?

   3. When splitting tangible goods (generally foodstuffs) there is nothing more effective than the “one splits, the other chooses” methodology.

   posted by EMStoveken on 12-5-2008 at 2:47 pm

6. I remember my 3rd grade teacher rushing into the classroom and annoucing the Branch Dividian fire. Which I realize is kind of weird. I don’t remember if we watched any of it. At first I thought he was just kidding, because one time he busted in to class (we had 2 teachers) to tell us he had just met an alien and then we got to play with corn starch, flour and water for a while.
   Also, I was filing when I heard about 9/11. First I heard gossip that a jet had dropped a bomb on the pentagon. I had to go online to find out what really happened. There were TV’s on in random classrooms, my school didn’t really have a lot of TV’s to begin with.

   posted by Erin Cox on 12-5-2008 at 2:48 pm

7. I must be a little older than the other people commenting. The only time I remember class being interrupted was for the JFK assassination. The intercom started squawking and we all thought somebody hit a button by accident… that did happen periodically. Then the terrible information became evident.

   posted by Richard on 12-5-2008 at 2:49 pm

8. 1)like Edward, we watched the Challenger lift-off and explosion. I was in second grade at the time, and we were definitely shaken up about it. My teacher started crying, I remember it like it was yesterday

   posted by Clotho on 12-5-2008 at 2:50 pm

9. 1: I also watched the OJ trial. I was in 8th grade at the time and every TV was sent out to class rooms so we could watch it.

   2:I have a runny nose today so that’s the basis for my questions. What is the purpose for various nuisances? Tears is pretty easy but what about snot or earwax?

   3: No we just fought until one of us was crying in our room. As the runt of the family it was usually me. I don’t mind though, I would just read. Take that sisters I’m smarter than!:O)

   posted by Tricia on 12-5-2008 at 2:52 pm

10. My sister and I never agreed on anything, but we usually just beat on each other until we were both grounded, so neither of us got to do whatever it was that we were fighting about.

    But a friend of mine has the best “sibling solution” story ever. She is the youngest of 7 kids, and when their mom made brownies, one of her brothers (number 5) used to pick up the biggest one, lick it, and say “that one’s mine”. After he left, all of his sibs would pick up the same brownie, lick it, and put it back. He ate it without knowing. No one told him for several days.

    posted by JenC on 12-5-2008 at 3:05 pm

11. 1. In 2nd grade we watched the Challenger blow up (we were taking a spelling test that was running late so we missed the launch by seconds). My senior year of high school we watched the OJ Simpson verdict. I was teaching 4th grade on 9/11/01 and watched CNN with the kids until the administration told all teachers to turn it off.

    2. I have so many questions I want answered that I really can’t narrow it down.

    3. My sister and I watched basically the same cartoons, but she like to play more than watch tv. However, when she was a junior or senior in high school and I was in college (but home for spring break) she SAT ON ME so that I would watch an episode of Dawson’s Creek.

    posted by Jen on 12-5-2008 at 3:07 pm

12. 1. The only event I can think of was 9/11 in high school, my teacher got a phone call from her husband interupting class.

    2. How does imagery work? I’ve read all about the wonderful powers of imagery but no one seems to be able to explain the mechanisms behind the wonder.

    3. My favorite way to decide an argument with my sister was to play hunter-woman-bear. A variation of rock, paper and scissors but instead of using hand signals you “walk-off” old-western style and strike a hilarious full body pose. Those interested in playing: the bear kills the woman, woman gets the hunter and the hunter kills the bear.

    posted by maggie on 12-5-2008 at 3:10 pm

13. I was in 8th grade when the OJ verdict was announced….over our middle school loudspeaker.

    posted by Gen on 12-5-2008 at 3:10 pm

14. The one time I remember watching Televieionin class was watching LBJ’s inaguration in 1965. When I was in a classroom teaching on September 11th, 2001, our boss at the school instructed the teachers not to turn on our televisions. She felt that it was inappropriate for the 17 and 18 year old males I was teaching. I smiled, nodded and closed my door, locked i9t and let the kids that were most likely to be paying for this event watch all they wanted. I still teach, and I still answer any questions any student answers me about anything. Hiding information from people never accomplishes anything but breed mistrust.

    posted by DrDave on 12-5-2008 at 3:15 pm

15. Thinking about second grade helped me remember something I’ve been wondering about for a while.

    Why do baby teeth fall out in the order they do? For example, how come around 2nd grade do the two front teeth fall out (making for incredibly goofy second grade pictures)?

    posted by Jen on 12-5-2008 at 3:15 pm

16. 1. My classmates tell me that the teacher pulled out the tv for the moon landing, but I was not there. My father kept us kids at home that day so he could watch it with us.

    2. Why do people say, “What WAS your name?” Shouldn’t it be “What IS your name?” Same for “I did it ON accident.” Shouldn’t it be, “I did it BY accident.”

    3. We had to agree what to watch or we couldn’t watch at all. You learn to compromise and you learned to make deals that way.

    posted by Kevin on 12-5-2008 at 3:20 pm

17. I was home sick when OJ was sentenced the first time. I remember watching new on the first Gulf War in third grade and thats about it.

    posted by Leslie on 12-5-2008 at 3:20 pm

18. 1. We had Ch. 1 in High School but that was before class, I don’t remember any other TV.

    2. … I feel like I should have one but my mind is blank.

    3. Just a note Irish twins are 12 or less months apart. To answer the question I don’t remember too many fights with my sister. My kids are 4 and 5 and they take turns, we’ll I make them take turns.

    posted by RX Maverick on 12-5-2008 at 3:25 pm

19. 1. My Senior Year in High School I took a blow off class called “Introduction to Radio and TV”. It was the same year ABC aired “Who Wants to be a Millionaire”, it wasn’t live, but every class for two weeks we watched the tape of previous night’s episode.

    2. How is it that women, even ones who have never been pregnant, instinctively know exactly what they are looking at when viewing a sonogram, and men can only scratch their heads?

    3. My brother and I found Rock, Paper, Scissors too predictable. We switched to Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock. If that didn’t work we just asked my parents which one of us they loved more that day, then my brother got what he wanted.

    posted by Witty Nickname on 12-5-2008 at 3:28 pm

20. I was in 8th grade when 9/11 happened. I woke up to the news of it via my alarm clock radio.
    When I got to school everyone is talking about it, there were so many stories going around. When we get to 1st period our out of touch English teacher refused to let us watch the newscast of it even though ALL the other classrooms were watching it. By the time we got out and went to the next class we were finally allowed to watch what had been happening.

    All the kids in that class that I still talk to still resent her for that.

    posted by Janet on 12-5-2008 at 3:28 pm

21. I remember watching The Challenger live in the library, when I was in 4th grade.

    All you people talking about watching the OJ verdict in school (not college, like me) are making me feel OLD. :)

    posted by Erin on 12-5-2008 at 3:29 pm

22. My brother and I set up apartments at the same time (he for grad school, I for my junior year of college), and my mom offered the usual assortment of household items with which to furnish our respective places. To divide them up, we held a fantasy sports-style draft, wherein he had the 1st pick, I had the 2nd and 3rd, he the 4th and 5th, etc. He took the bookcase I wanted with #1, I followed up with the silverware and a set of dishes… waaaaaaaaaaay too much thought went into that draft. In retrospect, I should have drafted both sets of dishes and then traded one for the bookcase. Oh well.

    posted by Kevin on 12-5-2008 at 3:33 pm

23. For the person asking about advances, no, you don’t have to pay advances back. You just don’t get any royalties until the royalties pay off the advance. For a good resource on all manner of book contracts, search for “foner books” “book contracts”.

    posted by Michael on 12-5-2008 at 3:37 pm

24. It might make me OTD, but I was in 7th-grade Home Ec class when the news of JFK’s assassination was broadcast over the school’s loudspeakers. I remember everyone becoming very emotional.

    posted by mama9cats on 12-5-2008 at 3:40 pm

25. 1. I was in the sixth grade when O.J. was on trial the first time, and like a lot of others, we watched the verdict in class. We also got to watch part of Clinton’s first inauguration when I was in the fifth grade; I think the whole day was devoted to government- and patriotic-related activities instead of regular classes.

    2. I’d like to know more about the photic sneeze reflex (a genetic condition where people sneeze when they look at the sun).

    3. Does brute force count? I’m the youngest of four and the only girl, so I usually got the raw end of the deal.

    posted by Jenn on 12-5-2008 at 3:46 pm

26. We didn’t get to watch the OJ verdict but they did announce it over the school’s intercom. I don’t remember watching any other breaking news, but I remember one teacher telling us about the Monica Lewinsky scandal the morning after it came out.

    posted by CB on 12-5-2008 at 3:46 pm

27. 1. I too remember watching both the Challenger tragedy and the OJ verdict in school.

    2. How is it that SO MANY kids are graduating without basic spelling skills? (fordy/fourty=forty; pedle=petal; definately–this one KILLS me; and then there’s their/there/they’re) I blame part of it on the lack of concentration on proper spelling until 2nd grade. My son is in first grade, and as long as he sounds it out and the word is recognizable, the teacher doesn’t even bother to tell him how it SHOULD be spelled. On a recent paper he made a list of things to eat: frise, eggz, baken, patatoes, biskits and gravee, korn and budder, cheezebirgir, etc. He got 100%…his teacher got a dirty note. Who decided that spelling doesn’t matter? All they’re doing is reinforcing bad spelling. The kids are going to have to unlearn (is that a word?) the improper spelling in order to learn the proper spelling.

    3. My brother and I were 23 months apart. There was nothing creative about the way we worked things out…we just beat the hell out of each other. Although I do remember one time that I did a particularly fantastic job of pissing him off and he grabbed a kitchen knife and chased me into the bathroom screaming that he was gonna kill me. He sat out there for what seemed like forEver, randomly banging on the door, and shoving the knife under the crack so I’d know he was still there. Still, when we heard the garage door go up, we both ran to the couch and acted like nothing had happened. Good times.

    posted by heather dawn on 12-5-2008 at 3:47 pm

28. I was in 3rd grade in a rural school when Reagan was shot. We were all taken into the 6th grade classroom to watch the coverage. In Junior High we were watching the Challange accident. One thing many 30-40 year olds remember in PA was when Bud Dwyer shot himself on live TV. Most of PA had a snow day and there was a telecast at his press conference on the local channels. There was no 3 second delay then.

    posted by sue on 12-5-2008 at 3:51 pm

29. 1. In 10th grade (earth science) we atched the Challenger coverage.

    2. How is white vinegar made?

    3. We just ‘had’ to figure it out, quietly. My friend, however, makes her kids hold hands all day, and do chores together like that. It really fosters cooperation quickly. :)

    PS- Irish twins is anything 18 months or less, not just 12 months.

    posted by qt314159265 on 12-5-2008 at 3:52 pm

30. The only time school was interrupted for live television was the year after I graduated, but my brother was still in school so I think it counts. During the 2002 Winter Olympics, almost every school across the country interrupted classes so the students could watch Team Canada kick some but in hockey. As I sat at home watching with my mother, they would continuously cut to live feeds of students gathering in gyms and auditoriums to watch the game. As for my former high school? No, they were banned from doing any such thing. The gym teacher had a TV set up, but was told that any student in the gym watching, who was not scheduled for gym, instead of being in class was to be suspended, and the teacher would be fired by the principal. What a d**che huh? It’s ok though, cause the students called the news and they had reporters on site grilling him on why he was so unpatriotic. ;)

    posted by D Hue on 12-5-2008 at 3:54 pm

31. 1. Mr. Jennings walked into our 11th grade chem class late. He was shaken, and he announced that the Challenger had exploded.

    2. Can’t think of any questions!

    3. And I can’t remember how we resolved stuff. I am the youngest of four. I think we yelled at each other and stuff until one of our parents stepped in.

    posted by Alison on 12-5-2008 at 3:55 pm

32. I was in 3rd grade when president Reagan was shot. The entire school (OK we were small) was taken into the 6th grade classroom to watch the press conference. There was an announcement made over the JR. High intercom when the Challanger disaster happened. Those that were in the science classrooms saw it live.

    I was not in school, but many kids who lived in PA remember Bud Dwyer. There was a snow day and most of PA’s schools were closed. Mr. Dwer had a press conference to resign from office it was on all the major networks and her committed suicide on live TV. Remember there were no delays then. Several channels did not cut fast enough. It’s one of those things I won’t forget.

    posted by Justme on 12-5-2008 at 3:57 pm

33. Does watching March Madness during third and fourth period count as breaking news? That was a pretty regular class interruption from 6th grade on, but I *am* from North Carolina, and they do take basketball seriously here…

    recaptcha: absence exist

    posted by stargazer220 on 12-5-2008 at 3:59 pm

34. I was in 6th or 7th grade, in PE class, when the first OJ verdict game in. They hauled us all into a nearby empty portable and we sat on the floor in our PE clothes and watched.

    I was also in a political science class in college when Bush landed on the aircraft carrier and the “mission accomplished” sign was in the background. We watched that live.

    posted by Steven on 12-5-2008 at 4:06 pm

35. I remember watching the Columbia shuttle landing in 4th grade and everyone being a little uneasy because NASA had never attempted a landing of a reusable orbiter. One of my friends blurted out “I hope it blows up!” and promptly spent the rest of the day in the principal’s office writing an essay about how he would feel if someone he new died in an horrific mishap on live television.

    posted by GoTerriers on 12-5-2008 at 4:09 pm

36. In the eighth grade our teacher brought in a TV (with rabbit ears) so we could watch the Space Shuttle launch the first teacher in space. The picture was very fuzzy, but we could still tell that a terrible accident had happened.

    posted by Scraper on 12-5-2008 at 4:15 pm

37. We actually were home for a snow day when the Challenger accident occurred. But my teacher allowed us to stay inside during recess if we wanted to see the Discovery take-off years later. The first time we sent a space shuttle into space after the Challenger. Most kids chose recess, but I remember watching it take off with tears in my eyes.

    posted by Shasta on 12-5-2008 at 4:17 pm

38. In high school when the twin towers went down we just watched the news all day long.

    I don’t really have any burning question because when I get one I usually do some research to figure the answer out.

    My sister and I didn’t fight much. Boring right?

    posted by Kaitlyn on 12-5-2008 at 4:20 pm

39. Speaking of OJ and breaking news… he was sentenced today to at least 15 years in prison.

    posted by Tricia on 12-5-2008 at 4:21 pm

40. I recall going into school on September 11 without knowing what had happened. (My brother had been playing video games that morning.) I had no idea what people were talking about. People were keeping their kids at home? People jumping out of skyscrapers? Eventually, they explained it to us.

    Additionally, there was the day that one of the kids in my class had died. We took a while to discuss it.

    I recall being asked for questions to be answered before. Mine were “Why can men only have one orgasm but women can have more?” (which may be too NSFW to be answered here) and “What is the evolutionary purpose of facial hair?”

    posted by Sillstaw on 12-5-2008 at 4:22 pm

41. 1. I remember watching coverage of the Oklahoma bombing in middle school. I don’t think we really understood what was going on, but knew it had to be pretty important to interrupt our class.

    3. My younger sister played dirty and would start screaming in a very high pitch voice that there was little way to beat her in certain sibling battles. You just wanted the noise to stop.

    posted by lcgrant on 12-5-2008 at 4:28 pm

42. 1. actually, my teacher stopped class to pray (catholic school) when the pope died. we also watched his funeral in school also.

    2. how do other clocks stay on time with the atomic clock? how does the atomic clock know what time it is, for that matter?

    3. my sister and i just ignore each other for as long as possible.

    posted by nikki on 12-5-2008 at 4:29 pm

43. I don’t remember class ever being interrupted, but I do remember Challenger. I actually saw it on the news when I got home from school (I was 10 and latch key). It hit hard because my mom worked at JPL in California and I was a pseudo NASA brat and very into the space program. Mom took it even harder, as she watched it from the NASA close circuit television at work.

    posted by Brandy on 12-5-2008 at 4:29 pm

44. 1. the only time i heard about tvs being turned on for live tv was when columbine happened. nobody knew what was going on, just that shots had been fired and a high school was being evacuated in colorado.

    3. there were 4 of us in my family.. we generally didn’t dispute too much. and we tended to handle things the old fashioned way, by running to mom and dad. :)

    posted by tami on 12-5-2008 at 4:30 pm

45. 1. Challenger explosion stopped our classes….

    Slightly off topic….my birthday is 9/11, and happened to be one of the company director’s too, so we had a huge sheet cake. Terrorist attacks did not stop people from eating sheet cake while watching the towers fall. I don’t eat cake, but still, I thought it was weird that people still wanted to eat cake.

    2. Why the Discovery Channel’s HD channel does NOT show the same shows it has on the regular channel. Makes me mad that I can’t watch Deadliest Catch or Mythbusters in HD, but I can see American Chopper any time with no commercials. Also, I’d like to see you guys tell us how sites like facebook are changing the world. I got a facebook page and it’s odd…I talk to so many more people at work that I knew before, but didn’t really talk to.

    3. I was an only child for 13 glorious years. No sibling rivalry or fighting…too big an age gap. But I was the oldest out of all my cousins, and whatever I wanted I got, because I pulled the age card.

    posted by Jamie on 12-5-2008 at 4:35 pm

46. I saw the Challenger explode in the sky as I was walking to class, and then later saw live TV coverage in the school (jr. high) library. The principal had announced over the PA system that there had been an explosion “on board” the space shuttle, which I saw was obviously an understatement.

    posted by Keeker on 12-5-2008 at 4:38 pm

47. #3 – My brother and I are 13 months apart but we always seemed to be content to watch the same shows on TV. One must understand that we had only 4 channels (the networks plus UHF) and there wasn’t much of a selection. We always agreed on the classics – Looney Tunes. :)

    posted by Keeker on 12-5-2008 at 4:41 pm

48. 1. Okay I’m confused…I could have sworn I watched the space shuttle Challenger blow-up in 4th grade (1986?), and I remember watching the Waco ATF debacle Sr. year, the OJ verdict wasn’t until Freshman year of College. Maybe one of our time-lines is a little off Jen.

    3. My siblings and I had “days”. As in, “It’s my day to sit in the front seat!” Which unfortunately meant it was also my day to do the dishes. :( We also had a day for the blue metal cup. Why my parents didn’t just buy another couple of blue metal cups, I do not know. I’m not sure if only getting to drink out of it every third day really taught me much in the way of moderation. (Side note – all of my glasses are blue now…HA)

    posted by christie on 12-5-2008 at 4:43 pm

49. I was in the 7th grade on an Air Force Base in Germany when they released the hostages in Iran and I remember they called us all to the auditorium and showed us the AFN coverage.

    posted by dawn on 12-5-2008 at 4:47 pm

50. i missed the challenger, but i did go to a school named after the teacher on board – Christa McAuliffe elementary. there was another shuttle launch of some sort when I was in the 8th grade and we all made a huge fuss because we wanted to see it, we won. and i ditched class on 9/11. i missed the morning news and had a cd in my car as i drove to a friends house. so i didn’t hear about it till i got there. but the streets, even in AZ, were earily calm on my drive over. i could tell something was wrong. creepy.

    posted by tiffany on 12-5-2008 at 4:49 pm

51. The major things I remember class being interrupted for was Columbine, 9/11, and oddly enough Dale Earnhardt’s funeral.

    Do deaf people who have always relied on signing think in signs?

    My brother would pretty much always win the TV fight with the whole “I’m older and bigger.” I really backed off when he stabbed me with a phillips screwdriver one time…seriously. I have a little star scar on my arm. Needless to say, I’m in my mid 20s and he is 30 and we still don’t get along.

    posted by Audball on 12-5-2008 at 4:54 pm

52. 1. I remember we tuned in in kindergarten to watch the space shuttle Challenger take off. I remember seeing what happened and not really understanding what happened. It was my first time watching a space shuttle take off and we had been talking about the teacher and other astronauts who were on the shuttle for at least a few classes before it. I don’t remember what they told us happened, but I remember realizing that something very wrong had happened from my teachers reaction. After that the only other times that I remember the tv in the classroom was in history/government classes, like when Pres. Clinton was impeached.

    posted by Kristine on 12-5-2008 at 4:57 pm

53. 1. The only time I can remember the teacher bringing in the TV to watch the news was during 9-11. It was in art class.

    2. I want to know why your eyes create crud in the corners of them when you are sleeping but it never seems to accumulate when you are awake.

    3. I was one of three boys and the only way we solved conflicts was by either being the biggest or by crying the loudest thus getting the parents involved.

    posted by Daniel on 12-5-2008 at 5:02 pm

54. 1. My Junior year in english class was interrupted to watch the 9/11 attacks. That was really weird, trying to figure out why it was all happening

    2. Why do pregnant women crave the things they crave only while pregnant?

    3 My sister and I are three years apart. We usually fought, especially when we were older (like middle/high school). We would hit each other pretty hard, I’d pull her off her bed, she’d kick me in the shin and then cry because she stubbed her toe in the process! Haha!

    posted by Liz on 12-5-2008 at 5:21 pm

55. 1. I remember watching Reagan getting sworn in as president in 6th grade, and then the teacher left the tv turned on to watch the hostages being released. We probably would have watched coverage of the Reagan assassination attempt, but I was on spring break when that happened. I also remember watching the 1st space shuttle launch, and also watching coverage of the Challenger disaster while in school. My sociology professor provided chips and dip the day the first Persian Gulf started and we wathed coverage of that. We had to provide our own drinks. As a teacher, I let the kids watch the original OJ verdict in class and also turned on the tv for them on 9-11.

    2. I want to know why my dogs ignore me most of the day but when I go to bed they want to sprawl out over the whole bed so there is practically no room left for me and my girlfriend.

    3. Only child… no tv issues or fights, but also no one to blame when something got broken!

    posted by Walter on 12-5-2008 at 5:22 pm

56. I remember the first manned American space flight in 1961 when I was in the sixth grade. We went to the cafiteria where the principal set up a TV so we could watch the lift off.
    The astronaut was Allen Shepard the first American in space. It was extra special and made us all very proud to be going to space even though the Russians had beat us to it. We later saw many of the Gemini and Apollo flights in years to come

    posted by norman on 12-5-2008 at 5:24 pm

57. 1) Back in elementary school class was stopped because of the Oklahoma City bombings. And then in Junior High class was stopped because of Columbine.

    In High School my Modular Technology teacher liked to watch the news before class. We saw the entire Twin Towers attack live and were the ones that let the rest of the school know.

    posted by Meg on 12-5-2008 at 5:28 pm

58. 1. 1st grade for the Challenger- our whole school was in the cafeteria having milk and cookies in celebration of the “First Teacher in Space”. They shuttled (sorry for the pun) us out as fast as they could and pretended nothing happened; ignored it entirely. My mom explained what had happened later that day.

    I also remember the Oklahoma city bombing in the 11th grade. My World History teacher talked about this being what happens when the system doesn’t work for some people. He was a very progressive socialist. I loved him for his candor.

    3. I am also an Irish twin (10 months apart- seriously). We both had to do farm work on our peach orchard and would get each other out of the worst jobs if we could. One or the other of us would be “sick” and the other one would stick up for the illness knowing that in the future it would be reciprocated.

    We also covered for injuries incurred by the other. I gave my brother a black eye and he said he got it at school. He sprained my wrist and I said I fell. We were an united front of no tattling.

    posted by Lightlylilly on 12-5-2008 at 5:35 pm

59. 1. September 11th in 7th grade music. My teacher was watching a few minutes of it before class started, and she told us what had happened. I didn’t really understand it until I got home and watched the news.

    3. I’m an only child, so I didn’t really have that issue.

    posted by Anne on 12-5-2008 at 5:50 pm

60. 2. Where does the word got come from and why do people use it? I got to go… i got a new pair of shoes…i got sick…instead of i have to go…i bought a new pair of shoes…i became sick…

    posted by Julia on 12-5-2008 at 6:02 pm

61. I am really feeling old after reading everyone’s comments. There were very few, if any, TV’s in school as I was growing up. I graduated in 72. (yea, I’m old) Never saw a TV anywhere in school. JFK’s assassination was announced by the school PA system. (5th Grade).

    My sister and I are 2 years apart (she is younger) and really did not have any conflicts regarding the the TV. We did not have a TV until I was 9 and when we did get one our viewing was controlled by our parents and it was usually what they wanted to watch. We only received 4 channels up to the late 60′s when cable arrived and we had a choice of 12.

    posted by Owen on 12-5-2008 at 6:05 pm

62. 2) Please explain how the ranking of cousins works (second cousins, third cousin once removed, etc).

    posted by Lindsey on 12-5-2008 at 6:57 pm

63. In March my middle school teachers always turned the tv onto the UK basketball games. (go big blue!)

    posted by jess on 12-5-2008 at 7:17 pm

64. 1. September 11th, 2001 when I was in 7th grade.

    posted by ditzen on 12-5-2008 at 7:19 pm

65. the only time i remember having class interrupted for tv was back in middle school for March Madness- Go Big Blue!

    posted by jess on 12-5-2008 at 7:20 pm

66. 1. I remember two times we watched Live TV in class, we watched the OJ verdict when I was in (sorry Jason English) 4th Grade, and on 9/11 I watched TV in at least 3 of my 6 classes.

    2. Has there ever been any “Christmas Science” experiments? Like has anyone ever tried to make reindeer fly, prove that Santa does exist, or anything of the like?

    posted by NateJ on 12-5-2008 at 7:22 pm

67. 1. We watched 9/11 on tv when I was in the 7th grade. In subsequent years our history teacher would bring in a tv so we could watch the night bombings in the Middle East.

    posted by Monica on 12-5-2008 at 7:41 pm

68. 1. We watched Bush’s second inauguration in the 8th grade.

    9/11 was 5th grade – I lived on an army base so it was a really big deal. My teacher got a phone call from her husband, but they weren’t allowed to turn on tvs or tell us what happened. We couldn’t go out to recess, and kids kept getting picked up by their parents and stuff… I didn’t find out till I got home.

    3. My brother and I pretty much beat each other up to solve arguments. I usually won.

    posted by Case on 12-5-2008 at 8:08 pm

69. 1. We watched Reagan’s inauguration.
    2. Why can’t some people make a decision?
    3. I was the youngest so was gullible enough to buy into whatever my big sister was wanting.

    posted by Jim on 12-5-2008 at 8:15 pm

70. Apparently I’m really old and should kill myself now…
    When Regan was shot we got to go home from school early but we didn’t have a TV in class.
    When the space shuttle exploded it was announced on the PA system. One of our science teachers had been a runner up for the mission… lucky for her.

    posted by polaroidgirl on 12-5-2008 at 8:25 pm

71. Brett, I hate to break it to you, but you and your sister are not Irish twins. To be Irish twins, there must be only 12 months or fewer betwixt siblings.

    My sister and I (there are 4 years between us) usually solved our differences violently. I have many scars on my arms where she would dig her nails into me. We were fighting one day (I was 14, she was 10), and my sister lunged at me, missed, and did a face plant onto the wood floor. She broke her front tooth almost in half. My other (much younger siblings) now solve their problems similarly. And it’s not as if our parents condone violence. All parties get punished, no matter who started it, and our parents have never hit us at all. It’s just one of those things.

    posted by Amy D on 12-5-2008 at 8:55 pm

72. 1. I was home sick on 9-11. I watched it at home. I was a worry wad back then and freaked out because I thought they would bomb our house.
    2. What are some safe ways for you to watch what your childs getting into on the computer, and are there anyways to beat it?

    posted by Bella on 12-5-2008 at 9:00 pm

73. 1. The only thing I remember watching in school was the first week or so of Desert Storm. Watched that in just about every class I was in my Junior year. (Most people in town knew before it was declared that it was on, since it seemed like Westover ARB had C-5s taking off every 10-15 minutes the day before. Then when the troops started returning, they frequently came through the base so most of my hometown, particularly schoolkids, spent much free time welcoming troops home on the base.)

    3. My brother and I mostly settled things by arguing ’til one parent or other would give us the “Settle down, and I don’t want to hear another peep out of you two” speech. That led to sychronized “peeping” and laughter.

    posted by steph on 12-5-2008 at 9:32 pm

74. 1) Like many other people here, I saw coverage of 9/11 in school. When the first plane hit, an announcement was made that a plane had crashed into one of the towers. I was in AP Eglish at the time, and there was no TV in the classroom. 3rd period ended shortly after, and my next class was Jazz Choir, where our teacher didn’t really care what we did (we only sang for about 15 minutes of the 50 minute period). I remember we stole the TV out of his office and plugged it in the main room. We watched the 2nd plane hit, and both the towers fall. They let us out after that period ended… we ended up with a half day.
    It’s funny the things you remember on days like that. I remember sitting on the front steps with some of my neighbors talking for hours. I remember that for the first (and what seems like only) time, the TV didn’t turn off once during that whole day and night. I remember my mom made us pancakes for dinner, and my tears mixed in with my maple syrup.

    I also seem to remember watching something in my 6th grade Social Studies class, but I can’t seem to remember what it was, exactly. This would have been 1997/1998?

    2) I have a million questions I’d like answered, but you put me on the spot, I can’t think of any right now. I’ll write them down as they come to me, and floof your inboxes one of these days. Promise.

    3) We didn’t have any unique ways of settling things except for what EM mentioned, “one cuts, the other picks.” My sister used to be a fat kid, and she’d always try and screw me over by cuttng herself the bigger piece and claiming it (food’s big with us). Now she’s pregnant, and I wouldn’t dream of fighting with her over food. She’d eat my hand. I do remember the fights we got into though… one time she threw a metal watch at my head, that knocked me right above the eye. Another time she dropped a 5 lb. dumbbell on my head from a standing position (I was laying on the floor… she got REAMED for that). The one thing she did a lot though, that I’ll never forgive her for, was to try and make me think she was dead because of something I had done (awesome, right?). There was one night where I walked on her back to crack it, and when I was done, she didn’t get up, wouldn’t move, nothing. I ran downstairs in absolute hysterics to get my parents, and we all ran back upstairs to find her laughing. She wasn’t dead, but she probably wished she was after my father got through with her!!

    Oh, childhood…

    posted by Cassie on 12-5-2008 at 9:52 pm

75. I was 11 and in the 6th grade on 5/4/70 – the day of the Kent State Shootings. Our teacher was a graduate of Kent State and was an impassioned Vietnam war protestor. We had a TV in the classroom which was used for watching science shows on the PBS channel. She sat there crying watching the news reporting what had happened.

    I was never much of a TV person, I was usually reading a book or working on a puzzle. My sister got to watch whatever she wanted.

    posted by Sue on 12-6-2008 at 12:41 am

76. In middle school, as the school year was drawing to a close, the teacher would wheel out the old TV set from the AV room. We would watch the Chicago Cubs live on WGN Channel 9, which became a super station, years later.

    posted by indiessance on 12-6-2008 at 12:53 am

77. 3. My sisters and I always fought over who would sit up front in the car so we started having scheduled days as to when we could sit in the front (it also went for when you could get the mail). It lasted for years (probably close to 6 or 7) and I still remember that I had Wednesdays and Saturdays (Sundays were a free-for-all).

    posted by Lauren on 12-6-2008 at 3:34 am

78. 1. I was in 10th grade during 9/11–none of my teachers turned on the TV in the classroom. I don’t think they were allowed to. But being on the west coast, both of the towers had been hit (and I think fell) before I got to school, and everyone knew what was going on anyway. I was kinda mad at my teachers for not showing it, and was glued to the news for the next few weeks.

    I also remember (even more vividly)watching the ultimatum countdown that lead to the current Iraq war; the ultimatum where Pres Bush demanded that Saddam and his two sons surrender or that Bush would invade. And Bush announcing that Iraq had been bombed pretty much the second the ultimatum was up. I watched it during a Princeton Review SAT class; the class was in a hotel conference room, so we all went down to the bar and stood there watching the announcement. It was weird.

    posted by lizzie on 12-6-2008 at 5:05 am

79. My dad had an amazing picture of 7 white birds flying together around the Challenger explosion cloud. I’ll never forget that! Sounds like we all saw the Challenger and the OJ verdict -school TVs on across America – much like Hands Across America (remember that?). I think it’s more common now that TV programs are used in classrooms. We got extra credit in bio if we watched ER – not much but you could smell the desperation to get us motivated.

    The rule in our house was whoever turned on the TV had control. Not a very good rule. I’m impressed with what you all grew up with – such logic and reason. Mary and I usually raced home after school to watch Gem. Poor Eileen never got to watch her Little House on the Prarie. Tough luck Sista!

    My question/intesting topic suggestion: I’d love to see a laymans detailed description on how a once only prescribed drug can become an over-the-counter drug and what drugs/treatments could soon fall into that catagory.

    posted by Erin M on 12-6-2008 at 10:52 am

80. We watched the Oklahoma City bombing coverage in 9th grade. We also watched 9/11 when i was in college then they sent us home deciding it was better to be with friends and family than in math class.

    posted by Ann on 12-6-2008 at 11:52 am

81. 1. My school went into lock down during the columbine attacks during the final period of school. My teacher had the sense to snag a TV from the common room and bring it in so we could understand why.

    posted by Liz on 12-6-2008 at 4:08 pm

82. Wow..there are a lot of young readers on this site!

    1) Like many others, I saw the Challenger explosion while in school. I was way out of school by the time of the OJ verdict, 9/11 etc.

    2) If a person is blind since birth, what are his/her dreams like?

    3) My brother tended to win everything. I tried to play the piano, he would turn on the TV. I tried to watch TV, he would change the channel (way before remote controls!) Our cynical older brother (by 10 years) ruined cartoons for us anyway – he would continually remind us how the characters would really be dead if they fell/were hit by boulders/ran into walls. We eventually just gave up and went outside to play.

    posted by Dawn on 12-6-2008 at 4:45 pm

83. We watched the Clinton inauguration in 1993 (6th grade!) in class. It was really cool. I don’t remember much about it. But I do remember talking to my mom about it and her telling me she was in 8th grade when JFK was shot and they got to listen to the radio over the PA system.

    posted by Catherine on 12-6-2008 at 10:25 pm

84. 1) I remember watching the news coverage on the day President Reagan was shot. I was in the 5th grade. I don’t remember any other instances. I was sick from school on the day of the Challenger explosion, so I don’t know if they showed that in our school or not.

    2) I’m coming up blank here…

    3) I was an only child until I was 13, so I didn’t have to compromise on anything. I did, however, go after school every day to a friend’s house in my neighborhood. There were three of us there and we just took turns on what to watch after school. My friend’s mom kept a list so she knew whose turn it was on the particular day.

    posted by bzzyb on 12-7-2008 at 12:35 am

85. I was in math class in freshman year when my teacher came in and announced the World Trade Center had been attacked. We didn’t watch anything in class, because all other classes were canceled. We watched in the lounge and other places.

    posted by Sara on 12-7-2008 at 1:08 pm

86. I”m pretty sure we were in between periods when the first plane hit on 9/11. I was in sixth grade. They came over the PA system and said we’d better get to class. Mine was music class and our teacher had the fake wooden TV out and we sat on the risers and watched for the whole period and saw the second plane hit and the towers fall. I don’t think we were dismissed, but they made an announcement that parents could come pick up their kids. When I got home, my mom was sitting on the floor in front of the couch crying and constantly trying to call my uncle who live a few blocks from the towers.

    posted by a on 12-7-2008 at 1:27 pm

87. My 2nd grade class was allowed to watch the Challenger shuttle take off for the fateful “Teacher In Space” program.

    Yep. That was the last live tv coverage we had in that school…

    posted by Lelah on 12-7-2008 at 6:04 pm

88. Living in New Zealand, our classes were never interrupted by American tragedies or other events – I do remember watching some of the coverage of Princess Diana’s funeral during class, but I was at University for the 9/11 attacks and classes continued as normal – although we did discuss it and a few lecturers asked for a minute’s silence.

    posted by dangermouse on 12-7-2008 at 6:33 pm

89. I have been wondering why nearly all my metal zippers have the letters ykk printed on them. What’s the deal?

    posted by Sarah on 12-7-2008 at 8:44 pm

90. 1. Living in Florida, some classroom time was sacrificed to check up on impending hurricanes. Beyond that, I too was in middle school on 9/11. It was interesting how my school waffled between finding us mature enough to know what was going on or not. When we first got word, every teacher had the program on. Announcements were made telling teachers to turn it off, and then as more and more students were pulled out of class, turn it back on again. That was a long and confusing day.

    2. Is eating the worm in a bottle of tequila any worse than drinking the tequila itself? I’ve never really understood the “don’t eat the worm!” hype, although the one person I’ve seen do so was in the fetal position for the rest of the night.

    posted by NickeeCoco on 12-7-2008 at 9:28 pm

91. How do vending machines and other machines that recognize various coins/bills work?

    posted by August on 12-8-2008 at 12:06 pm

92. I was a freshman in highschool, in French class, when we got to watch the OJ trials.

    I was a senior when we got locked down and were able to watch on the news the events unfolding at Columbine. As a neighboring school they locked everyone down until they could figure out who was doing the shooting.

    posted by Bethany on 12-8-2008 at 2:20 pm

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