History Main / WhenIWasYourAge

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'': In [[Recap/AnimaniacsEpisode44 Episode 44]], one of the useless facts Yakko tells the viewers is that termites can live to be 50 years old. He then sees an elderly termite telling his grandchildren, "Why, when I was a young termite, we used to have to walk 50 miles in the snow with no shoes for a good piece of wood. Not like you kids today!"

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' had Tommy's Grandpa Lou and his stories, frequently invoking and emphasizing "fifteen [something]" in them. It got to the point where others in the family would have retorts ready:
** His son Stu, in ''Reptar on Ice'':

'''Stu:''' In his day the dinosaurs were ''REAL.''
** Stu's wife Didi in "Mirrorland":

** Tommy's other grandfather, Didi's father Boris:

--> When I was your age, we {{rocket jump}}ed all the way to school uphill, both ways... [[color:red:IN BOILING LAVA]]

* ''VideoGame/SleepingDogs'' Sifu Kwok has strong opinions on the GoodOldWays of honour and piety vanishing, and young men just wanting to learn kung fu to join TheTriadsAndTheTongs. The game, contrary to expectations, invites the player to sympathise, rather than write it off as a {{Grumpy Old Man}}'s [[RamblingOldManMonologue ramblings.]]

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'', Jimmy, Carl and Sheen accidentally [[RapidAging turn themselves old]] and fall into this.

* A variation shows up in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'', after Bruce shuts down the cave's high-tech systems to keep out [[AIIsACrapshoot a hostile AI]]:

* The ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' episode "Operation: S.P.A.N.K.E.N.S.T.I.N.E." has Numbuh Two's grandmother Lydia and Count Spankulot ramble on how they had to eat things like packing peanuts and tadpoles for dessert when they were younger.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'', Goslyn claimed that Darkwing once pulled that - right after he pointed out a building as his childhood school... and the house next door as his childhood home. Then again, over the course of the series, Darkwing clearly demonstrates MultipleChoicePast, at least one of which involved Drake obviously making stuff up on the spot.
* Timmy's paternal grandfather in ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'' is quite fond of the trope. His first non-flashback line was a rant about how he doesn't like things as how they're today when compared to what they used to be.
* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Franklin}}'', when Franklin first went to school, he was told that his father, instead of taking a bus, had to walk two and half miles to school and back, even in the rain and the snow. His parents didn't go so far as "uphill both ways," though.

* This was parodied in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'', it went something like this:

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'' had Lucius noting, that when he was Beezy's age, he was more productive...[[KickTheDog at spreading misery]].

** In ''Film/BackToTheFuture'', Lorraine (Marty's mother) chastised Linda (Marty's sister) for thinking that it's okay for girls to call boys, saying "when I was your age I never chased a boy or called a boy or [[AutoErotica sat in a parked car with a boy]]." Then Marty goes back in time and discovers that [[FormerTeenRebel this was a great big lie]].

* PlayedForLaughs in ''Manga/DoctorSlump'' when Senbei makes one such remark while witnessing Turbo (his infant son with the PsychicPower for {{Flight}}) and [[OurAngelsAreDifferent the Gatchans]] (HappilyAdopted beings with wings that allow them to fly) flying away to play.

** ''Lu Tze's Diary of Enlightenment'' includes many aphorisms from the Way of Mrs Cosmopolite, with the responses of Seekers After Wisdom. One of them is:
--->'''Mrs Cosmopolite''': When I was your age I had to walk ten miles through the snow, uphill, by myself, every day, to go to school.\\

[[TruthInTelevision This is not completely made up, though.]] This Trope is in fact OlderThanDirt, as it is at least 4,000 years old (and probably as old as mankind itself). Sociologists call this mindstate "juvenoia."

* There are clay tablets from Sumeria, ca. '''2500 BC''' with similar sentiments about youth not respecting their elders.
** Believe it or not, old people have been complaining about young people for almost five millennia. If even half of them were right, civilization should have completely decayed by now.
** Of course they were ''taught'' to be polite, wait their turn and be respectful of their elders. Like every generation before and since, they didn't pay attention then, just as today's young don't pay attention now.

** Grandpa Simpson is fond of these. There's a bit of a subversion of it in "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy" when he complains about how when he was a kid toys were built to last, while modern ones break "as soon as they come out of the box". He tries demonstrating, but actually has to put in a lot of strenuous effort to damage the toy.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' had Grandpa Lou and his stories, frequently invoking and emphasizing "fifteen [something]" in them. It got to the point where others in the family would have retorts ready:
** His son Stu, in ''Reptar on Ice''

** Stu's wife Didi in "Mirrorland".
-->'''Grandpa Lou''': In my day, we had no use for antiques.\\

** Didi's father Boris:
-->''Lou:''' In my day, we had plenty of fun just throwing rocks at each other.
-->''Boris:''' Well, I have a tale for ''you'', Mr. Fifteen Years! 52 Pickup! [flicks a deck of cards at him]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' had Grandpa Lou and his stories.
-->"In my day, we had plenty of fun just throwing rocks at each other."
** Which was then brilliantly countered by Grandpa Boris, of all people:
-->"Well, I have a tale for ''you'', Mr. Fifteen Years: 52 Pickup!"\\
''[flicks a deck of cards at him]''
** Another nice response, this time by Stu, in ''Reptar on Ice''

** Here's a comeback from Didi in "Mirrorland".

Compare ScrewPolitenessImASenior, WhileYouWereInDiapers, MiseryPoker, ImaginedInnuendo, GloryDays (for a distorted view saying that their suffering makes their generation better than the current one).

* Very common among people playing video games. Those who complain about how easy today's games are or make fun of younger players that can't handle a difficult game are very likely to be someone who grew up on NintendoHard games. While games becoming easier isn't far from the truth, people that grew up on video games from the early days simply got better over time. The common counter-argument is that there's a difference between NintendoHard and FakeDifficulty, and a ''lot'' of old games dipped over into the latter.

* ''Literature/AndThenITurnedIntoAMermaid'': Aunt Maureen, who looks after the younger Seabrook sisters while Mum and and Myla are out of town, is nasty and strict and thinks the younger generation is work-shy. When Molly tries to get off work due to a chest infection, Maureen says, 'When I was your age, I was down the mines every weekend, influenza or not.' Molly highly doubts this is true.

** Mechanicsburg, a city ruled by fifty generations of {{Mad Scientist}}s, is home to centuries-old mummified "crypt masters". Here's [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20121109 how they react]] to an attempted political assassination:

-->'''Crypt Master 1:''' TCH. KIDS TODAY - DON'T EVEN RECOGNIZE THEIR HETERODYNE ... ''SHOCKING.''\\

'''Crypt Master 2: KNOW WHAT I BLAME? I BLAME THAT NEW ''DANCE MUSIC -''\\

'''Crypt Master 2: HO! ''GOOD ONE!''

* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' - Zeetha [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20050502 complained]] about "novices today!".