Today we reminisce about gym class, dancing, clubbing, board games, and the danger zone.

If you learned how to square dance in gym class or can reflect now on how bad that week was, we know how old you are. A.J. Jacobs writes for Mental Floss, and we found this story from last year in a roundabout way. We listened to a podcast from Joel Stein called STORY OF THE WEEK. In Stein’s latest podcast, he talks with A.J. Jacobs about a new piece he wrote about living for 30 days as a conservative interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. We will report on the podcast in another newsletter. We also ordered a poster of a U.S. Constitution meant for grade schoolers to help with our understanding of the Constitution.

A podcast that introduced us to a new writer led us to an article we are still laughing about as we write this piece. Jacob’s article called 8 Ways Gym Class Used to Be So Worse for Mental Floss. Let’s see how many of these you remember:

From memory, in the 80s and 90s, every school gymnasium had a long golden-colored rope that hung from the ceiling. The ropes hung 20 to 30 feet, and given that this was gym class and not science class, there was a 1-inch thick mat under this rope, so the bruise wouldn’t look too bad after you fell off the rope and broke your spine.

On a hard linoleum floor with another person sitting on your toes, your back on the floor, arms crossed on your chest, you had 60 seconds to do X number of situps to pass gym class!

Yes, if any millennials read this, you learned how to dance in gym class in the old days. It was typically one or two weeks out of the year; most were square dancing. Not to be confused with line dancing, this was square dancing. As best we can remember, it was a boy and a girl skipping around the gym in a square. It was probably the sweatiest activity in gym class for the year.

Not mentioned in Jacob’s original article, but discussed in our office. The dreaded shirts off, bend over, and a nurse would look at your spine for scoliosis. Life is so absurd!

Next up in the We Are Old section of the newsletter. A story from The Guardian about Game Night: Tom Lamont, a freelance writer who is a regular contributor to The Guardian, wrote a piece about a Board-Games Club he is a part of. Lamont, born in the 80s, recently turned his clubbing shoes in for slippers and met up IRL with several others to play a game called The Settlers of Catan.

It is an interesting story, and Lamont is a great writer. It’s always lovely to see the youngins growing up. Our advice is don’t quite have either social experience yet. In your 40s, you can get away with sweaty gigs and late-night bars, but your days are limited. In your 50s, you will understand what it’s like to pull a muscle in your sleep and understand what the term creepy old guy means.

Here is a quick hit on the world’s most mispronounced foods. Our vote goes to Tzatziki, the greek sauce. What do we know?

This month, an interesting article on the psychology of risk and how it can be taught to children was on the BBC website. Writer David Robson wrote the paper. We were surprised at how long it takes to develop and integrate all our senses as we are growing up. This integration helps children react to potential dangers faster.

The article is on the longer side and a bit academic, but worth the read if you have or work with children. If you don’t, skip and hit the music sections below!

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Words | Music | Art | Unknown

Extended and special - this will get you clubbin’.

Click on the Apple Music image to listen to the song on Apple Music or on the Spotify Image to listen to Spotify.

Thank you for spending a few minutes with us!

With A Shout Team