# Quick-fire — old people sayings, oldest email addresses, and cringe work habits

- **Episode:** [222](https://agents.truthliesandwork.com/episodes/222.md) (2025-08-12)
- **Type:** other
- **Tags:** sayings, email, work-habits
- **Time:** 38:41–43:42 (start 2321s)
- **Listen:** [https://truthliesandwork.com/222?t=2321](https://truthliesandwork.com/222?t=2321)

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[38:41] Leanne Elliott: Yeah, I've got some, I've got some quick ones to go through. Um, what were old people saying when you were a kid about how things were back in their day? One thing I remember so clearly was my nan saying to me, um, Like, you don't understand, back in my day, we had to go to the bathroom outside. It's like, what?
[39:00] Al Elliott: Yeah. My dad said, I think my dad said he remembers in his lifetime when they got an indoor toilet. My dad was born in 1946, so it's not like old, old
[39:11] Leanne Elliott: No
[39:12] Al Elliott: Yeah, that's, it's kind of, kind of weird, isn't it?
[39:14] Leanne Elliott: And then just the, and that's what makes me feel old now that you say my grandparents were saying that. It was definitely a thing in the '50s and '60s when both of our parents were alive. And now we're talking about how AI is potentially going to replace knowledge workers. It's like, how have we got from only just getting indoor toilets to computers taking over our jobs in what, 60 years? Nuts. And that makes me feel old
[39:42] Al Elliott: Yeah. I think also the, I think this is a typical parent or grandparent thing to say, oh, back in my day, we used to leave the doors unlocked. Um, and, uh, and, you know, all that kind of stuff. But then in the same, in the same vein, they'd also talk quite disparagingly about certain groups of the population, demographics. And, um, so yeah, it was kind of like weird, but nostalgia's always— nostalgia's not the same as it used to be, is it? That's why I'll just leave it at that
[40:12] Leanne Elliott: What's the oldest email address you have in terms of number of years? Oh, so my oldest email address is a Hotmail email address. Yeah. And I probably started it in about 2008
[40:26] Al Elliott: I think I can, well, I'm pretty sure I had an email address back when I was on, there's something at AOL in the UK. Well, still was in the UK, but also there was something called CompuServe, I think. Any of the people my age will remember that. It came free on the front of a CD or a disc came free on the front of a computer shopper magazine. And I'm pretty sure I had a CompuServe email address, which would, I would have been around about 15. So that would be 1992
[40:57] Leanne Elliott: Oh no, but that you still have now
[40:59] Al Elliott: Oh, still have now? Oh no. Um, oh, oh, that's just less important, less interesting. Uh, Gmail. I've had it for about 20 years. And honestly, I think there's about a quarter of a million emails in there
[41:12] Leanne Elliott: Yeah. Yeah. No, my very first email was an AOL email, of course
[41:16] Al Elliott: Oh, that's a, that's a, it was a misleading question, Leanne
[41:19] Leanne Elliott: I'm sorry. I think it's just, it's funny that it blows young people's minds that we have email addresses that are like 15, 17, 20 years old
[41:26] Al Elliott: And the other thing, and also it's quite funny when someone's got an email address they obviously set up in college, like roger69 kind of thing, and they're still using it today and it's like, um. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyway
[41:38] Leanne Elliott: Um, what things did old people in your day used to do at work that made you cringe?
[41:45] Al Elliott: Oh, I remember when I was first started out in the networking circuit back in about sort of, what would that be, about 1999? Um, and I remember distinctly meeting people and particularly they were, they were a very type. There was, there were men of a certain age. And they used to grab my hand, shake really hard, squeeze really hard, and then turn it so that their hand was on top of mine and be like, hey, my name's Dave. Dave. I'm Dave. I'm the sales guy. Dave. What's your name?
[42:18] Leanne Elliott: Dave
[42:19] Al Elliott: And they, yeah, exactly. They must have been to some kind of seminar where they say, if you say your name 4 times, they'll remember you and then turn your hand over and they'll be like, who the hell's this? Oh my God, I've got to submit to them straight away. What about you?
[42:30] Leanne Elliott: Um, I think general misogyny. I'm not saying it doesn't exist now, it absolutely does, but it was a lot more transparent when I joined work in terms of I was the one that was looked at to go make the tea. Um, and yeah, talked down to and called sweetheart and that type of thing. I know it still exists now, but it was, it was a lot more, and that used to make me, used to make me cringe
[42:53] Al Elliott: Even back in like The sort of late '80s, early '90s. I remember, and I remember people used to describe to— describe, oh, drop it off my girl's desk, will you? At his secretary's desk. Drop it off my girl's desk. And, uh, if you— that's why my mum won't watch Mad Men. And she's like, I can't stand how the misogyny, how bad it was back then, because she was back in the workforce about the same time. And I keep saying to her, mum, it gets better. It all goes upside down. I don't want to ruin it for you guys if you've not seen Mad Men, but it kind of goes the other way. Anyway
[43:23] Leanne Elliott: Yeah. Yeah
[43:24] Al Elliott: Mad Men is a great series to watch, to see the evolution of work, even in those, what, 30 years that it covers, or 20 years it covers. Yeah. Um, and, uh, and then you can see at the end just how progressive it is, but then also how much we moved on in the— God
[43:39] Leanne Elliott: And how backward it still was. Yes