How ‘NJ old’ are you? I’m Rt. 1 Flea Market old

This little gem of a question went up on the NJ101.5 Facebook page Wednesday morning. It seems like everyone in New Jersey has an answer.

How NJ old are you?

Examples given in comments:

• I'm 'met Bugs Bunny at Jungle Habitat' old - Salvatore
• I'm 'Asbury Park's boardwalk and beachfront were a desolate wasteland' old - Kevin
• I'm 'ate Slushees at Bradlees' old - Jessica
• I'm 'rode my bike with no helmet' old - Elaine
• I'm 'the mosquito man fog truck' old - Kathy
• I'm 'my grandfather bought me my first two KISS albums at Two Guys just to piss my Dad off' old - Kevin

I love how particular that one was! Now I cannot say I am 'shopped at Two Guys' old. But I can say I am 'was brought to Two Guy as a very young child' old.

I love this question. What a great nostalgic barometer for talking about which era you're from. And it's really not about your age; it's about your personal 'Wonder Years' and the touchstones you remember.

Some of my own examples:

• I'm 'Space Port at Woodbridge Center Mall' old.
• I'm 'walking to kindergarten alone with no parent' old and 'wandering my neighborhood all day unsupervised' old.
• I'm 'Terry Lou Zoo in Scotch Plains' old.
• I'm 'was at the Union County Performing Arts Center when it was the Rahway movie theater' old.
• I'm 'you got your learner's permit, passed the test and got your full license' old.
• I'm 'the big elephant sign at the corner of St. Georges Ave. and 27' old.
• I'm 'grand opening of Six Flags Great Adventure' old.
• I'm 'Sound-A-Rama record store and Schatzman's toy store in Rahway' old.

The fun part is you could go on all day. Nostalgia always gets us a bit misty eyed. Cheer up! Things aren't so bad now either! I don't know who said it, and I may not have the quote exactly right, but it went something like this...

The reason people are never happy is they remember the past as being better than it was, regard the present as worse than it is, and think of the future as being finer than it will be.

If you want some real nostalgia check out the hundreds of NJ old answers in all the Facebook comments here. You might just see yourself in a lot of these.