OT: Do you remember....

People over 30 should be dead. Here's why............
According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 40's, 50's, 60's, or even maybe the early 70's probably shouldn't have survived.
Our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paint.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets, ...and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets. (Not to mention the risks we took hitchhiking.)
As children, we would ride in cars with no seatbelts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a special treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.
Horrors! We ate cupcakes, bread and butter, and drank soda with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then rode down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. (Ya, but it was always the rose bushes I ran into ..)
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the street lights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. No cell phones. Unthinkable!
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo 64, X-Boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, video tape movies, surround sound, personal cell phones, personal computers, or Internet chat rooms. We had friends! We went outside and found them.
We played dodge ball, and sometimes, the ball would really hurt. We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. They were accidents. No one was to blame but us. Remember accidents?
We had fights and punched each other and got black and blue and learned to get
over it.
We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate worms, and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes, nor did the worms live inside us forever.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's home and knocked on the door, or rang the bell or
just walked in and talked to them.
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment.
Some students weren't as smart as others, so they failed a grade and were held back to repeat the same grade. Horrors! Tests were not adjusted for any reason.
Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law. Imagine that!
This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.
If you remember this stuff ... It just means that your getting old like me. I found this rather amusing and had to share.
Brian
 

krishj39

Active Member
YES! I very much agree with this. My generation (I'm 24) is basically a bunch of spoiled kids, we either depend on mommy and daddy, or the government. Nothing is our fault, we are always the victim, even when WE committed the crime. We think we are all completely equal, and should be treated as such. Everything should be given to us, because it is our right to have it. I seriously worry about our country, and as horrible as it sounds, I don't think anything short of a terrible war or an act of God (I pray for the latter) is going to shake my generation out of this egocentrism. I fear living in this country over the next few decades as my generation starts to take control of our country. I agree with the old people, our country is going to hell in a hand basket.
 

broomer5

Active Member
I remember too Snakes'n'fish :)
If it rained - we would slide in the wet grass and play in the mud.
Every kid "lost" a shoe at least one time somewhere in that thick mud.
"Borrowed" scrap wood from anywhere we could find it and built massive tree houses and forts.
Walked the creek for miles in an old pair of Converse Chuck Taylor shoes and cut off's, catching frogs, snakes, tadpoles, minnows and crawdads.
Learned the hard way what happened when you threw a dirt clod at a hornet's nest.
Was tought how to sharpen and use a pocketknife, and safely handle a Daisy BB guns by age 12.
The most sophisticated toys we had were an Erector Set and an Etch-a-sketch.
Was amazed using Silly Putty and the comic section of the Sunday paper.
Actually could make a Slinky walk down the steps - until we pulled on it so hard to see how long it really was.
Ate nickel candy bars.
Played with high altitude lawn darts - but never by the real rules.
Just threw them high into the air and ran like crazy.
I think they were called Jarts.
Played mumbleypeg barefoot with Dad's Craftsmans screwdrivers ( only played this game once )
Had "Creepy Crawlers" and placed fish hooks in the gobbledeegook, and made our own fishing lures.
They never worked as good as a safety pin and bread crumbs catching minnows.
Build tennisball cannons.
Had to change the channel of the TV downstairs with a pair of pliers.
Had an old shoebox full of broken hand me down Crayola crayons. There was always a penny or two in that box for some reason. There was always a perfect flesh colored crayon that was never used.
Couldn't hear our parents calling very good, but could hear the icecream man miles away. Funny how that was.
Spent time up on the roof of the house looking around - then would jump down off the garage. It never hurt.
Knew every house in the neighborhood, all the kids and pets names and which houses to stay away from. There was always that one grumpy old man that lived alone that would yell at you if you put one foot in his yard.
We always put one foot in his yard anyway.
We ran a lot as kids LOL
Built models in the basement with real airplane glue.
Testers model paints were 15 cents a bottle but could never get ALL the colors I wanted.
Kept the models until age 14, then blew them up with Black Cats or Silver Salutes !
Would grab a metal trashcan lid with left hand as a shield, and throw rotten peaches with the right.
Peach fights had rules of engagement - no hedgeapples or rocks allowed. Snowball fights were equally as fun, but there was always that one kid that would take an iceball in the face and run home crying. Then the parents would shutdown the game ( for that day LOL )
It was US against THEM
 

marvida

Member
Not only am I old enough to have done all that, I had to walk 5 miles uphill (both ways) in the snow to do that stuff! :D
 

lionstorm

Member
I have to agree with you, krishj39. Our generation (me being 17) is full of completely spoiled brats. At high school the parking lots are full of brand new shiny flashy cars that no teenager could ever honestly own or afford without their wealthy parents.
The streets aren't safe to walk at night anymore, kids can't even play in the front yard alone it seems. Morality is slipping....reminds me a lot of the Romans, when they first started out they had very strong morals but as their morals slipped so did their influence and power....Oh well you know how the saying goes, those who don't learn history are doomed to repeat it.
My parents tell me stories about what it was like when they were growing up often and I never tune them out or ignore them, I listen intently because I envy you guys, you grew up in a great time.
 
S

sinner's girl

Guest
"We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the street lights came on. " in the neighborhood I grew up in we were always outside...till I was about 11 and Dad wouldn't let me play with the boys anymore...something about touch football.... I then dicovered reading books and I stayed inside reading or with the phone glued to my ear. But in the early childhood days....outside it was...we rode bikes with no where to go, we even rode alone if no one else was home.
when the street lights came on all the parents would go outside and talk to each other, so we still got to play, as long as we were within shouting distance.
"Etch-a-sketch" I loved mine. I had two, so I didn't have to share with friends.
Actually could make a Slinky walk down the steps - until we pulled on it so hard to see how long it really was.
glad to know we weren't the only ones who did that.
But now, the neighborhood not that's safe, and the kids can't play outside alone or dissapear for a few hours.
Well, the carefree childhood days are gone and it's back to work for me.
 
D

daniel411

Guest
So what does your generation feel has caused this change?
 

m.rogers

Active Member
i here you guys i did some of them thing and some in the city
tin can ally- smash a soda can then though it down the sreet and one kidd would run and get it and the rest of us would run up the ally and hide in poeples yards and not get shot.
can kicking- this was one of the bad thing we did we run down the ally and kick over peoples trashcans and run like mad (the old tin trashcan)
idiot knocking- we would knock on soneones door and run like mad and hide and when they went back in we go back and knock again.
snowballs- we hit any thing that moved (buses and cabs where the best) but was even more fun when you hit a car and they would stop a then start troughing snowballs at you people where just in to having fun.
brian thanks for the old times
mike
 

krishj39

Active Member
Technology definitely has a lot to do with it. We basically live on easy street here in America. We don't appreciate anything because we have never gone without it. As horrible as the Great Wars and the Depression were, they helped maintain the morals of our country. Our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents know what is important in life because their lives and way of lives were threatened. We spend our lives on things that make no difference, making money and our self-image, for example. We are petty, we stress about the stupidest of things. Arnold Swartzenager is on EVERY front page while we have governments caving overseas and about a million other more important things are going on. I've heard more about JLo and Ben this week than the war in Iraq, the struggle with N. Korea, and the Israel/Palestinian conflicts put together. Of course our society is falling apart, we spend our lives distracted by trivial matters.
On another note, our society's current trend of pluralism, humanism, and materialism have all dragged our society down. The motto these days is, "If you think it is right, then you do it." Well, that's great and all, but it doesn't work out. While some think that our society becoming more tolerant and accepting is a move towards greater freedom, the truth is just the opposite, we are putting outselves under more and more oppression because we are destroying the universal moral code that ALL people should be subject to. It is largely our society inability to say, "This is right, and this is wrong. This is true and this is false," that is dragging our society into a downward spiral.
And I'm not even going to bring up the topic of religion, which I feel is the single greatest factor, but I know many feel this isn't the place for me to get into that.
 

krishj39

Active Member
I think the difference is that this time, we think it is OUR generation that is going to ruin society, not the next. Usually, the problem is that the people get old and don't understand the generation that comes after them. This time, it is us, knowing who we are and fearing what will happen when we are in charge.
 
I do remember being out all day, without coming home unless hungry, but then most of the time we would go to someones house and eat... not being invited just go because doors where always open in the neighborhoods and eveyone knew everyone and their kids. It was so much safer to do those things back then, now I wouldn't and don't let me child go too far without checking in with me all the time. It's awful for the kids these days.
As for the high school parking lots that are full of brand new shiny flashy cars that no teenager could ever honestly own or afford without their parents, it's the parents fault, not the kids.... We as parents want to lavish our children with everything we did not have growing up, but we need to realize we are not helping them in growing up and earning things that they want....and learning that there is more to life than the material things... I'm to blame here too. I do buy my son things that he probably dosn't need, but as long as he is grateful for what he gets and not selfish and self consumed, I've done my job...
Those times where good, but things aren't that bad now....
 
It's awful that our kids can't go outside and run the neighborhoods like we used to be able to because as parents we are constantly hearing of all the horrible things that happend to kids, i.e. kidnappings etc...
Ashburn, VA is not far from Washington DC and the growing population always brings crime but, we don't live in a bad area.
 

lesa

Member
Krish39 it is nice to hear your point of view from your age, I was starting to wonder if I raised the only gimme gimme young adults that think we owe them everything.
And the bad mouthing part of the stepkids
When I was growing up if we done that we got our a$$'s beat:D cannot do that know without getting throwed in jail or DHS comming to get your a$$.
 

buzz

Active Member
Of course it's a generalization, but I believe that there are much fewer areas where parents have the comfort factor that they used to have where their kid's safety is involved. Sure, there are still isolated, smaller communities where this continues, but they are becoming fewer and farther between.
Society in general has become numb to the things that used to be shocking. I remember years ago, someone was beaten to a pulp in Central Park in NYC, in broad daylight with people everywhere, and no one could recall seeing anything happen. Everyone turned the other cheek and ignored it. I think that is indicative of the way a lot of people view things now, and is a result of several factors.
1 - yes, technology has made people lazy.
2 - I believe the media has a large part in this - look at the shows on now - --- this, cursing that. When is the last time you turned on the news and heard something positive, not involving an accident, or murder?
These things contribute to a skewed sense of values, morals, and an overall sense of right and wrong. What is acceptable now would have been unheard of then.
The result? Higher crime rates, more violent crimes, more calloused views, and less safety for people in their communities.
Society has produced things that have helped to make advances in technology, medicine, communication, etc. But the core way of life is, IMO what has been affected the most.
I love reminiscing about things from my childhood! Thanks for posting that list!
Oh...and maybe my opinion is a little jaded, because I used to be a police officer.;)
 

buzz

Active Member
I'm not talking about a specific group of people as much as I am talking about an overall complacency, and an increased acceptance due to the numbing effect that all of these things contribute to.
 
I think you're right Buzz. It takes a lot to shock people nowadays and when something does, many people are quick to try and forget about it. Think about the major events in the past 3 years and now lax people are already (not everybody).
I'm 23 and can see it. Or a lot of it anyway. I mean come on... TV commercials with the orgasmic moans of a bathing woman?
That might sound way left field but the point is, even for someone my age, it seems society accepts much more than it used to.
I often wonder what it'll be like when I'm 50.
Will I be shielding my kid's eyes from complete

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on ordinary network TV? This is already acceptable in other societys.
How many more curse words are going to be in regular use on ordinary TV?
On another note, at my young age, Snakes, I CAN remember much of what you describe. I had the video games and computers among other things, but tended to lean towards being with friends... I guess I just enjoyed people a little more
as young as I am, thanks for the memories! I haven't thought about that stuff for YEARS.
 
nolofinwe I'm with you there... I'm orignally from England, and

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is all over the t.v. at night. I think we shield our kids from too much and that's why we have so many kids going out and experimenting on things because it's the unknown, if you don't talk about it, kids want to know "WHY". Take the all girls schools, when they get out, most of them go wild in college..... Just my 2 cents.....
 
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