Are you one of us?
Posted by Omphaloskeptique@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 1132 comments
Posted by Omphaloskeptique@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 1132 comments
Ozymandias_Canceled@reddit
Mark of the Boomer
AbhorrentBehavior77@reddit
Then why do so many Gen X have that mark? And also what is this from? I cannot figure it out!
I understand it's a vaccination, of some kind but WHAT vaccination caused a scar, such as this? No one will tell me?😢
Ozymandias_Canceled@reddit
Hey there, sorry for the delayed response. It’s a scar from the small pox vaccine. It was mostly phased out in the mid sixties, so although some Gen Xers may have it feel it mostly applies to boomers. From my observations it’s not prevalent at all in Xers, but every boomer I know has it.
LeiaO315@reddit
No, too young. The U.S. stopped routine vaccination a few years before I was born.
Sparkykc124@reddit
Pretty sure we all got multiple vaccinations as children. This is from Smallpox vaccine which was stopped in the early 70s because it was eradicated.
Intelligent_Peace780@reddit
It stopped in 69 my dad was born in 66 and has it but his brother which obviously is my uncle was born in 69 and does not have it
cenosillicaphobiac@reddit
Army was still giving them in the late 80's. That's when I got mine.
DebbieGlez@reddit
So they could deploy you anywhere in the world. My husband was a submariner and he doesn’t even know how many vaccinations he got because he said they just lined them up and gave them a ton of vaccines. He was on a boomer. Those subs cannot have port calls in other countries But the vaccines were in Boot Camp.
Playstoomanygames9@reddit
There were only like 4-6 to get though. The menu has expanded.
LeiaO315@reddit
Yes, I know.
spudaug@reddit
No, they just stopped vaccinations delivered with a method that left a scar. That was phased out back in the 70’s. Immunizations are still routine, thank goodness, even though the weirdo antivaxxers wish it weren’t true.
IW0nderwhereitis@reddit
I've got a scar from a bcg vaccine in the late 80s. Are you in the States?
thisisntmyotherone@reddit
What’s a ‘bcg vaccine?’
IW0nderwhereitis@reddit
Missed this comment, it was /is? for tuberculosis.
spudaug@reddit
Yep, south of DC. I was born in 76 so I started immunizations in the late 70s. Only ever vaccinated with needles, so no “cootie shot” scar. I believe I was post-smallpox eradication, and as such would probably not have had that one. I dunno if the smallpox vaccine required the air pistol delivery, but if so that would explain it.
VirgoGeminie@reddit
Just can't resist tossing that Dogmacrat nonsense out there eh? Just aren't happy unless you're crapping on something. Leave that junk for the weekly thread please.
spudaug@reddit
Ah, did VirgoGeminie’s account get stolen?
Looks like they were semi-active lurking in lots of different subreddits for years, then a few months ago they went radio silent. Suddenly in the past few weeks they’ve been posting and commenting dozens of times daily in one particular subreddit. Guess which one!
VirgoGeminie@reddit
TF you on about? There's a weekly thread for the kind of junk you want to inject, use it.
thisisntmyotherone@reddit
Vaccines save lives. How many stories did we hear about the people who died of COVID-19 who said on their deathbeds in the hospitals they thought it was fake? Too many. Far, far too many.
cronkamite@reddit
It’s from a jet injector. High pressure instead of needles.
fuggettabuddy@reddit
There’s vaccines, and then there’s vaccines
onherwayupcoast@reddit
Yeah, I got the vaccine but no scar. Born mid-seventies.
wheredidyoustood@reddit
Same. Born in ‘70 no mark. Brother born in ‘65 has it.
Alternative-Dig-2066@reddit
Should be through 73 in the USA… everyone I know born in the USA has the scar, and even later from other countries. I’m 1970 born here, and hubby born elsewhere in 80 both have it.
RobotArtichoke@reddit
Ex had it. She was ‘81
thisisntmyotherone@reddit
Wow! I’ve never heard of someone who had it that late. Where was she born or where did she live that she got it that late? Do you know?
RobotArtichoke@reddit
To clarify, she was born in “81, she wasn’t 81 years old. But she was born in NorCal. Sacramento, I believe.
thisisntmyotherone@reddit
Haha, I figured she was born in 1981 and not 81 years old, since the cutoff for the most of the rest of us American Gen X-ers who didn’t get the smallpox vaccine seemed to be somewhere around 1972.
That’s why I asked about what year and the place your ex was when she got it, if you knew. I’m not an expert on immunizations by any means, but I don't know that senior citizens and/or the elderly received smallpox vaccines. I don't remember seeing my grandmother with the telltale mark and she wore plenty of short sleeves and sleeveless tops and dresses in the spring and summertime.
BetMyLastKrispyKreme@reddit
Wow! It went on for a long time, wherever she was.
Electrical_Beyond998@reddit
I’m January 72, best friend is November 71, neither of us have that. Maybe it was a state thing?
_coffee_@reddit
Nov '72, have scar. Born/raised in Illinois.
thisisntmyotherone@reddit
I’m August ‘72 and I don’t have it. I was/am supremely jealous of both parents who do.
grumble
DiceyPisces@reddit
I’m feb ‘71 Chicago suburbs and don’t have it but my husband ‘61 does. From same general area
Fisher_mom@reddit
No Californians I’ve met from 1970 or later have it. And not one kid in my high school class of ‘89.
dweed-5@reddit
1971 Californian. I have it.
BetMyLastKrispyKreme@reddit
Oh wow. Same age, which means I would have had it. Dated a guy from California (‘68) who had it.
Fisher_mom@reddit
And your comment isn’t the only one I’ve seen in this thread, so it wasn’t a “not in California” thing at all! Well that was my wild guess anyway.
dweed-5@reddit
Yeah, and I don’t even know why I have it! Seems like I got it past the cutoff. Maybe my mom was overly cautious or something. 😂
QuickSpore@reddit
I’m ‘71 and don’t have it. My sister is ‘69 and does.
Aldisra@reddit
70 here, don't have it. Minnesota.
Iamnottouchingewe@reddit
I am a 70 baby my dad got me vaccinated since they had it on hand. I have a scar, then got a second smallpox vaccine in BootCamp in 88, then again after 9/11. Hardly scabbed at on #3.
Wishbone-Unique@reddit
Jeezes
wordub@reddit
Oh yeah and boot camp they give you everything. Those two very painful shots in both your arms. I also had a yellow fever vaccine while I was deployed in the Indian Ocean with the Navy. That made me a little ill for a couple of days but I never had one of these kind of scars and I was born in '67.
Swampcrone@reddit
But but the covid shot!
jprennquist@reddit
My brother had it although he was born in '67. I can't remember if I did or not but I know a lot of is still did, I was '72.
A couple of things were are really visceral reminders of how eerie and tragic 9/11/01 was. The first one is being on my porch that night. We are in northern MN. The sky was still a perfect, clear dark blue. The entire airspace was closed. But I saw a detachment of fighter jets from our ANG base headed southeast toward Lake Superior. I later learned that they were being dispatched to patrol the skies over Washington, D.C.
The other one was my brother who is a healthcare worker. He got a smallpox booster after the anthrax/mail insanity.
There is a third one. We had the news on that morning, CNN. So we heard about the first plane and while they were discussing it the second plan hit. I can't remember how long it was before we heard about the Pentagon and the field in Pennsylvania. I had my daughter in her high chair eating cereal and I switched off the TV after that second tower strike. Something deep inside me told me that she was going to inherit a different world than the one I had planned for her. So we should just try to enjoy the pancakes or whatever we were eating and just be together for a few moments.
Unfortunately, I was correct. She is 25 now and she is very successful and is able to travel and go out with her friends and enjoy herself but it's not the same as us. Is it?
fbibmacklin@reddit
She’s never known a world without war. We have a couple generations now like that. We in the states had the Cold War, but true long lasting combat didn’t really come our way until Desert Storm and even that was brief. I feel terrible for the generations after us who’ve never known a world without fighting.
Perle1234@reddit
Nothing is the same. My daughter (37) and I were just discussing the GA school shooting and how much our whole culture has changed since she was in school. Things are a shit show.
mylittleplaceholder@reddit
My cousin born in 69 has it but I don’t.
Aert_is_Life@reddit
I was born after compulsory vaccination, but I did get the vaccine in the military in the late 80s. However, my scar is gone.
smokinjoev@reddit
Same. I’ve heard from others and some of my colleagues scar disappeared. Maybe we got a different sized dose….or a mystery injection. Both are possible.
Rumpelteazer45@reddit
Some scars can just disappear over time. I had a very long burn scar on my stomach for decades (side of an iron mishap). Happened when I was 12. By the time I was 40, only the smallest of spots left, hardly noticeable unless you looked hard. I have another burn scar on my leg, burn wasn’t nearly as bad, still the same scar that appeared even though it’s 20+ years later.
Aert_is_Life@reddit
My scab was never very big in the first place. Maybe there was something funky with it.
quarkspbt@reddit
Maybe military learned you don't have to jab so hard with those devices
Just a stoned thought lol
Fhotaku@reddit
I never got the polio one I think? Which is the one I believe they tore through flesh for- but I did get an mmr vaccine from a nurse who I swear was aiming for bone. Thy needle didn't hurt much, but it felt like a good sucker punch!
Missamoo74@reddit
Small pox is the nine needle fiasco that causes a wound. Polio was a pink medicine on a spoon. When I got it, that is.
Fhotaku@reddit
Yep, I saw after that I was in a GenX sub! Thanks to your generation doing their duty, the vaccines that have been required for me have been truly mild. That lady who did my mmr shot might have had experience with the old ones that took more force - or maybe she just overjudged me since I was a pretty tough looking teen.
ukezi@reddit
Isn't it great that humanity managed to eradicate one of the deadliest plagues ever? There are statistics like the from Calcutta from 1849 were small pox was 13% of all deaths. By comparison for 2022 in the US, that is more then COVID and all accidents combined and just a bit below (all kinds of) cancer.
Missamoo74@reddit
My parents are both migrants who had family/friends due from preventable diseases. Mum almost died from Scarlet fever in a DP camp and when she was 70 the damage done to her heart from that illness coupled with her lack of antibiotics required her heart valve to be replaced.
drsfmd@reddit
I still have my scar from it. This wasn't an injection-- they used something to remove the skin and put the dead virus into the wound.
FluffyCelery4769@reddit
The scars stay mainly becouse of the injection being done at a young age. Cells tend to stay in their shape after that. Also the way the incision itself is done matters. A nice round incision won't heal as well as one with ridges and notches, they just don't really grip together well, so new tissue that isn't made of skin cells has to be made, which if you had any scars you'll know it's more elastic but less tough becouse it's finer.
Well once you are grown up, you have more skin, so your skin presses together more, thus any small incision is more likely to heal in a way that's unnoticed, becouse the skin that was cut or lost is being replaced by skin cells naturally. In children, they don't have that much skin, and it's more tight, so instead of pressing on itself it stretches itself, so that skin is now made of scar tissue instead.
PrestigiousGrade7874@reddit
Really? That godawful shot is one of my earliest memories. Damn thing the nurse had looked like a gun to my toddler eyes. My scar is horrible
Makerbot2000@reddit
Wait - dumb question: did vaccines become non-compulsory?
Aert_is_Life@reddit
That is specifically the small pox vaccine scar. The small pox vaccine was taken off the compulsory list in 1970(ish).
Makerbot2000@reddit
Got it - I must have been on the tail end (69) but can’t really see a scar.
cenosillicaphobiac@reddit
That's my story exactly. Got it in 86 in the army, scar is gone.
slimS110hd@reddit
Same here except got mine in 87 boot camp very faint scar
TheRealJamesWax@reddit
This is my story.
Had it for a few years and wore it like a badge of honor by being like my Dad and the older kids.
It eventually faded.
But man, it was one of the weirdest painful sensations I’ve ever felt when the did the injection. I still remember how it felt!
ReduxAssassin@reddit
Wow, you have a good memory. I don't remember getting mine.
Mine faded as well, though it was only after quite a few years, well into adulthood.
AddisonDeWitt333@reddit
The later ones didn't have the flower mark
Portal_chortal@reddit
Wait was that the 5 prong vax? I remember getting one like that and liking it since it was a bunch of small needles vs the big ones that hurt!
BlueSnaggleTooth359@reddit
nope
to this day I wonder what the hell the shot was to leave a permanent score on everyone older than me the size of a quarter! Was it like a ring of 30 needles?
yosoyfatass@reddit
Yes, I recall it was a ring of needles. Our Dr did them inside the arm bc of the scarring.
drsfmd@reddit
I think you're referring to the Heaf test for Tuberculosis.
MungoJennie@reddit
That didn’t leave a scar, though, just marks where the TB “juice” (I can’t think of the right word) went in so that the test could be read in a few days to see if you had tuberculosis or not. I’m petrified of needles, and as long as I didn’t look, it wasn’t actually that bad.
thisisntmyotherone@reddit
I don’t think I’ve ever had a TB test but I’ve certainly had the one year vaccine a number of times. It’s required with one of the medicines I take. No TB vaccine I’ve ever had, whether the needle or the provider (doctor, RN, or pharmacist), has ever left me with a scar.
Not that I really care.
katiekat214@reddit
I get a required TB test every year for certain medications. The vaccine for TB isn’t given in the US. It takes up to 3 months to take effect, but it lasts 5-15 years. It also has inconsistent results.
hankheisenbeagle@reddit
It's the live virus itself that causes the scar, but holy hell the device used is certainly nightmare fuel either way.
https://whyy.org/segments/how-to-spot-a-cougar-at-the-bar-the-vaccine-that-left-a-scar/
yorkiemom68@reddit
I was born in '68 and have it. My brother '70 does not.
cocoamix@reddit
Born in '69. no scar.
katiekat214@reddit
Me either.
Fanged_Hobbit@reddit
Born in ‘68 in Hawaii (Hickam AFB) and no scar for me. I grew up resenting that everyone else in my family had one!
STILL WANT ONE! lol
thisisntmyotherone@reddit
Me too! I’m born in ‘72 and I don’t have it. I was very jealous of both my parents who of course each have one. I wanted one so badly when I was younger! I remember my mom laughing and saying I was lucky, that I didn’t need one. That didn’t help me at all.
I still want one to ‘fit in!’
Mean_Queen_Jellybean@reddit
Late 68, and I don't. Guess it depends on where you lived at the time. I'm jealous!
Money-Bear7166@reddit
Maybe it was a state thing because I was born in 70 and had to have it for school in 1975
oneknocka@reddit
Was born in ‘72 in NYS, no scar.
What’s interesting is i made a few foreigner friends in college my age. They had the scar.
MungoJennie@reddit
According to the CDC, routine vaccinations for smallpox stopped in 1972, when the disease was considered eradicated in the US.
https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/vaccine-basics/index.html#:~:text=In%20addition%2C%20the%20vaccine%20was,eradicated%20in%20the%20United%20States.
EvolutionaryLens@reddit
Same
Icy_Independent7944@reddit
Yup, I’m fully vaxxed but no scars a’tall
Also born a good decade after they stopped doing this, but am still GenX
brelsnhmr@reddit
My kid sister was born in ‘74 and has it. My Ma went batshit crazy to make sure that my sister got the vaccine.
thisisntmyotherone@reddit
Where was your family that your sister that your sister got it that late, u/brelsnhmr?
brelsnhmr@reddit
West Michigan. My understanding is that someone owed the local Dr. a big favor at UofM research and he used it to get my sister the vaccine.
BronzeHeart92@reddit
What kind of vaccine would leave that kind of mark if u don’t mind me asking?
thisisntmyotherone@reddit
Are you not from or in the U.S.? It’s a Smallpox vaccine.
We’re comparing who has one and who doesn’t. All our parents have one but there was a cutoff at as a certain year and some of us got it and some didn’t. Some of our siblings got it and some didn’t. It seems that in certain states the vaccine was administered to children in later years than others. The general cutoff seems to be around 1970-1972.
It’s wild that mankind eradicated this disease! Some of us, including me for example, were jealous of our parents and really wanted this mark. I still do, actually!
BronzeHeart92@reddit
I’m from Finland myself in case you’re curious.
Starsteamer@reddit
Late Gen X here. They were still doing it in the UK well into the 90s.
thisisntmyotherone@reddit
Oh wow! That’s really interesting.
Lurid-Jester@reddit
Same. I remember being mad because I was the only person in the family who didn’t have it.
Weird what we can fixate on as kids.
thisisntmyotherone@reddit
Interesting! I didn’t know that about the month cutoff. Do you recall what month it was, by any chance?
I still want it, actually. I’m jealous of my parents.
Goobersrocketcontest@reddit
Born '67, no mark, sister born in '63 still has the mark.
Oobedoo321@reddit
Born 74 bt still got this
🇬🇧 tho
They love a vaccine
DaisyDuckens@reddit
My sister born in 68 has it. I was born in 71 and don’t.
BetMyLastKrispyKreme@reddit
Same. Dated a guy born in 68 who had it. Same age as you and didn’t.
flipthatbitch_@reddit
I was born in 71 and I have the mark.
TheCatAteMyGymsuit@reddit
'67 here, no mark.
bourbonandbranch@reddit
I looked into this at one time and there’s a specific month when the vaccine changed. It was just before I was born. So half my classmates had this scare and half of us didn’t.
Bratbabylestrange@reddit
I think we just missed it
kubrick5150@reddit
Yup. Sister has one, I don't. Four years apart.
JankroCommittee@reddit
I have a friend born in 70 who has it
Powersmith@reddit
Born in ‘74, have it.
Catholic hospital, small town CA.
justwhatever73@reddit
Born in '73 and both myself and my brother ('70) have it. But only because my mom insisted. She knew smallpox was said to have already been eradicated, but she was worried there might still be unknown pockets of it out there and if we traveled as adults we might get it.
imsofluffyhippo@reddit
I have it, born may '70
wheredidyoustood@reddit
December
FenionZeke@reddit
My sister and I have them. 68 and 69 respectively
kat_Folland@reddit
I got it. And in '72 my mom managed to get my sister done.
BaronNeutron@reddit
And you are Gen-X?
LeiaO315@reddit
Yes
BaronNeutron@reddit
I am young Gen-X and I have it
LeiaO315@reddit
I am young Gen-X and I don’t have it.
What’s your point?
thisisntmyotherone@reddit
No point except we’re checking out times a d locations, that’s all. It’s interesting to see who has it and who doesn’t.
Zombalepsy@reddit
He’s probably military. Like me. I was born in ‘79 and I have it from deploying. They stopped the vaccine before I was born
Hilsam_Adent@reddit
Got mine in the Navy. Born in '75, long after it has been phased out. My scar is just a small dimple, not the "cigar burn" typically associated with that vax.
Starbuck522@reddit
At least in some states, it stopped in 1970
Lopsided-Painting752@reddit
This. I was born autumn 1970 and I don't have the scar.
MomShapedObject@reddit
I was born in Oct 1973 and don’t have it either. I’m Gen X though, I wore baggy jeans, Doc Martin’s, and plaid flannel button downs in college. Pretty sure that’s the criteria.
thisisntmyotherone@reddit
Hahaha. For some! I wore baggy jeans rolled up at the bottom and penny loafers. shrug
Starbuck522@reddit
My Jr high/high school best friend and I were born the same month in 1970, but in different states. I have it, she doesn't.
My mom wasn't sure if maybe it was optional at the time.
International_Low284@reddit
Yes, it was optional for a time. My mother told me she decided not to subject me to it. Born 69.
BlueMoon5k@reddit
Summer ‘70 and no scar
Noodnix@reddit
Me too. My SO, born in ’65, has the scar. I believe the scar is from the small pox vaccine and they stopped administering it in ‘72.
Tinawebmom@reddit
Yup I didn't receive it (1970 born)
Olivia_Bitsui@reddit
Same here! My sister (b. 1967) had this scar. I was born in 1970, and I didn’t get this one. Smallpox, wasn’t it?
I do have a smaller, more rectangular vaccine scar on the inside of my upper arm (my sister had both). I forget what that one is. Tuberculosis, maybe?
PlantMystic@reddit
yes. 1970.
Colorful_Wayfinder@reddit
In my case yes. Born in '71 and no scar.
jIdiosyncratic@reddit
Spring '71. Don't have it either.
2278AD@reddit
The fuckin boomers on this sub man. Some of y’all are just oblivious.
pthalio@reddit
Canadian here, I was born in 75 so no vaccination but I have some older cousins who do
silliestboots@reddit
1972 checking in. My oldest brother has one, but myself and middle brother (1969) didn't get The Mark.
billymumfreydownfall@reddit
And Canada stopped even sooner. My '65 brother doesn't have it either.
UnicornOnTheJayneCob@reddit
What is it a vaccination for? (I also don’t have one of these, but my mom does. She is peak Boomer.)
jessek@reddit
Smallpox. The US stopped them in 1972.
FR0ZENBERG@reddit
I thought it was for polio.
jessek@reddit
Polio was just a regular shot. Small pox involved scraping a wound onto the arm and then rubbing in the vaccine agent which had a weakened smallpox virus. That’s why it’s a scar.
AVGJOE78@reddit
They gave it to is before we deployed to Afghanistan because they were afraid of biological attacks.
FR0ZENBERG@reddit
They give smallpox vaccines? I thought it was eradicated.
ukezi@reddit
Various government labs still have some frozen samples. The general fear is/was that some terrorists somehow get hold of it and start an epidemic.
AVGJOE78@reddit
They still do in limited numbers depending on what theater you’re in. Soldiers deploying to the South Korean AOR still get it. Since 2002 the U.S. military has vaccinated 2.6 million soldiers for smallpox. The Jynneos vaccine just recently replaced the ACAM2000 vaccine in 2023.
okaybutnothing@reddit
Yeah. My brother got one (71 baby) and had a horrific reaction (his scar is huge and raised) and so the plan was to not immunize me (74) but I think it was being phased out in Canada at that point anyway. Many of my same-age friends have the scar but many are also like me and don’t.
Lunchroompoll@reddit
Meh. I got one in 73.
zldapnwhl@reddit
I did not; '71.
Big-Development7204@reddit
'73 here didn't get one any my mom is a hypochondriac. I'm surprised.
pennyflowerrose@reddit
Smallpox.
Devils_Advocate-69@reddit
Same here. My wife who’s one year older than me has one.
Substantial-Low@reddit
I was born too late, but hot mine on the way to Iraq anyway.
So...porque no los dos?
Ponchoreborn@reddit
Since Gen X is 65-80 or so. There are probably more of us without than with.
Shirtbro@reddit
Coughs since then: "Whoop there it is"
SLyndon4@reddit
Same, late ‘70s Xer here; the last few years of Gen X were never able to get one. I think the U.S. ended smallpox vaccination around 1973-ish?
Full_Turnover_3552@reddit
No they didn't they were mandating the covid shot
FluffyCelery4769@reddit
That explains the autism epidimic. s/
Wonderful-Hall-7929@reddit
Saame here - the FRG stopped it in '72 (i'm born in '74) and the GDR in '82 - so i randomly get questioned (i'm living in the "eastern part" now) why i've got no vaccination scar by medical professionals who don'T seem to understand that up until '89/'90 there were two different states where now only is one.
GenXQuietQuitter88@reddit
Same. My boomer mom has one though.
onewomancaravan@reddit
I was born in a third world country in the 1970s, so I have it.
abstractraj@reddit
71 I have it
badcarburetor@reddit
Same. Got in Atlanta.
Jimmygotsomenewmoves@reddit
Same. I'm safe from the government implant😏
Athrynne@reddit
I feel like it's more of a r/GenerationJones thing than a GenX thing.
SlipstreamSleuth@reddit
Plenty of us are on the older end of GenX. PS Happy cake day! 🍰
Athrynne@reddit
Right, that's why I mentioned Generation Jones, who are on the cusp of Boomers and X.
SlipstreamSleuth@reddit
Oh and you’re welcome
Wishbone-Unique@reddit
Booster shots? That is not Gen X. Im a millennial (38 born 1985) but my mom is a late/young boomer (she just turned 62) and she has the booster shot mark. My late dad also had one he was born in 1953 and wouldve been 72. My hubby is gen x (born 1976 so 48) and he doesnt have one.
Katriina_B@reddit
No, but I did get the vaccine in boot camp. Didn't scar tho. My body actually fights off vaccines, so every time I got pregnant I had to get a German measles vaccine.
Awesomesince1973@reddit
73, No. My mom had it. I never thought about the scab or how big the shot must have been. I just knew it was from the smallpox vaccine.
geefunken@reddit
TB, not smallpox
Awesomesince1973@reddit
But it is smallpox. Not TB.
geefunken@reddit
It’s not. This scar (I have it and remember getting it) is for the BCG Vaccine
Square_Band9870@reddit
yes! lol.
Obvious-Confusion14@reddit
Born in '75, I do not have it. Thought I needed it but was told no by the doctors bc that vaccine was no longer needed.
MidwestPancakes@reddit
Didn't realize this was a VAX scar, I thought it was a bic lighter scar...
718Brooklyn@reddit
Someone knows what a smiley is
MrsHorrible@reddit
I haven't heard that term in that context since like 1989.
Noiotaofaclue@reddit
I was a stupid kid. We played a game where a lit cigarette was put between two arms to see who would chicken out first. That's what I thought it was. I even thought I have one!! Ya, that was wrong.
MidwestPancakes@reddit
You say stupid kid, I say typical kid. I played that game many times as well.
I was usually the chicken though.
Confident-Bus-4753@reddit
Literally thought the same thing, a smiley, doesn't everyone in the 90s have one of those?
Particular_Sea_5300@reddit
I had a bic lighter smily face on my arm for years and it's faded so bad I can't even find it anymore :( for awhile my friends and I were dicks to one another. When the little metal pipes we used to use to smoke weed got super hot from chiefing it up we would burn one another's faces with it. One time my buddy did it to another buddy and it like smeared the skin right under his eye.
TotallyNotABot_Shhhh@reddit
I am thinking of all my family I casually saw with this and never put the 2 together… I don’t have it was born ‘79
groovypackage@reddit
Same, 79er here, no scar, had it later in school in my thigh. No scar there also.
MidwestPancakes@reddit
Yeah, fellow '79, guess the scar forgot about us
originalbL1X@reddit
Smallpox, it does some damage
L_i_S_A123@reddit
I thought it was a cigar scar.
Educational_Pea4958@reddit
So did I.
JoJoGranum@reddit
I got one of those. However i have tattooes over it.
CreativeMusic5121@reddit
I am, but I don't have the scar. I was even given a second one, because according to my mom they thought without the scar 'it didn't take'.
S99B88@reddit
No but from when I was born I think I should have, I’m 1970
Fun-Narwhal-6351@reddit
I was born in 76 so no
lutteni@reddit
So I found this post on accident and I'm not quite sure if I should be adding to the conversation considering my age but
I was born in 2003 and I have this vaccine mark as well, although it's smaller than my parent's
Note: I'm not from US
AbhorrentBehavior77@reddit
If you wouldn't mind disclosing, what type of vaccine was this? I'm not finding that yet in the comments!
lutteni@reddit
I'd gladly tell you if I actually knew, I either simply don't remember or was too young at that time to remember.
I can send a pic of the scar if you want though.
AbhorrentBehavior77@reddit
Awesome! Thanks for answering. I had no idea that smallpox vaccine was still given out into the 70s. That's wild!
I mean I know my parents were vaccinated for that. However they were born in 1939 and 1944, respectively. So that would make sense! Haha.
I don't have one of those and I'd be pretty bitter if I did. It looks like a mistake they made, a botched job or something to that effect. Why does it need to leave such a distinctive, deep looking scar?
Judging from the picture here, if I didn't know better, I would think it was some sort of a cigarette burn or a cigar even.
lutteni@reddit
I don't really mind the scar to be fair, I think most people have them here anyway so it became a commonality.
It even became a joke in my country to say "just not in the vaccine!" (Very roughly translated) when someone hits you in that spot, as if that would hurt more or something.
Can't for the life of me find the year that expression originated from either but it definitely stayed relevant into the early 2000s.
HideYourWifeAndKids@reddit
71, no tag on my arm ..
barelybent@reddit
Same year. No mark on me either.
Cant-make-me@reddit
‘71 I have one. Most of my friends too.
10seas@reddit
I could be wrong, but from memory, if you had a scar, you had a good reaction to vaccine and, therefore, greater immunisation. I'm just remembering from 30 years ago.
DiceyPisces@reddit
Same
Grunge4U@reddit
This really is a good indicator of Gen X as opposed to those leaning Millennial.
AbhorrentBehavior77@reddit
No it isn't. I was born in '77 definitely not a millennial, and I have absolutely no idea what vaccination you guys are referring to here. Scar looks really familiar. My parents had similar ones I think but I'm not sure if it was vaccination related.
I'm ready to pull my hair out at the fact that I have asked so many times, in this thread, what vaccination this is from and no one's telling me! Ay de mi!
Grunge4U@reddit
It's a smallpox vaccination.
AbhorrentBehavior77@reddit
Thank you! I never would have gathered that on my own period as I thought the small thoughts vaccinations ended wrong before our generation came to be.
My parents were vaccinated but they were also born in 1939 and 1944. Make sense they'd get the vaccine.
What was the deal with the scar though? I've never had a vaccine that left a scar before.
Diastrophus@reddit
72 - yes
Diastrophus@reddit
72 - yes
La-Belle-Gigi@reddit
Mine is on my back.
La-Belle-Gigi@reddit
Mine is on my back.
OkDragonfruit9026@reddit
1993, got it. Ex-Russian here. Funny thing: Chinese of my age also got it.
Dedpoolpicachew@reddit
Do Russians still vaccinate their population against small pox today? China does as well?
OkDragonfruit9026@reddit
No idea. Hopefully it’s not necessary but given the anitvaxers… who knows. It may come back!
Dedpoolpicachew@reddit
I ask because there’s only two samples of Small Pox left in the world. One is at the CDC in Atlanta. The other is at the Bioweapons lab in Moscow. The only way it gets “released” on the world is as a terror weapon.
YouYongku@reddit
BCG still exist here
aotus76@reddit
‘76, it wasn’t given in the US, but I traveled overseas as a baby/toddler, so they gave it to me. Then a year later I burned my arm badly and have burn scars over where the smallpox scar used to be.
DerbGentler@reddit
As a '77 born I had to go to the "Schuleingangsuntersuchung" \^\^ (a medical school entrance examination) before we were allowed to go to elementary school.
Mine took place in '83, and I think that I was "poked" with such gnarly device, and I had such a mark for quite a long time.
Now is the first time I think about it again, and of course it's gone.
But of course I saw plenty of such marks on other (slightly older) peoples arms back then.
katamaritumbleweed@reddit
Behind deltoid, not on visible part of upper arm.
FatGuyOnAMoped@reddit
My partner (born in SE Asia in 1965) has one, but I (born in North America,in 1969) do not. I think I just missed the cutoff.
generic-ibuprofen@reddit
I was born in November 1966, and it has always bothered me that I wasn't part of the club.
RealisAurelioS@reddit
Yes!
And Ancient Aliens has convinced me it was alien DNA disguised as a vaccine. 😎
NebulousStar@reddit
No, they stopped the year before I would have gotten mine. I was so disappointed because I wanted my arm to match my mother's.
SolitudeStands@reddit
'71 and have it. Ex husband born one month later in '71 doesn't. Go figure,
fbibmacklin@reddit
Solid GenX (‘76), but too young to have experienced that shot.
filburt99@reddit
Mine faded away in the mid 80s.
JeSi-Verde@reddit
I was born in 1972 and I don’t have one.
Content_Talk_6581@reddit
I was born in 1969. The last year. My brother was born in 1970, so he didn’t have the mark.
oatbergen@reddit
Born 1971 in California and I don’t have one. Wife born 1974 in New Jersey and has one
BlueSnaggleTooth359@reddit
1974 in NJ?
Nobody in my area got one in NJ even in late 1969, 1970, 1971.
oatbergen@reddit
She loved to FL in 79 I think?
Tanglebones70@reddit
I imagine I am not alone in that I didn’t get the vaccine as an infant - but when I arrived at basic me and everyone else did.
Professoroldandachy@reddit
Kind of. Born in 72 and I think they stopped in 71 but I got one in 05 before deploying to Kuwait.
Flashy-Armadillo-414@reddit
Yes, I have that mark. Not as pronounced as yours.
Nipplecunt@reddit
Yep we got it way after you had finished in uk
geowoman@reddit
On my thigh.
sarahbellah1@reddit
Husband calls his a “third world tattoo”.
Desperate_Brilliant8@reddit
Yep, 1970, still (barely) visible!
Ok-Street7504@reddit
When my daughter and son were about 8 and 12 my daughter asked what the mark on my arm was and that if mommy had one too? I looked at my wife and said well honey they're old enough I think we should tell them! Then I said we're aliens from another planet and this is how we distinguish ourselves from each other you guys were born here that's why you don't have them. My son who was 12 and a Sci-Fi kid eyes nearly popped out of his head my daughter even at 8 didn't believe it for a minute.
StG4Ever@reddit
Wait a minute, my mother had the mark too and she was from another planet!
one-out-of-8-billion@reddit
Great, answer! Before or after X-Files?
Ok-Street7504@reddit
Right around 2004, that's kind of where I got the idea from.
one-out-of-8-billion@reddit
Haha, I should tape an X to the window and see, if somebody in my family notices it and starts asking
First-Track-9564@reddit
Yeah! Some kids will believe anything... So are you aliens?
Excellent_Flight_392@reddit
If the kids lack critical thinking skills it sounds like a good reason to think about parenting methods. Pranks can be fun but it's sad to see how many parents are oblivious to their own role in how their child acts and thinks.
who_farted_this_time@reddit
I read a Reddit post once saying that when you have a newborn, set up an elaborate fake spaceship crash in the woods. Then take some photos with lights and a smoke machine etc. of you pulling the baby out of the alien spaceship. And write the date of your kids birthday on it.
Then when they're about 10yo. Put the photos on an envelope with TOP SECRET written on the front and put it in your cupboard for when they will inevitably go snooping through your stuff and let them find it.
ManualPathosChecks@reddit
Fucking legendary lol
SeveralJackfruit2655@reddit
Absolutely horrible and vile thing to say to a child wtf
Ralonne@reddit
When you delete your account, but forget to delete comments first.
Anyhoo, bet this person has a great sense of humor!
ABGM11@reddit
Laylasita@reddit
Awesome response.
Due_Society_9041@reddit
1965 baby. Yes I do have one.
StG4Ever@reddit
1966, no. My mother had it though.
Halfpint6924@reddit
I remember my mom and sister-in-law ( Yes but I covered it up
WeirdandProudofit@reddit
nope, in Italy they stopped marking the braves in 1975.. i'm a 76 baby :(
cunctator_maximus@reddit
US, Canada, UK: upper arm. Sweden: thigh.
wintering6@reddit
I thought that was a chicken pox scar.
shan68ok01@reddit
According to my shot record I have downloaded, I did not get that one.
TurbulentAnomalies@reddit
1976 Gen-Xer. No mark. Fully vaccinated.
Appropriate-Month-37@reddit
Yep, 1969er
he11g1rl@reddit
yep!
Fine_Connection3118@reddit
I was also born too late ('78) for the mandatory stick, but got the vaccine while in the Army, before going to South Korea. Don't have any noticeable scar though.
Dangerous_Traffic718@reddit
Born in 67 have the scar. Apparently I was one of the last civilians that were required to take it, in Canada. Mine was on the leg.
AnnieOnline@reddit
Born in 1967, in Miami, FL. I have it, but it’s faded.
Hour_Friendship_7960@reddit
I'm 48. I don't think any of my siblings have it, but I think my mom has it?
3catlove@reddit
My husband and I are 49 and 50 and neither of us have it. I wonder when they stopped.
Hour_Friendship_7960@reddit
Good question
WhiskeyWhistleSours@reddit
Born in 68 . No.
No1ButtMe@reddit
Not me ..
JustaJarhead@reddit
Born in 68 on a navy base so I absolutely have one
Mind_Explorer@reddit
What am I looking at?
herefortheguffaws@reddit
Yup I have one.
vicious__cycle@reddit
Yes, except mine is on my thigh
waltzing-echidna@reddit
The first time I noticed that someone didn’t have this scar I freaked out! Was it seeing a clone? A doppelgänger? A pod person? 🤣
Money_Magnet24@reddit
Yes because I’m an immigrant from what was then the Soviet Union.
willzyx01@reddit
We call them Soviet tags for a reason.
NobleEnsign@reddit
Strange, because most people i know that have it are from mexico and south america.
IPointOutHypocrites@reddit
That's wild, cause lots of countries still does this well into the 90s, not just the soviet. I was born in 92 in Vietnam, and I have it along with most people in my generation.
purpis@reddit
Interesting, my sister born in 84 also had this mark. I had no idea it was from a vaccine. She was also born in the former Soviet Union.
Poopybara@reddit
Yea. I'm 30 yo russian and I have this mark.
purpis@reddit
Interesting to know, I have also asked my mother and she also had one.
theoriginalmofocus@reddit
Same in Mexico. My wife was born in 84 and has one.
Jesus_Would_Do@reddit
I’m also 30, born in SA and have the mark
paulhags@reddit
Found the Spy!🕵️
tpjwm@reddit
I have one and I was born in 99..
Consistent-Youth-407@reddit
Born in 01 and have one lol
-ratmeat-@reddit
was born in Russia in 1990 and got it
illz757@reddit
One of us one of us
ktulenko@reddit
Yes! Hopefully it will protect me from monkeypox.
fastfxmama@reddit
They did mine on the inside of my arm, I don’t know if others have it there too.
jonz1985z@reddit
Looks like a lighter burn. If you know you know.
AbhorrentBehavior77@reddit
You think? I think it looks like a cigarette burn. A big one or a stogie.
jonz1985z@reddit
Yea, we used to play chicken with hot lighters to see who was tougher. Essentially we were just branding ourselves.. smh really dumb. But after it healed for many years it would end up looking a lot like this.
Wanderluster621@reddit
This ended in 1970. My cousin, born in '70 has one. Me in '71 and her brother '72, and we both do not. When we were little, we would argue about whether or not she was special, or we were lucky. 🤣
AirlineRegular1827@reddit
Born in 68 and have my mark. My sister born in 69 doesn't.
bluevast@reddit
yea no shots here, i thought this was the lighter burn crew lol. stupid teenage stuff, take a lighter hold it upside down till it's nice and hot and press it on your arm :p
Jynxsee@reddit
They stopped by the time I would have gotten it. I think it stopped in 70 or so. I was born in 73.
thr1vin9-insolitude@reddit
I was born in 1970, and I received mine around four or five years old. I recall crying because I heard my baby sister scream, and I knew they were hurting her. I was much too angry at the doctor to feel anything. Trauma at a very early age exposed me to the harsh realities of family living. If I trust sunshine, there's practically nothing I wouldn't do for them. I took whatever abuse that was coming and always claimed it was my fault had there been any confusion. But the second that trust is broken, my mind has set that person free to drift on the wind.
I really liked this doctor. He always gave me an extra lollipop for not crying. My mom said I landed a solid tiny hand smack on his cheek and cried out I didn't like him.
After saving her from receiving any whippings growing up, I'm considered the troublemaker by my entire family's eyes. I've no clue why I shared all that. Lol.
I got my shot and the booster.
tigerjack84@reddit
I never got a scar from mine. I went to occ health years later and have to have the 6 needles done again, and it stayed for about 10 years.
stevemm70@reddit
I have it. My `72 wife does not. I actually remember the shot, too. I think I was about five years old when I got it, and I vividly recall the doctor coming at me with what looked like a gun.
blacklabdaddy@reddit
70 baby that doesn't have the mark on my arm.
SlippersParty2024@reddit
raises hand
Thatstealthygal@reddit
No but my dad was. All of us with immigrant parents recognised this mark!
crotchetyoldwitch@reddit
Nope, and I'm the only one of four sibs who didn't get it. My next oldest sibs was born January of 1969, and I was born August of 1973, so they weren't giving them out anymore.
LoudMind967@reddit
Though they were still doing these @ the time my brother and I don't have them
thr1vin9-insolitude@reddit
I never ended up with a booster scar. I was actually pretty bumbed about it.
ManyLintRollers@reddit
I don't have a scar, but I assume I was vaccinated for smallpox - born in 1968. They stopped vaccinating children and infants for it in 1972.
Kindergoat@reddit
Yes. I was born in 1965 and wear the scar. I don’t remember how old I was when I got it, but I do remember the “gun” they used. It looked like something from a 1950s Sci Fi movie.
VegetableRound2819@reddit
Yep. I was one of the later ones in the US, and I believe my parents may have been considering an overseas assignment. Or my pediatrician recommended it. Once upon a time I had the record but I think it’s lost in an attic somewhere.
MoonageDayscream@reddit
They did mine in the armpit, because they thought it was unsightly on girls.
HodorNC@reddit
The ex had it on her upper thigh so she would be able to go sleveless blouse
MoBea@reddit
Same.
ravenx99@reddit
I was just talking to my wife and this ... seems like leaving a scar where it shows even with short sleeves (let alone sleeveless) is people trying to be efficient and not caring.
Ok_Helicopter4383@reddit
As a young lad this is crazy to me. You can pick anywhere on the body and you go with a spot that's seen in a T-shirt? Crazy lol
Frostbyte67@reddit
Mine’s on my butt! 😎😎😎
NeferkareShabaka@reddit
Mine's on my wahoo
Upset_Lengthiness_31@reddit
OUCH
FR0ZENBERG@reddit
That doctor is like “uh, yeah we do them on the but now”
snarkdiva@reddit
Same!!
Johnnyhellhole@reddit
Yeah, baby!
Gruesome@reddit
Mine's on my shoulder
Smallfingerlicker@reddit
They did mine under the armpit too but I’m a dude. Think it was Netherlands or Luxembourg at the time
SunshineAlways@reddit
They did mine and my sister’s high, and a little toward the back, knowing they would migrate up farther as we grew. It’s not very noticeable.
becktacular_b@reddit
Mine is on my back shoulder!
melmsz@reddit
So that's what my problem is.
lazygerm@reddit
Yes, I am one of the anointed.
No_Special379@reddit
I think they stopped in '69? I was born in '70 - no mark
fruitsmagazine@reddit
Gen z hijacking here... It's cause I was born abroad
Snelmm@reddit
born in the 70s so I don't have it. I remember seeing the scars and feeling really terrified at whatever needle caused it. looks like it really hurt!
FullovJoy@reddit
Yep.. I received the vaccine and I have the “brand”
Zealousideal_Lab_427@reddit
Both my parents had the scar on their arms, and I had the vaccine too (‘68), but my doctor did it on the side of my upper left thigh. It was more prominent when I was a kid, but it doesn’t look like the traditional scar.
My mother quit her job, because the neighbor who took care of me while they were at work was picking the scab off my leg, “because it was ugly”. My mother expected it to fall off, it didn’t, and looked worse, asked the neighbor and she told her she picked it off for the above reason. She found out she was also hitting me, so…
My parents didn’t have the money for a day care situation, and were pretty new to the city, so not many connections. She didn’t work again till I was 8, and I loved having a SAHM even though we were low income.
ReceptionMuch3790@reddit
No, but the only time that I saw something similar to this was one of my Brazilian friends had an immunization shot and she said that they basically jammed a multi needle syringe into her arm. Which I can't imagine how that even felt.
Mindy_A_Bizness@reddit
Born in 71 and I have one.
Sosumi_rogue@reddit
I was born in 66 and I don't. Grew up in Chicago.
Uncomfortable_Owl_52@reddit
I was born in 72 so I’m not, but I thought the scar was so cool, like my babysitters who had them!
tafinney@reddit
I am one of us. (1969)
doinggenxstuff@reddit
UK, 1975. Didn’t have it until my whole friend group had to be vaccinated in our mid 20s because one of us got actual TB. Those were fun days.
scrandis@reddit
I thought it was a bowl burn.
AbhorrentBehavior77@reddit
I thought this was a cigarette burn or a gunshot wound scar! Haha.
Still not sure what it actually is. I'm gathering a vaccination of some kind of caused this but which vaccination would that be?
scrandis@reddit
My guess it was done with one of those non syringe injections. Similar to what was used on Star Trek the Next Generation
OutrageousTie1573@reddit
They stopped shortly before I was born in 73. My older sibs have it though.
Particular_Bird_5823@reddit
No, had the first one and had enough immunity from when my mum had it. My younger brother wasn’t so lucky and has a terrible scar after picking at it so much it got infected 🤢
AbhorrentBehavior77@reddit
Is this like a secret post or something? I'm not seeing anywhere what type of vaccine would cause a scar like this and no one's disclosing that information. Haha.
Eric77TA@reddit
It’s a smallpox vaccine scar. The last year they were given in the States was 1972.
AbhorrentBehavior77@reddit
Thank you, gracious stranger! I've peppered this entire thread (apologies, OP) with the the question and you are the ONLY one (so far) that has answered. So, thank you!
I was really confused as to what vaccination. As, a lot of people were claiming majority of Gen x received it. (I didn't) But then others were claiming it's a Boomer era vaccination.
So, I'm like - Goddamn it, will you peoplenjist give me the disease name already, or what? Haha.
Thanks again! 🙃
Eric77TA@reddit
Yeah, I was born in ‘71 and I don’t have one, but know a lot of people who do!
toastyfireplaces@reddit
‘66, no scar.
In the elevator at the hospital yesterday I saw an Asian woman probably in her 30s or 40s who has on. Made me think that this vaccination style probably persisted in other countries after it was discontinued in the US.
Self-Comprehensive@reddit
No but I've traveled a lot and seen people my age from other countries who have it.
Ok-noway@reddit
I get questioned about it a lot - born in ‘77 so it wasn’t required but Mom wanted me to get it
Unable-Arm-448@reddit
Sure am! My scar has faded so much that it's hard to see now, though.
Electronic-Active-94@reddit
I though this was about all of us that got burned by cigarettes.. lol
AbhorrentBehavior77@reddit
That was 100% my thoughts when I began reading the post!
I still have no fucking clue what vaccination everyone is referring to here. I've probably asked 6 or 7 times, so far in this thread - Can someone PLEASE answer me! 🤦🏼♀️
MotherRaven@reddit
I was born in 70 but I have it! My dad was drafted do my mom took me home to Denmark while he was away. Had to get it before I left
Strong-Piccolo-5546@reddit
is that for smallpox?
AbhorrentBehavior77@reddit
Smallpox? This isn't the Greatest Generation! Haha
autogeriatric@reddit
I got the vaccine but no scar. Only one of my friends without it.
AbhorrentBehavior77@reddit
I have no idea what I'm looking at here. Some people are talking about injections other people are talking about getting shot with bullets. I think somebody's as acting as if it's a cigarette burn...da fuk?
Please enlighten me!
CowPokePokemon@reddit
I’m 52 and my Dad was in the military, we went overseas and we all got one. The scars gone now
Responsible_Drive_76@reddit
Just missed that lol
big_daug6932@reddit
Yup
Jinglemoon@reddit
I’m a 69 baby, I got the shot in the UK. I remember the scar and the strange tingling feeling it had, but the mark is long gone.
imalloverthemap@reddit
1967 - I don’t have it but my parents did
LiamsBiggestFan@reddit
BCG secondary school injection or maybe it was primary 7? My memory on that isn’t exact. It’s the one they do a wee skin test first do decide if the injection is needed. UK don’t know how it works elsewhere.
Kbern4444@reddit
None of my cousins, brothers nor I have these.
Range from 1965-1972
CAKE_EATER251@reddit
Is this smallpox vaccination?
BIGepidural@reddit
Nope I'm not that old and I was born here so I didn't need it. My sons father is the same age and from Chile so everyone in his family got it though.
Lazy_Point_284@reddit
Me 1973 no. Brother 1962 yes. USA
Dangerous_Gear_6361@reddit
Mine has faded completely. Honestly can’t even find it anymore.
Longjumping-Crew5113@reddit
2004, missed the original in 72
LylaDee@reddit
Thankfully, no.
FrauMausL@reddit
I‘m definitely vaccinated but I don’t have the mark
SadieSchatzie@reddit
No Boomers & Silent Gen sport that shizz (at least my rents have them 🫠 GenX too young, methinks.
Zelena73@reddit
Exactly. My dad had one of those (Silent Gen), but my mom didn't (Boomer). I'm GenX, and I don't have that, neither do any others that I know. 🤷🏻♀️
SadieSchatzie@reddit
Yep. I gave the same combo as you— I only ever saw this scar on older fam members. How traumatizing that must have been ! A daym gun shooting your arm?!? Yikes
Erisedstorm@reddit
No
semproniusptarmigan@reddit
Born in 1969. Wearing mine proudly
DragonflyHopeful4673@reddit
Not Gen X but my mother (immigrated in the 90s) has one of these! I never asked about it so I just assumed it was a birthmark.
mzdameaner@reddit
My bf has one, he was adopted from Ukraine in 2004 and he calls it his international adoption scar.
Vtrider1968@reddit
Nope born in 68
Jesus_Would_Do@reddit
Younger millennial here, I have one because I was born in a country that hadn’t updated their medical practices
desertblaster72@reddit
I was late to the party. Didn't get mine till 2003, Thumrait Oman.
That was a sucky two months with a walnut sized jump in my armpit.
In_The_End_63@reddit
Mine thankfully faded away.
Aislerioter_Redditer@reddit
Had 3 of them. 1st as a baby, 2nd when I entered elementary, because I didn't have a scare. 3rd the next year when I went to a new school. They never took. No scar...
Glittering-Stuff-599@reddit
Born in 78. Got mine in 2003 before my all-expense paid trip to Iraq to look for pretend weapons of mass destruction.
LauraD2423@reddit
Millennial born in 91. The army gave me the shot in 2012. It’s barely noticeable at least
Laylasita@reddit
Bush did our country a disservice and I'm sorry you had to get unnecessary vaccines and an unnecessary Iraqi vacation.
Lexx4@reddit
Bush was a patsy. I blame dick.
dj-megafresh@reddit
Dick can be blamed for most problems
Lexx4@reddit
Facts.
Laylasita@reddit
I don't. There was an attempt on his father's life, so it felt retaliatory to me. Don't get me wrong dick was a dick.
fdokinawa@reddit
Hey! Me too! Nothing like finding bandaids in the shower trailer. Fun times.
DriveByStoning@reddit
Mine didn't scar. You would never know I had it, but my friend's scab never fell off and new skin grew over it so it looks like a subdermal implant.
xxSQUASHIExx@reddit
Да
Purple-Specialist-98@reddit
Born in 65 but don’t have it. They tried 3 times and it never took.
cantthinkofuzername@reddit
born november 1969 no scar
icecreamlover32@reddit
My siblings '75 and '78 don't have that mark even when we were born in Mexico, lol but my partner that is younger than me ('87) has it because was born in Cuba
gogomom@reddit
My husband has one (born the same year as me - 1973), but I do not.
the_1_that_knocks@reddit
Missed out on those, what year were they discounted ?
WnikaZnika@reddit
Hello, Millennial here! Poland. Born 91. Got it in primary school.
nickpdc1993@reddit
31 years old and I have it on my right arm.
Hoovomoondoe@reddit
Yeah, just try to get me MPox! Ha!
Western_Two1551@reddit
Yep.
AccurateProgress9977@reddit
Yep. Got mine.
jellywelly15@reddit
Nope! Born with TB in my blood, so had it hours old, into my leg! Still had grade 3 response at 23 years old!
jenpuffin@reddit
I have the scar, but the doctor put it on the inside of my arm rather than the outside. Born in 68.
Western-Image7125@reddit
Aliens took you too??
BCCommieTrash@reddit
I think that might be a (fuzzy) dividing line between 60s and 70s babies.
borscht_bowl@reddit
Also an immigrant mark. I was born in ‘90 (Poland) and have this.
Vixrotre@reddit
My mom was born in 1976 and has it. I remember asking her about it when I was little.
Strider76239@reddit
My mother was born in Poland in 74 and has it as well
BrainNotCompute@reddit
'05 in Latvia and I have one
1q_devil@reddit
Romanian here. My 1w old son had the vaccine done after he was born. We still have them
GeorgeanneRNMN@reddit
Born in 1976 and got it. My family’s doctor thought it was a good idea because we lived in a port city and that international ship crews could be a source of an outbreak.
reganomics@reddit
I got the pox but I never got a scar
External_Side_7063@reddit
Yep, I’m one of the last my wife was born in 71 and does not have one literally a few months difference
Ok-Sherbet-8367@reddit
BCG scar? I remember getting it done in school and everyone going around punching others in their left arm 😂
BodiesDurag@reddit
Not Gen X, but this was on my front page. I was born in 92 and I have one.
Tiny-Lock9652@reddit
Yep, my vaxx chip is about 40 years old and likely needs a software upgrade, LOL.
Realistic_Special_53@reddit
I have no idea. Born in 69, but I don’t have the records and my parents can’t remember. Just shows how poor our vaccination record keeping is. Can’t see a scar but who knows…
Whiten55@reddit
Born in 2000 and i have it too
Snowleopard1469@reddit
I am not a genx, born in '97 and I have one. Other countries still did it into the early 2000s!
Dazzling-Astronaut88@reddit
Nope. Those are for old timers.
VaultxHunter@reddit
Here I was thinking this was a smiley scar from middle school or something
X-tian-9101@reddit
I don't have the early Gen X mark. I'm from 1974.
miissbecca@reddit
This is only genX for US peeps (maybe other western countries as well). I know a lot of younger peeps with this from foreign countries.
couchwarmer@reddit
If you have one and find yourself in a little 1740s Scottish village, remember to keep the mark hidden. You may find yourself being burned as a witch.
SadTechnician96@reddit
Oh, I thought this was a cigar burn or something at first
nakedmedia@reddit
USMC, I'm a Millennial
Zeveroth1@reddit
My wife born ‘75 has this. I on the other hand do not. Born 79
ThinkLikeAMim@reddit
Nope. Wasn’t born until 1975 so the compulsory vaccine had already been phased out. What’s really strange is my parents are LATE boomers (and were young parents) and my mom has a scar but my dad doesn’t and both of them had the vaccine. The only difference being my mom had hers at the health department and my dad had his on a military base because my grandpa was still active duty.
whopoopedthebed@reddit
Serious question. How big were these needles that it leaves these big scars?
narcowake@reddit
lol my wife is but she got it another country
L0uZilla@reddit
I thought this was a burn from a bic lighter
GrantSRobertson@reddit
I'm 64. I got that vaccination, though I can't remember which one it was. I just remembered that pressure injection gun. But I never got the scar. Other people that I knew got the scar. But I never did, for some reason.
Cronus6@reddit
No mark here, but some (not all, maybe half?) kids in my class had them.
/shrugs
Independent_Day_6932@reddit
So many weirdos…
Are you aware of how the smallpox vaccine was developed?
You’re too young to have great uncles and aunts on big steel callipers…
Grow up!
Accurate_Quote_7109@reddit
Born in '69. And it's on the back of my shoulder, which is odd. I think that I got mine because of my older brother ('66); I happen to be there when he got his, so...🤷♀️
peyotepancakes@reddit
Nope ‘68. My bro ‘66 got it tho
FnEddieDingle@reddit
Born aug 25, 69' barely missed it
Shiiiiiiiingle@reddit
I didn’t get one, born in 73. My brother did, born in 68.
Unusual-Tourist-2647@reddit
I got mine on my left thigh. My 3 older brothers all had it done on their arm. The doctor thought it would be better to keep a girl’s arm scar-free.
FunnyAsparagus1253@reddit
I didn’t get one of these because I showed a little bit of immunity on a ‘six pricks’ test beforehand. Everyone’s saying smallpox though. In the uk the vaccine you got at school that left a mark like this was for tuberculosis. I’m still terrified of getting tuberculosis 😅
Background_Ticket628@reddit
A lot of young immigrants still have this!
IronGigant@reddit
Do they use different vaccines in the U.S. than in Canada?
I'm vaxxed to the gills, including smallpox which I understand is where these marks are from, but I don't have any markings from any of my vaccinations.
ottguy42@reddit
Random vague memory, there was a 'Love Boat' episode where for some reason they found a Tarzan-like man who was supposedly raised by animals that they picked up in one of their ports, but the doc found out it was hoax when he saw the vaccination scar on the guy's shoulder. I was born in '71 so I don't have one.
Kelnol@reddit
My scar is huge. Apparently my doctor was hopped up on goofballs & lost his license around that time.
Late-Jicama5012@reddit
Got mine in the late 70s.
blusins@reddit
Yep, I have a small memory of that big a$$ looking needle thing they used.
layne54@reddit
Born in 54 and I got one
Randy_Butternubs666@reddit
Born in 1973, Philadelphia PA. I have one.
AlliOOPSY@reddit
Neither my husband ('68) nor I ('71) have one.
1q_devil@reddit
In Romania we still have those.
Kin_DeCain@reddit
Millennial here! I got mine in 2012 for a deployment! 🤣
CivilianJoe@reddit
Same. We should try to convince people we're time travelers.
Normal-Tailor-9898@reddit
Also millennial here. I got it in 1990 before immigrating to the USA. Got lucky and it didnt scar tho.
Mughi@reddit
Mine's on my calf. My mom made the doctor inject there so I wouldn't have a scar on my arm.
katwoop@reddit
'75 baby. No scar.
CivilianJoe@reddit
I'm a millennial with one of those.
love2Bsingle@reddit
I got the vaccine (born 62) because we lived overseas in a developing country for a while but I never got a scar from it
Xyzzydude@reddit
Mine healed and is no longer visible
TommyCutsYa@reddit
Thought it was a smiley.... if it is, then yes hehe
Whipstich-Pepperpot@reddit
Born in 1968, no I don't have that scar
Lolabelle757@reddit
Too young...
Original_Ant_1386@reddit
I’ve got one, born 1968 in Scotland
fiascokittens@reddit
Dad was Army for life, I have had every damn jab there is since 1975.
poolpog@reddit
i was born in '70, and I have this.
My brother, born in '71, does not have it. The stopped doing 'em between me and him.
effective_lambda@reddit
castlite@reddit
I got the shot but I didn’t get the scar! I feel like a fraud.
ratsmdj@reddit
I called it the immigrant mark because everyone I knew had one. I thought it was for DNA collection or someshit. I don't have one since I was born here, but my parents, grandparents, all my uncles and aunts, my older siblings all have them. And no I am not south of the border.
bmiddy@reddit
Anti-Vax morons have no idea...
Spirited_Concept4972@reddit
1980 no
Ff-9459@reddit
No, my mom has one but not me.
TheCheat-@reddit
Nope, born in ‘69 and I never had this
highwire_ca@reddit
Born in '64. Got that vaccine in Germany where they did it on the bottom of my foot so that's where my scar is.
Bidad1970@reddit
Mine finally faded away to nothing and I didn't even realize it. I'm a redhead and I used to have black hairs growing out of it.
fraize@reddit
I received the oral dosage. Not sure how old I was, but I remember being terrified of getting the shot, and the doctor pinched open a capsule, poured it into my mouth, and I remember it had a pleasant orange flavor.
Just-Yogurtcloset-58@reddit
That's the mark of a Boomer
Ozwentdeaf@reddit
What is this from?
ThusSpokeGaba@reddit
I’m late Gen X and don’t have it, but I remember wondering as a kid what caused that scar on Larry Mullen Jr’s shoulder…
lassiemav3n@reddit
Interesting! Maybe someone Irish will chime in on whether this is a BCG scar, I don’t know what their vaccine programme would’ve been in the sixties ☺️
PurpleWardrobes@reddit
Ireland only stopped prior to 2015! My 15 year old nephew has the scar.
irishinsweden@reddit
Irish here, born 1980, plenty of people going around with that scar, I don't have it but not sure why since there are people my age with it
doomladen@reddit
I don't have it either, whilst most people my age do. My (vague) memory is that before they administered the vaccine they did a test on us, to check if we would react well to the vaccine, and if you didn't react well then you wouldn't get the vaccine. Wikipedia says;
I suspect (but can't remember) that I didn't respond well to the skin test and so didn't get vaccinated. You might be the same?
irishinsweden@reddit
Not everybody got a scar from the vaccine either (I think), some had stronger reactions than others
The_Lapsed_Pacifist@reddit
Yeah, I’m English and like the other guy we got BCGs and the attendant scar about the same time
Zealousideal-Cod6590@reddit
Northern Irish here. Got my BCG, with scar, age 10 in 1988. Weirdly my daughter also got it, born in west London in 2013. Gave the vaccine to her at 1 day old. Got infected and she has a big scar. But only done in uk areas where TB might be a risk.
barbados_blonde1@reddit
Yes! Born in 1969.
My acupuncturist told me those scars are on the "psychic" meridian and it destroyed any latent psychic abilities. Probably horse malarkey but I thought it was interesting.
notyyzable@reddit
Most millennials in the UK will have this as well.
luvdogs71@reddit
I was born in 71 and I had a scar. You can't really see it much now.
ScottishCrazyCatLady@reddit
Yes, but does anyone else's sometimes just start itching out of nowhere?
Next_Homework3662@reddit
I have a chicken pox scar between my eyebrows which itches out of nowhere...
cenosillicaphobiac@reddit
Mine would grow a single very thick hair, looked like a pube. I didn't get the vaccine until I was 18, and that hair finally stopped coming in in my 40s, and the scar has now disappeared.
arbitraryupvoteforu@reddit
YES! I’m so happy to see this.
StaySeatedPlease@reddit
Which vaccine is this from?
bodybycheeseburgers@reddit
small pox
Thebonebed@reddit
Genuinely thought this was about the BCG jab. For TB. But apparently its for smallpox.
I don't have a scar from either. But my kids, Gen Z, both have scars from TB. Hospital wouldn't let me leave without them having it because their father is from a country where it is prevalent/not a great vax program for it.
I know almost everyone I meet in my age range and above has TB scars. Defo no small pox ones. Or rather the odd one here and there.
TwoGreenJellyBeans@reddit
My kids born in 2020's and I (late 80s) all have similar shoulder scars from the TB shot. Every kidin our tropical location is encouraged to get it.
Toe-knail@reddit
My older brother and sister with both marked with the shot. I was born just late enough to not need it. Wicked awesome.
Peeettttaaaa@reddit
73, from Australia and it was a mark of pride at school, meant you’d been overseas
Next_Homework3662@reddit
I'm born '73 Australian and have not been overseas. Is it from the smallpox vax?
KismetSarken@reddit
3 kids in my family, 67, 70, & 71. I'm the 70, and I have no scar. The other two have the scar. We all got our shots as military dependents. We, as a family, don't typically carry scars. I've had multiple surgeries throughout my life, I have the smallest of scars from them. We get it from our dad. It came with the double set of wisdom teeth (yup, 8 in all), weirdly short monkey toes, and horrible tempers.
RedshiftWarp@reddit
Have it on my right shoulder though I was born in '90.
What an annoying procedure.
First dip this needle in tar like substance then stab me 15 times in the same spot. Only to tell me im gonna develop a dime-sized pimple im not allowed to pop and I gotta babysit it for a month.
marblechocolate@reddit
Nope! Succas!
TransAm1991@reddit
I was born ‘72. I don’t have it..
cejmp@reddit
1969, have one. Still have a memory where the shot site turned into a pustule.
No_Gap_2700@reddit
Negative. Born in '76.
TodayCharming7915@reddit
I had it but it seems to have disappeared.
fapster1322@reddit
Am not impostor, defo gen x look at my mark (laughs in early gen z)
Square_Ad_4929@reddit
I have the mark.
rastagrrl@reddit
I was born in 1969 and have it.
hippieinthehills@reddit
Born in 64. Got the vax, had the scar, but it disappeared at some point.
Fast_Pomegranate_554@reddit
Present from Army in 09
worry__wart@reddit
‘74 yes for me, my brother ‘75 yes, my sister ‘76 no.
Rural Ohio, must have taken a while to get the word out down there that it wasn’t necessary by then or else they just wanted to use up all they had leftover. My husband (from Chicago) ‘73, no
Gibabo@reddit
Born 1974 in Indiana. I have one
MinervaZee@reddit
Yah, mine’s on the inside of my arm though, not out on the shoulder. Made it easier to appreciate the detail in outlander
LifeAsNix@reddit
Nope. 70’s baby here but my mom had it
Mguidr1@reddit
Born in 1967 and I have it.
Lizakaya@reddit
Born in 66 and don’t have the scar. Did everyone who got the shot get the scar? Because my mom is not a vaccine skipper
MysteriousCodo@reddit
Nope, just a hair too young to have gotten that. On the other hand, my daughter whom I adopted from China does have it.
ShySharer@reddit
Born in 73, had all vaccinations but no scar. This was polio vac wasn't it?
I remember that day, great day fir punching people, and being punched, in the arm
Appropriate_End_3345@reddit
I missed it by a few years
TTrevi12@reddit
That looks like an accidental cigarette burn from a parent smoker that wasn't paying attention , I have one on my forearm from when I was 10
Kindly-Ostrich-7441@reddit
Don’t think that’s genx more like boomer gen
tarbinator@reddit
Born in 68 and have two! Not sure why.
AllSurfaceN0Feeling@reddit
Not too young, but I'm lucky to have natural immunity. I'm defined as a 'resister'.
xenya@reddit
My mom had it.
Adventure-Denise@reddit
I was born in 74 and didn’t get one. Hobby was 71 and did. He was born at an Air Force hospital (and lived on base while he was yoing) maybe that’s it.
anonbabyghost@reddit
Born in the late 90s and I have it!
Plastic-Caramel3714@reddit
No you don’t
themanwiththegoal@reddit
Did the early vaccines use to leave those marks? Interesting
VikingsVivid@reddit
i have mine on right
SadPhase2589@reddit
I was born in 77 and didn’t get one until some one thought Saddam Hussein would use it on us before we invaded Iraq.
ep193@reddit
I always on the younger end and always thought that was just a smiley from a lighter! 😂
Sasselhoff@reddit
Nope, late 70s here. But, my late 80s wife does have it, due to not being an American.
7LeagueBoots@reddit
Got my vaccinations, never had a scar from it. Got Chicken Pox anyway and wound up with a few scars on my back from that. They lasted for a long time, but I think they’re gone now. Or buried under other scars.
Damien__@reddit
1967 and never had a scar
Melodic-Comb9076@reddit
my immigrant stamp.
Pinkparade524@reddit
It is crazy this post was randomly recommended at me because I have it even if I was born in 1998 , it is probably because I'm from latin America tho
luckylimper@reddit
My friend calls it that too. She was born in late 80s in Russia.
Acrobatic-Storm-9508@reddit
Mine faded until you really could not see it any more. Now that I am over 50 it’s a little more visible again. 1967 here.
YayAdamYay@reddit
I got the vaccine from military service.
merryjoanna@reddit
Which vaccine is the scar from? I've scrolled quite a ways and nobody has said that yet.
YayAdamYay@reddit
Small pox
merryjoanna@reddit
Thank you. Much appreciated.
Sekreid@reddit
My daughter asked about mine, I told her that’s where I got bit by a piranha
Ok_Sheepherder_5584@reddit
My sister my likely the last person in America vaccinated for smallpox. Vaccinated in 1972. My mom worked in a pediatric doctor office and was hyper vigilant.
LogicalSea1428@reddit
Clicked on this as a 96 baby hoping to have a couple piers share their experience but I’m surprised everyone is between the year 60 and 70 here! I got mine as a baby on the shoulder and can still see it today. I’ve always had slightly yellow teeth and I honestly think it might have been this injection.
OctavariusOctavium@reddit
I’m 55 and I don’t have it. Should I? I hardly ever get sick. What’s it for? I remember my mom and grandma had one.
NopeNotUmaThurman@reddit
It’s from a smallpox vaccine, and smallpox currently only exists in a research lab. The vaccine isn’t widely used anymore for that reason.
OctavariusOctavium@reddit
Thank you for taking the time to answer my question. I appreciate it.
DrPoPoPoe@reddit
Born in 1994 got 3 of the bad boys.
RotisserieChicken007@reddit
That's a boomer tag, not gen X
scottwsx96@reddit
Smallpox was eradicated before I was born. No scar for me.
raphiredgi@reddit
Am 90’s but we got this in India
dragonard@reddit
I got the shot a few days before Hurricane Celia smashed into Corpus Christi, Texas. Power out for 2-3 weeks—I don’t recall exactly. Because the shortage me sick and feverish.
mushigo6485@reddit
No, in my country these kind of destructive vaccines have been replaced before Gen X
ItzAlwayz420@reddit
Age 58, Pennsylvania born and raised, no scar.
Dull_Translator9692@reddit
76, 6 years shy
Im_Literally_Allah@reddit
Millennials and Gen Z in the UK still have this
Batmanovich2222@reddit
94, yes.
dottegirl59@reddit
Yes!
gadgetgrrll@reddit
I had the vaccine but it didn't leave a scar. They don't always leave a mark.
Human_Link8738@reddit
Yes, I remember getting that shot in 1st grade.
MagScaoil@reddit
I had chicken pox in 1977, and the scars from that make it hard to see the vax scar.
Mmmmmmm_Bacon@reddit
Born in 1973, no mark. I also never got a shot for chicken pox (because my parents were raging hippies and well, yeah). Sure enough, when I was 23, I got chicken pox and to this day I have some minor little scars on my face from that. Thanks mom!!
LeiaO315@reddit
The chicken pox vaccine wasn’t available in the U.S. until 1995.
Open-Illustra88er@reddit
You didn’t get the shot for chicken pox because it wasn’t available. Quit blaming your hippie parents. FFS.
It came out in the early 90s. The first batches in Japan were causing shingles in the kids if memory serves me correctly.
tekno23@reddit
I have the BFG scar but no small pox, 1974.
tired_of_old_memes@reddit
BCG = Bacillus Calmette–Guérin vaccine
BFG = The Big Friendly Giant
Marine4lyfe@reddit
BCD = Bad Conduct Discharge aka Big Chicken Dinner
jmkul@reddit
I've had it but you can barely see where now - not much scarring at all
BeaverPicture@reddit
What if god were one of us?
Marine4lyfe@reddit
Just a slob like one of us?
angelaelle@reddit
My sister and I are old Gen X and neither of us have it.
Low_Cook_5235@reddit
‘66 and yes, but it was on my outside of my upper thigh. Our pediatrician gave shots there so scar would be less noticeable.
Marine4lyfe@reddit
66 and mine is high on my shoulder.
Lopsided_Tomatillo27@reddit
Less noticeable? The 70’s and 80’s were the era of short shorts.
WeirdAbe@reddit
Born in 1965 and I don't have it either. Maybe it depends which state you were born in.
lovebitesXrazorlines@reddit
77, no. I also never had the chicken pox vaccine. I don’t think it was required when I was in school.
LeiaO315@reddit
The chicken pox vaccine didn’t exist in the U.S. until the mid-90s.
Crafty_Travel_7048@reddit
I'm 29 but have it because I lived in Nigeria as a kid.
possiblyourgf@reddit
Bf is 27 and from turkey, he has it
One_Distribution_954@reddit
68 yes
Marine4lyfe@reddit
66 yes
uganda_numba_1@reddit
'67 - no
fredout1968@reddit
68, no... Looks like this was the year of the change.
Johnnyhellhole@reddit
69, nope.
kidnkittens@reddit
Another 68 checking in, my mark has faded, but if you know what to look for, you can still see it.
rrickitywrecked@reddit
1968 - No tag
cenosillicaphobiac@reddit
68 here. Got mine in 1986 courtesy of the US Army.
Squeeze-@reddit
Also ‘68 without.
ThatVoodooThatIDo@reddit
Same
Money-Bear7166@reddit
1970, got the tag
MostlyKindaHarmless@reddit
also 68 yes
LaLaLaLateBar@reddit
67 and I have mine
mahagrande@reddit
Brother, 68, tagged Me, 70, no tag Brother, 72, no tag
Marine4lyfe@reddit
Yup
Something_morepoetic@reddit
I have mine!
Fiddy71@reddit
71, no tag as no jag
SentientForNow@reddit
Yes because all of us Indian kids had it.
Thick_You2502@reddit
I've got mine in 1967 😁
Competitive-Bat-43@reddit
I missed this one (1975), but my husband has it (1966)
GreenEyedPhotographr@reddit
'66 here. I have the scar. Proud of it, too. I remember none of my shots until I needed a tetanus shot after a refrigerator door fell on my foot in 84. That hurt like hell.
Itsallinthebook@reddit
1985, and have one. That’s late?
RestingMuppetFace@reddit
Born 1973, no mark for me.
no-onwerty@reddit
No, smallpox vaccines ended in the US in the mid 60s, a decade before I was born. But at least I know what the scar is lol.
Late GenX here
DavidWangArchitect@reddit
70’ yes I have the mark, although it is barely visible now. I do remember all of my friends growing up being branded the same. Woman I met from Malaysia in University had it on her leg as it was customary to wear sleeveless arm garments there.
Feeling-Ad-2490@reddit
('77) never got one. I really wanted one though, as painful as it looks
SssnakeJaw@reddit
My sister was born in Feb of 73 and she doesn't have one either.
They give it to you when you are a baby. So I have no idea if it hurts or not.
doomladen@reddit
We were given them at school in early teen years (UK), so late 1980s.
cenosillicaphobiac@reddit
Or in the military at least as late as 86 when I got mine, as a technical adult. I think it was my 18th birthday actually.
-KFBR392@reddit
We call that the immigrant mark. Didn’t realize North American GenXers also had it.
BadHairDay-1@reddit
No. 1974.
FuyoBC@reddit
Mine is on my leg as Mom wanted me to have nice arms... o.0 oh well, vaccinated is good m'kay :D
gbeolchi@reddit
‘73 here, yeah I got it!
alienasusual@reddit
No but those "gun" imprint TB test scars could last a while!
Gretti68@reddit
I had the scar forever and then it just vanished 🤷♀️
godfetish@reddit
I have a Mr Yuck tattoo over mine. I was born in 1971. I remember seeing scars from it on some kids growing up but my brother born in 73 doesn’t have It.
Gingerstop@reddit
Nope.
Born in Germany in '69 and don't have the mark.
Zapper13263952@reddit
They tried three times and it wouldn't take. I was 2. Screaming. My mom apparently gave me her immunity from her vaccination.
RealityAny7724@reddit
I am GenZ (2000) and I have this, hilarious how it varies from country to country
Ok_Award4343@reddit
Nope. Born in early '71.
Obujen@reddit
UK here, I missed my jab due to a long illness and my parents never bothered after that. And then the news about it not being as effective as believe hit and my GP said it's fine I've not been vaccinated.
Though I do remember pissing myself laughing at my mates telling me they'd had "six pricks" (cue lots of childish, homophobic jokes at their expense).
cinlung@reddit
Yep
EA-PLANT@reddit
Not Gen X but I do have that. It left a huge scar due to an allergic reaction(like 6 cm in diameter) but overall it's alright
Subvet98@reddit
Nope. They stopped during them year I was born.
Strangewhine88@reddit
Yep. Can’t find mine any more but yep. Upper left inner biceps.
Apprehensive_Neat418@reddit
Mine is on me bumm
Subvet98@reddit
Nope. They stopped during them year I was born.
Grand_Taste_8737@reddit
Nope, didn't get that.
honeyk101@reddit
yep born 1969
SomeTicket150@reddit
Borned in 82, got vaccinated by the Italian Navy!
Successful-Winter237@reddit
No but I have the chicken pox scars… wish I was young enough to get the vaccines like most millennials and younger…
ToferLuis@reddit
Born in 75 but I don’t think I have one.
Historical-Eye-783@reddit
Yes and I remember the bandaid with the plastic bubble that went on over the sore…
manuelzmanual@reddit
I thought it was a privilege of silgen.
Awellknownstick@reddit
AHH the BCG, lol. Mines an outty as it was punched at school so much it turned into a scar. 😆👍
realjimmyjuice000@reddit
Born in August of 64 and yes I do have one but it's hidden in a tattoo
VixenRoss@reddit
My grandmother and father gave me natural immunity. (Either that or I had it and was told to walk it off)
45thgeneration_roman@reddit
UK. Born 66.
I had the full raft of vaccinations but didn't end up with a mark.
Children here still get vaccinated. Different ones from 8 weeks up to 14 years old
dicemonkey@reddit
I would certainly hope they’re still being vaccinated.
45thgeneration_roman@reddit
I only made the comment as someone else had commented that they were born early enough to still get the vaccinations.I don't know what the system in the US is at all
dicemonkey@reddit
It’s a very specific scar / vaccination ( smallpox) that is often used as an age marker because it was mostly stopped in the late 60’/early 70’s …many Gen X are on the cusp of when it was no longer a standard procedure. Vaccination is still standard pretty much everywhere that has access to it …BUT in the last decade some moronic people have stopped vaccinating their kids ….so now we have whooping cough , polio etc rearing their ugly heads for the first time in decades….idiots.
45thgeneration_roman@reddit
We have the same type of idiots in the UK.
dicemonkey@reddit
Yeah unfortunately stupidity is quite contagious.
nidena@reddit
Yes but only because I deployed. 😁
Tater72@reddit
Mine didn’t leave marks from boot
tybbiesniffer@reddit
Same.
TSpider@reddit
Same
Redleg1-7@reddit
Same
notsostif@reddit
I do
77_Stars@reddit
Wasn't a thing by the time I was born in late 70s.
Namifish@reddit
Late 90’s and i have it 🧐
Swimming_Yak8844@reddit
And yes
Swimming_Yak8844@reddit
This looks like an ad lol
Mamaj12469@reddit
Born December’69 and I have one. Cant see it anymore- crepey skin has taken over- thanks tanning beds
juicyb09@reddit
Sure am! 🫡
chris_chris42@reddit
Thats before us. No?
Significant-Deer7464@reddit
Yep, but I cant see it. It has migrated from the top side of my arm to the back side of my arm/shoulder. Now I can only see it with the use of a mirror.
Regalita@reddit
Reporting for duty, Ma'am!
Puzzled-State-7546@reddit
Yes, that's why I got the Covid vaccine, if I can live with this, what could be worse?
CleverTrash10266@reddit
Both older siblings, yes. Me, no.
aadamsfb@reddit
They only stopped giving those to kids routinely in the UK in 2005. So loads of millennials and Gen Z will have them here as well
justimari@reddit
Born in fall of 74 in NY and I don't have one, but was fascinated with how all the adults had them
slickvic706@reddit
The league of shadows.
vcjester@reddit
Yup, the police vaccine scar is more of a boomer thing. I was born in 1971, and it came in a liquid drinkable form for me.
Real_Player_0@reddit
Gen Z, it’s on my ass
Reasonable_Smell_854@reddit
Got it in ‘89 in boot camp along with god knows what else. Didn’t get a scar.
XxX_Dick_Slayer_XxX@reddit
Non gen x here. My dad has it (Mexico born in the 70s) my girlfriend (late 90s Finland). I don’t have one :(
domesticatedprimate@reddit
I just checked. Yes I still have it.
Horn_Flyer@reddit
74-no tag
Jimmityblob@reddit
Born in 84. I have my scar.
homelaberator@reddit
No. I'm normal.
-GlitterGoblin-@reddit
My boomer parents and their siblings all have this.
Abject-Shape-5453@reddit
Am i the only millennial that got it?
Mine is on my hip
EU, elective by parents
dayturns2night@reddit
One of us!
Dry_Yogurt2458@reddit
Born 73 In the UK. I had the TB inoculation at school and then had to have a further antibody test when I joined the military, with the threat of a further jab if I didn't have antibodies.
They stopped the inoculation for TB in schools after I had it.
Missamoo74@reddit
I am indeed. But I covered it in a tattoo, can still feel it but harder to see 😂
AngryVampire@reddit
Well, I got 2 of those
Texascats@reddit
Depends where you were born. Millennials born in Mexico will have this, for example.
WARCAT1941@reddit
Yes, italy, 2006.
ilikedirt@reddit
Here’s me thinking it’s a scar from a self- or friend-inflicted car lighter burn 🙃
rachierache@reddit
Yep! No monkeypox for us yay 🙌🏽
cocokronen@reddit
Mine, gone
mahboilucas@reddit
It's a thing for gen z from Poland too, although not as big
prettyterriblebee@reddit
I’m 20 and I have it
aliceincrazytown@reddit
Nope. Born '67.
Kemel90@reddit
'90 i got one
you_say_rats@reddit
I didn't get the jab, I had an immune response to the pre injection test. No idea how I developed an immunity to it though.
ass_Inspector_420@reddit
Got mine in 2014 for my overseas trip
__verucasalt@reddit
Born in 75. I don’t have one of those. But my mom does.
hundenkattenglassen@reddit
Born 93. I have it. Both my parents born (67 and 70) also have it. Not sure why my parents decided to give me and my sister though, but didn’t hurt I guess.
Yes yes I’m a millennial in a GenX sub, but I saw the scar and thought “MY PEOPLE” since I very rarely see the scar on others in my generation.
re4pz@reddit
Nope. But my brother and sister got the shot.
mushigo6485@reddit
No, in my country these kind of destructive vaccines have been replaced before Gen X
HermannHaller1023@reddit
GenX but I have only seen this on almost everyone from my parents’ generation. I think in our time (born mid to late 70s); it wasn’t there anymore. From what I understand, I think it happened due to the small pox vaccine, but that disease was eradicated by then.
maybebilol@reddit
bruh im 18 and have this, from ireland
Fine_Kaleidoscope_47@reddit
67 - No scar
ssk7882@reddit
One of us, one of us...
You know how the chances of actually having a poor reaction to the smallpox vaccine were really low, like a million-to-one or something?
I was the one.
I was that one unlucky kid who developed Generalized Vaccinia and nearly died. In spite of that, though, my vaccine scar isn't any bigger or gnarlier than anyone else's. It looks pretty much the same as the one in the photo, mainly noticeable if I get a tan, 'cause it stays fishbelly pale.
(Just for the record, though, if I had died? Still totally worth it to get rid of smallpox.)
NotoneFuwagi@reddit
I think it also depends on where you grew up. I was born in 71 and have it. I've tatted over it, though, so it's hard to find. The X-Files started the conspiracy that it was actually a microchip implant.
BeeSlumLord@reddit
Nope. Born in 1970
6h0zt@reddit
I was born in 87, if that counts. What am I looking at?
RedditSkippy@reddit
Nope. Smallpox immunizations were stopped in the US in 1972 (IIRC.) I’m too young. My husband has his, though.
Several_Computer760@reddit
Im a millennial that joined the military in 2013, and yep- guess I am haha
Deadbob1978@reddit
Born in '78. Got one from the Marines in '03. Scar shows up when I get a sunburn
emarasmoak@reddit
I don't. 1974.
This means that everyone of you with the mark are also protected against monkeypox.
Inessence4@reddit
‘72 and fortunately missed it.
Cowboy_Buddha@reddit
Nope, had one, but scar erased by psoriasis from dental mercury fillings I had removed, and subsequent psoriasis from the mercury.
AddisonDeWitt333@reddit
When they find dead bodies, they actually use smallpox marks as one of the ways of determining age....
Flat_Ad1094@reddit
Nope. It stopped for those born just a few years before me I think. I'm 1967 and it wasn't given to us. But I don't think my older siblings had it either? None of htem have scars and they are from 1957 to 1963.
nerd_girl_00@reddit
My boomer mom has the mark, but I don’t. I have something different. Two of my vaccinations were administered with a single dot of tattoo ink. I have two permanent black dots on my upper arm, one more faint than the other. I must have been preschool age when I got them. I’ve never met anyone else who has it.
Ok-Sprinklez@reddit
Scar on my arm and chicken pox scar on my face from those fun pox parties!!
Beret_of_Poodle@reddit
AnythingWithGloves@reddit
I remember in nursing school everyone getting one and the pus filled blisters would periodically pop in lectures and we’d all hear the ‘oh gross!’ and knew exactly what it was. Ended up working on a medical ward with TB, so worth it.
LambosInSpace@reddit
Aussie here, '74, have it.
MenaciaJones@reddit
Mine has faded, and TIL it was the vaccination for smallpox, had no clue.
EargasmicGiant@reddit
I don't think I have one
CollieChan@reddit
Haha Im sorry, I thought it was a mark from a lighter 😂 Like some coolness test you did in high school
Australopithecuswalk@reddit
Born 67 don't have one, got the vaccine, and people younger than me had the mark. I was told long ago that some ppl reacted with a scare and some didn't.
kakey70@reddit
Mine looks it has a plastic skim over the top. I was three but remember it hurt like a mf.
Realistic-Explorer69@reddit
I thought this was a boomers thing. My mom has it
notthefullsoda@reddit
I got 3 of these 😆
Pomelo-Visual@reddit
Small pox? Heck yeah
moniqueramsey@reddit
‘67 and scar (although I can’t see it now)
BronzeHeart92@reddit
What is this?
I_bleed_blue19@reddit
Smallpox vaccination scar.
BronzeHeart92@reddit
And what sort of needle would leave that kind of mark? Looks kinda awful, doesn’t it?
I_bleed_blue19@reddit
To give the smallpox vaccine, doctors use a technique called the puncture method. It requires a different type of needle from the usual vaccination needle. Doctors use bifurcated needles. Bifurcated needles have two prongs, and they help deliver the vaccine to the proper depth into the skin.
Getting the vaccine consists of the following steps:
1 Dip the two-pronged needle into the vaccine 2 suspension.
2 Shallowly but vigorously prick the skin with the needle 15 times.
3 Observe the changes of the skin injury over the next few days.
Exposure to the live virus from the vaccine can leave a sore and itchy bump behind that later blisters before becoming a permanent scar.
The vaccination technique isn’t to blame for the scar. The smallpox vaccine holds a live virus. It creates a controlled infection that forces your immune system to defend your body against the virus. The exposure to the virus tends to leave a sore and itchy bump behind. This bump later becomes a larger blister that leaves a permanent scar as it dries up.
BronzeHeart92@reddit
I see, fascinating. Was there a particular reason why conventional needles couldn’t be used back then?
I_bleed_blue19@reddit
Google is your friend.
In 1961 the bifurcated needle was developed as a more efficient and cost effective alternative, and was the primary instrument used during the eradication campaign from 1966 to 1977. The bifurcated needle vaccination required only one-fourth the amount of vaccine needed with previous methods and was simpler to perform.
Historical-Gap-7084@reddit
Born in '69 and never got one of these.
10seas@reddit
I'm 73 baby and have the same scar after all these years
10seas@reddit
How the fk does a fact have a down vote
tragiquepossum@reddit
I was jealous of my sister's.
Yamirou@reddit
My daughter was born 9 months ago and she has one ¯\(ツ)/¯
PNWest01@reddit
Mine was so prominent, like hers, when I was a kid, but it’s completely gone now.
Sgt-Bilko1975@reddit
No but great looking arm. Really well looked after. 73'?
aradiacat@reddit
Born in ,67. Remember standing in line for the shot.
nejicanspin@reddit
Dad has it. (He didn't serve or anything tho?)
JokersWyld@reddit
Is it bad that I said "that doesn't look like the stussy S"...
Quirky-Pie9661@reddit
That was the multi needle stamp like thing in the arm right? I never scared
BallsOutSally@reddit
You sure it was the small pox vaccine and not the tine test for TB?
If you didn’t get a scab or scar from the smallpox vaccine, it means it failed.
Tasterspoon@reddit
Born 73, lived overseas. I always though it was a “pock” from the smallpox vaccine. I went in to get TB tested for volunteering and it was a whole conversation with the clinic person because I had been abroad for X years. I showed off my pock, and she said that it was a TB scar and that because of it, I would always test positive for TB but she could give me a dispensation based on our conversation. Now I don’t know what to believe!
BallsOutSally@reddit
I believe here in the states the TB tine test was administered on the forearm and smallpox in the bicep. Not sure what they did overseas.
Thebonebed@reddit
I thought when I opened this post it was about the BCG [what we called the TB jab where I am].. Loads I know have scars from the TB jab. Though I don't, I remember having the pre-jab test stamp. But I had a needle phobia and had to be carried out of the school hall screaming by my best mates brother for the actual TB jab. Embarrassing lol
Quirky-Pie9661@reddit
Those would’ve been a few years after ‘73. Guess I never got one
luckylimper@reddit
This is from a smallpox vaccine.
Hilsam_Adent@reddit
The four-prong TB test was way less shitty than that damned bubble they do now.
Interdent@reddit
smallpox vaccination scar - got mine on left arm
Alkivar@reddit
'78... vaxxed for polio, smallpox, anthrax and a few others before travelling overseas (not military)
TipsKraken@reddit
Born in 1969 as a USN dependent, got mine in mid 70's.
brookish@reddit
I was born just after this stopped being a thing.
ZarinaBlue@reddit
I had the pale circle for years. It finally faded. Born in the mid-70s but a military brat. So I still got it.
Disastrous_Bag_4141@reddit
BCG! I heard a girl last year got hit in the arm that was injected and died! (And all the other urban legends)
TheOneWhoReadsStuff@reddit
Do you bare the mark?
Helpful_Text_5228@reddit
Dead ass thought it was a lighter smiley face brand.
GaRGa77@reddit
Got two
Apprehensive_Judge_5@reddit
1969 model - I have it on my left arm.
macphile@reddit
My mother has one, not me.
I assume my father does...I mean, he would.
vinegar@reddit
My oldest sib ’59 has it, nobody after that does.
MyriVerse2@reddit
I was vaccinated, but no scar.
AidaNYR@reddit
They dropped this before I was born.
So….did the vax gun hurt? Because it looks like it would hurt like hell.
Freeda_at_last@reddit
Not just boomers. I was born in L.A. in ‘68. I did not get one bc I was exempt for religious reasons (mom was Christian Scientist). Friends my age did and I was so jealous. I thought it looked cool with tan. However, my husband born in Northern California in ‘68, doesn’t have one either and said his friends 2-3 years older did. Probably differed from county to county as it was being phased out.
ABGM11@reddit
The few, the proud, the vaccinated!!!
Jimathomas@reddit
I was born in early '72, no mark, but a girl down the street who was six months older had one.
disturbed_ghost@reddit
69 and I had one but don’t see it now.. wtf - what does that mean? do they disappear?
BlueSnaggleTooth359@reddit
sounds like has been messing with a time machine....
Slowlybutshelly@reddit
Born in 1966 why don’t I have this?
JJPasadena@reddit
mine has faded away :/
carollois@reddit
Yup. I was in the last year to get it here in Canada (1969).
ridbax@reddit
Gen Jones: I have one but the scar tissue faded completely away leaving a 1 cm dot of lighter pigmented skin. It is only visible in summer when I forget to put on enough sunscreen because it doesn’t tan.
Conscious-Big707@reddit
This is how they find you. This is how they track you.
CoolTomatoh@reddit
So that’s what those are!
squidbait@reddit
I used to have one but at some point the the scar faded away. I can't find any sign of it now.
OldGamer8@reddit
Born in 81
roughvandyke@reddit
Doubly so. I got a second shot before I started working in a TB lab.
minnesotawristwatch@reddit
In my area I missed it by 3 months.
FlyBuy3@reddit
Yep, except it’s on my thigh
darkmaninperth@reddit
Nope. 1973 vintage. They stopped SP vaxxes in Australia before I was born.
Defiant-Pilot-2525@reddit
Yes, born in 1970 and I have two scars. I asked my mother why and she said that the first one somehow didn’t take and they gave me another one 🤷♀️
OtisPan@reddit
Yep, but it's barely visible now. They did them in Canada into the early 70s, IIRC.
Jose_Canseco_Jr@reddit
yes - late 70s, born south of México
Necrospire@reddit
I queued with all the other children for my BCG and sugar cubes, both times when it was my turn the nurse looked at my notes, shook her head and said I didn't need them, still haven't a clue why I was the only one not allowed, recently discovered that I produce 2-3 times more white cells than the average person even though I am classified as having an immunity deficiency due to missing internal organs, confuses the hell out of the doctors and generally leads to multiple blood tests when im appointed a new doctor.
cybermage@reddit
Won’t get into spoilers, but Outlander had fun with this.
The_Dude_2U@reddit
Arm? Lucky! Ass cheek here.
RetroBerner@reddit
Same
LilyLilyLue@reddit
I'm an aAir Force brat. Myself and six siblings got it on our arm.
babs_sf@reddit
😆
RetroBerner@reddit
I was born in '79 in Germany, mine on the side of my butt cheek
Klaatuprime@reddit
I had a scar as a kid, but it went away before my teens.
p00ki3l0uh00@reddit
Small pox!! Mine is from the army
UnderstandingRight39@reddit
I was born in 74 and don't have one. My sister was born in 71 and also doesn't have one.
donut_koharski@reddit
What is it?
TwistedMemories@reddit
A scar from the TB, BCG, vaccine. I had the shot but don’t have a scar.
donut_koharski@reddit
Ok thank you. I got mine on the inside of my forearm. No scar.
wanderingexmo@reddit
Smallpox vaccine scar
AddisonDeWitt333@reddit
Yep - generally if you were born before 1971 you will have one....
Calm-Station-649@reddit
Yeah, this ia gen jones thingy.
try here:
r/GenerationJones
Doris_Tasker@reddit
Mine didn’t pock, it fiercely blistered and healed looking like a burn. My niece, who is three weeks older than I am got to take a sugar cube.
bewenched@reddit
67 nope. I got sick the day of the appointment and then they stopped doing them
wanderingexmo@reddit
Yep!
Sassy_Bunny@reddit
Yup, received in the military.
assmaycsgoass@reddit
Im in my 20s, I also have one of these lmao
Boogra555@reddit
Thank God no.
www4free@reddit
Yes, I am a member.
tallCircle1362@reddit
‘66 - yes, I have one 😄
FyreSign@reddit
Born in ‘75, and I have it
Mumblix_Grumph@reddit
I have one, but it's not on the shoulder, it's below my left elbow.
p001b0y@reddit
I am 56 and my oldest brother who is 60 has one. I think my older brother who is 58 has one. I do not have one. I think there was some cut off or that particular vaccine changed?
Alternative_Ad7125@reddit
Yes, I’m 54 and don’t have one either.
p001b0y@reddit
Do you still have your tonsils or did they take yours as well after your first case of tonsillitis?
Alternative_Ad7125@reddit
No, surprisingly I was able to keep my tonsils although I know many others (including younger sister) who had to have them removed-
coach_rambo@reddit
Born in ‘72 in California. Yep, I have it.
10seas@reddit
73 Wales, uk I have it, and I remember that you were expected to get a scar. I was told the better the scar/reaction, the better immunisation. This an old memory could be wrong, but that's what I was told 30 + years ago.
iamrava@reddit
72, FL, don’t have it
SquirrelFun1587@reddit
72 here born in PA don’t have it.
quarkspbt@reddit
1969 here. My older brother, by one school grade, had one. Next year, my turn, regular shots
Mathchick99@reddit
Nope, ‘74
Dogzillas_Mom@reddit
Yes! I have one.
And I wanna know if it still works and if so, does it offer any protection against monopod or other pox? Or is pox just a word for lesions?
Tired_Trying8918@reddit
It wouldn’t be for monkey pox. To see if you need to renew any vaccines ask your pcp to run titers.
I_love_Hobbes@reddit
Yes, I have mine. Born in '65.
theblisters@reddit
'69 have it
Soxogram@reddit
59 in Chicago; I don’t have the scar
Tired_Trying8918@reddit
Nope. My brother is though. I missed out on that 😊
FarkMonkey@reddit
Missed it by that much - '71. My sister has one - '66.
VonPaulus69@reddit
Born 73 in Virginia, I don’t have one.
Tasunka_Witko@reddit
Model 72, no scar
Except the one on my soul
BackgroundPrune1816@reddit
I didn't get this vaccine, born in the US at the tail end of Gen X after routine vaccination stopped.
HannahCaffeinated@reddit
Same. Nobody my age had it (USA). I remember being a little kid and seeing the scar on my mom’s arm and wondering if it was from “old age.” I guess it kinda was.
WordleFan88@reddit
I was the first generation that use the scar gun. My wife, who is a year older than me, has one.
Aldisra@reddit
70 here, no scar for me.
Disastrous-Mousse-25@reddit
I got the sugar cube in '74. Was in foster care in the 60's & early 70's. When I moved to Austin, they somehow lost my shot records so I had to get them all over again so I could go to school.
hbgbees@reddit
‘67. Got the vaccine, but never had a scar. My doc was just that good, I guess 🤷♂️
RuggedLandscaper@reddit
Nope, think my sister n my dad. I wasn't
OnionTruck@reddit
I have a scar there but it's not from the shot; it's a completely unrelated scar but everyone assumes its from the shot.
WendyIsCass@reddit
Nope, I'm a later model.
IP_Janet_GalaxyGirl@reddit
‘67, and no. Both parents do, of course, both born in ‘46, all in USA.
Glytterain@reddit
I am but mine went away
Key-Illustrator-9871@reddit
Yup. Cant remember, why but i had two ... thankfully they hardly show now
No-Conversation-3044@reddit
Me too! First try I never got the blister & scab you're supposed to Dr said it "didn't take" so I got a second one
Kerrless@reddit
Yup. Born in ‘68. My dad used to call it my badge of honor lol!!!
j1ggy@reddit
No. I'm on the tail end of being GenX and I did not get one of those.
aspertame_blood@reddit
Nope, 75
D-Ray1469@reddit
I got mine covered with a tattoo unintentionally. You can still see it, though.
SS_Frosty@reddit
This is one that excludes me as a late ‘76er.
Main-Meringue5697@reddit
Born in 1985 and yes, I have mine
Elegant-Pineapple-56@reddit
Born in 66, I've got one. It's on the back of my shoulder; mom said the doctor told her my swimsuit would cover the scar when I was older. Mine was done in Paraguay - had a friend from Spain whose scar was on the bottom of her foot (to hide it).
AhMoonBeam@reddit
I can't be the only one to think this was a cigarette burn, bowl burn or lighter burn.. my boyfriend and I put are arms together and dropped a lit cigarette ..to burn our arms. Another guy I knew was "tapped" on her bicep with a slamming hot metal bowl and others had "lighter faces" burned into a part of their body.. maybe I just knew some off the wall people.!?
Hilsam_Adent@reddit
These games were common in my junior high and high school. I'm amazed those scars weren't permanent. I had a "Bic Smile" on the inside of my right forearm until I was 35 or 36, but the rest of them had faded before the end of my 20s.
AhMoonBeam@reddit
I still have the cigarette burn.
Vindicus667@reddit
Born 1971 had one it’s faded over time
No-Guard-7003@reddit
Same. Born in 1971 and had a scar that's faded over time.
CalmChestnut@reddit
I am DOUBLE! One obvious scar from late 60s, THEN because O'd already been vacxed, the military had me get EXTRA before deploying while the new kids just got one dose... But you can barely see anything from the second vax now.
AlternativeMoments44@reddit
I was born in 1979 and don’t have the scar. Honestly, until this post, I thought it was from a vaccine given to immigrants. Both my parents, who are from Kenya and India, have it, and I’ve seen other second-generation friends’ parents from various countries around the world with it as well. I always thought maybe other country’s vaccine technology hadn’t caught up with America’s yet…
Alewort@reddit
Nope! Only grownups have those.
tommyalanson@reddit
70 here. Nope.
humblymybrain@reddit
They tried to give me one when I was in the military. I got out of it, though. One of the few. I asked "too many questions."
No-Guard-7003@reddit
I have that scar on my left upper arm!
SusannaG1@reddit
Yup. Still have the scar on my arm.
AffectionateNerve861@reddit
76, MATRIX.... doesn't matter💯🤙😅
try-catch-finally@reddit
The ONE GOOD THING my mom did was have the pediatrician give us that on the UNDERSIDE of our arm. No reason not to, no visible mark
Buttrnut_Squash@reddit
My '69 husband has one, but it's now tattooed over (eye of an owl). A bit of a shame. Always thought it was unique being heart shaped. I'm a '73 and just have the BCG scar.
marklar7@reddit
Does the pope gargle fluoride in grade 5?
crackersncheeseman@reddit
Born in 1971 and I never got it but I remember my mother having it on her arm.
LucindaStreets@reddit
Same! Born in 76 , my mom was born in 56, she has one.
Been_Quite_A_Party@reddit
Born July 1969 and I have it
052-NVA@reddit
Yup. ‘73 in Canada. My younger sister also has one from a few years later.
clewing1@reddit
‘67. Should have had one but because I have eczema.
Retinoid634@reddit
Yep!!
JenNtonic@reddit
My husband and I are the same age, born a week apart,but he was born in Canada and I was born in the US. He has one, I don’t 😊
BrendonWahlberg@reddit
‘66 , yes. For a long time in childhood. I didn’t know what it was.
Konklar@reddit
Got it, no mark though.
Capital_Pea@reddit
‘69 mine is on my right arm and looks like a pancake lol
CatWranglingVet678@reddit
Born in 73. My SIL (1971) wife (1977) & I(1973) don't have it, but BIL does (1969). Since I was in the Army & deployed in the Middle East (2002-2003), I do have the smaller small pox vaccine scar.
altrudee@reddit
Got one, born in 1966
Bloody_Mabel@reddit
I was born in 66 and I have it. My brother born in 69 does too. My sister born in 72 does not.
Rungi500@reddit
'67 had one, long gone now.
The_Machine80@reddit
Thankfully I'm a young Gen X and didn't have to experience this. Did get the live polo though.
InSearchOfLight@reddit
73 nope.
beermaker@reddit
I got mine the day we flew to Greece on our way to move to Esfahan, Iran in late '75. Apparently I cried the whole 8 hours & stopped the second we deplaned.
ravenx99@reddit
I remember lining up in kindergarten for an injection. And I still have the scar. Had to take off my shirt and check, but it's still there.
Late_Mixture8703@reddit
Born in '78, no scar.
Goyangi-ssi@reddit
Born in 76, don't have one..
coopersgranny@reddit
1968-mine on my ass because our dr though it wasn’t pretty on girls
JumpReasonable6324@reddit
AtheistET@reddit
75 yes! (Born overseas)
corpus-luteum@reddit
Called the BCG in UK. Can't remember what it vaccinated against, TB, maybe? Anyway, they weren't compulsory and my mother refused permission.
Initial_Run1632@reddit
Different things
Adventurous_Class_90@reddit
I don’t have a scar…
eatme13@reddit
Yes. Born 74, but not in the US.
meat_beast1349@reddit
Got one.
liketheweathr@reddit
I’m ‘75 and I have one!
Deep_Charge_7749@reddit
I'm too young. Born in 73
DeaddyRuxpin@reddit
Three of my siblings have the mark but I and one of my sisters do not.
Moisesjimenez@reddit
Nop, too young
FabAmy@reddit
I am, but have a tattoo there.
gpeteg@reddit
The mark of the beast
DenturesDentata@reddit
1970 from Ohio and no scar.
L_i_S_A123@reddit
Not sure will have to explore. I thought it was a cigar scar.
munch_19@reddit
Mark of the Beast /s
t-cliff@reddit
‘75, nope
MorningBrewNumberTwo@reddit
Yes, on my left shoulder.
HarveyMushman72@reddit
'72, nope.
Karen125@reddit
68, I've got it.
Boneyard45@reddit
72 NY have a little scar. I always forget about it. Upper arm.
WalkingOnSunshine83@reddit
I had all my vaccines; it was required for school. I never got a scar like that. Other kids in my grade had it, though.
Sensitive_Note1139@reddit
Gen X- by the time I was born they weren't doing that vaccine anymore. Not that my Boomer parents would have gotten it for me. They let me get measles as a young child rather than get the vaccine. I could have dies or worse, survived with a permanent health issue. But that bit of money for my father to waste was more important than their kids.
My MIL's cousin got measles when he was a kid. He ended up totally deaf.
icaria0@reddit
72 yes
Tazz_Lover1970@reddit
Born in March of 70, don't see one.
j_grouchy@reddit
That's a boomer mark
Kindnessmatters12175@reddit
I ate a sugar cube
GTFOakaFOD@reddit
74: Nope
SlipstreamSleuth@reddit
Shit, that’s how they did it? No wonder it left a scar. Ouch!
AlternativeNumber2@reddit
Nah, don’t have it. But I do have the hot lighter “smiley face” burned in that exact spot.
MoonageDayscream@reddit
What I like is that if any of us became time travelers, we would recognize each other as being from one of the three generations in our time that had this scar.
Felicity_Calculus@reddit
Born in ‘70, no scar
Camille_Toh@reddit
60s, also no scar.
onlyzuul007@reddit
I had a male friend once tell me that my vaccination scar "aged" me. 🤣🤣🤣
VioletVenable@reddit
Xennial here and I’ve got it — but that’s because I was born to American expats in a country where it was still recommended.
SlipstreamSleuth@reddit
I can’t find mine anymore. It use to be pretty pronounced, at least until my 20s
Drewp655321@reddit
born in 74 and have one. I'm not sure if they went a little longer in Canada
Juliet_Kilooo@reddit
70..nope
arroyoshark@reddit
Obvious_Care_9446@reddit
Yep I am.
PaperPhoneBox@reddit
I have the mark.
blissfulhiker8@reddit
Yes born in Europe so they were still vaccinating, but mine is pretty small and barely visible.
CrazyGround4501@reddit
Car cigarette burn?!
treble-n-bass@reddit
Nope. Don’t have one. Born in ‘75.
Which vax caused that?
wilson648@reddit
Made it until 2012 without getting it then had to on my last deployment
MostlyHarmless88@reddit
YES!! Why?! Why would the put it right there? 🤬
gopherbutter@reddit
No scar but got the vaccine on a deployment in 2003.
tybbiesniffer@reddit
Got mine in 2004 on deployment. All I have left is a faint white spot.
ahutapoo@reddit
Yes, but I can only see in certain light.
TomStarGregco@reddit
Yep born in 1971, I was one of the last babies vaccinated for smallpox.
cenosillicaphobiac@reddit
I only have one because I joined the army at 17. Did not have that vaccination between 1968 and 1985. Only in 1986 when the army gave me a shitload of them, including this one.
invisible-dave@reddit
What is that?
Batmaniac7@reddit
Smallpox scar. There may be one similar from TB, but the most prevalent I’d smallpox.
Muttywango@reddit
Ah OK. UK here, that looks just like our BCG scars.
Muttywango@reddit
Scar from BCG vaccine for tuberculosis.
BaconIsInMyDNA@reddit
My sister 65 had one, me 70, I do not.
himateo@reddit
I did not know what this was until I read the comments. So, no?
GogglesPisano@reddit
Yep, I got one of those.
I remember in grade school in the early 70s they lined all of us up in the hall and the nurse gave everyone a shot in the arm using one of those vaccine guns.
jfrorie@reddit
66, no.
ItzNuckinFutz@reddit
BaconIsInMyDNA@reddit
I went to the AHS version in my head,but still same place. 😆
lookupthekilt@reddit
69 nope
Accomplished-Push190@reddit
Were you raised in the US or home schooled? I know it was required for school entry until the late 70's.
pangea_lox@reddit
Yes
MisterSandKing@reddit
Nope!
MrPanchole@reddit
Yes. Canadian, 1968. Kid in my neighbourhood used to call it the cigar burn.
ouisher@reddit
I do not. Born 1972, in upstate New York.
Accomplished-Push190@reddit
Yep. Got my smallpox vaccine. I still remember the scab 🤣
stofiski-san@reddit
Thanks to the military, yeah :) but not because I'm an X'er
WileyCoyote7@reddit
‘74, nope.
MSGinSC@reddit
No 73, when little I wished I had one since Mom and Dad had them.
jtphilbeck@reddit
Mine disappeared. 76 here. I remember how bad that bitch hurt though! The ole booster shot.
Apprehensive_Owl1938@reddit
1965 - on my leg
TPixiewings@reddit
SlidersAfterMidnight@reddit
69 yes
cryptogryphon@reddit
Yes, ‘69
jtphilbeck@reddit
Yes.
Orangecatbuddy@reddit
Wife has one, I do not.
I don't remember getting one of those vaccines, but my mother say I did along with my brother.
I know I got that when I went into the Army. I stood still and didn't flinch, no scar. Several of the guys I went to basic with still had nasty scabs when they left.
Saw many guys with those scars in the Army.
Capt_Irk@reddit
Negative
XerTrekker@reddit
In my school, only those born in 70 or before had it.
khogue76@reddit
I don’t have that from a vaccine but I have that from a lighter as a teen.
lissam3@reddit
My scar is all but invisible now. I know I had one at one time.
Bright_Broccoli1844@reddit
I am kind of disappointed my scar faded.
Jsmith2127@reddit
Born in 72, too early for me.
ColonelBourbon@reddit
Always thought of that as a mark of the generation before X. Didn't know so many of us had it. I do not.
TheQuadBlazer@reddit
I had a teacher with one nipple(male). He would try and trick the kids into thinking he the scar was his other nipple and he was born that way.
ColonelBourbon@reddit
That's a curious thing to know about a teacher lol
PsychKim@reddit
71 nope
Kwyjibo68@reddit
Hell yeah - 68.
amachan43@reddit
75, no scar 🫡
kat_Folland@reddit
Yup. My husband doesn't. (I robbed the cradle, he's almost 3 years younger than I am.)
JimGerm@reddit
excoriator@reddit
Nope. Early Xer here.
SlaveToCat@reddit
74 - yes though much smaller than that. My partner doesn’t even though he’s born the same year, just a different province.
Late-Temporary863@reddit
smnytx@reddit
1965 and I don’t think I have it. Spouse it’s older and he doesn’t, either. So Cal kids.
FrannyCastle@reddit
My husband has one. Born in the uk in 79
katpal13@reddit
69, born in California, I have it.
RVAblues@reddit
My sister (73) has one but I (77) don’t.
JulesSherlock@reddit
‘72 and no mark.