My Mom used to (reminiscing)

[RacerX]

.

[COZY Z COLE]

I remember all those things!!!! Shows what being 60 yrs. old does to a person ...... This led me to a few thoughts. My brother's teenage daugther, who is involved in high school softball in our city, is costing him $3,000 for equip. and out of state travel for the opportunity of her being on the varsity team. I was lucky to have a handme down glove. I have a 10 minute mow job for my front yard so I told the neighborhood boys that I would give someone $5.00 to mow it ( earn them some money), no way they said that's worth $20.00 . I'll do it myself!! Next door kids tell me how stressfull school is but they come home each day with a cellphone in their ear and no homework I guess I'm missing something or is it just those 60 yrs. doing it :

 

LARRY

[Guest comeandzpa]

Very good article....yes yes, before you get started I AM only 18, so I haven't experienced a lot of these things. However, even since the days when I was a kid (to me that's like 7 or 8), things have gotten out of hand. I used to get in trouble when I was bad, now my parents try to figure out who's fault it is or what caused me to be bad. Here's an idea- I was bad because I felt like it. It's MY fault. Not yours, not the neighbors, not the TVs, its mine. Blame me, scold me, punish me. Do whatever you want so long as you realize that I'm to blame. It's weird, 10 years ago I would have laughed myself silly if you would have told me I'd be writing a blurb on how I wished I had been punished for my wrongdoings.

 

As for the other things like never getting sick etc, it still amazes me how much past generations didn't know about healthcare and illnesses and medicine, and yet they all lived to be 70, 80, and beyond. It makes me wonder if we're really making any progress, or if we aren't just causing problems just so we can fix them and act all proud of ourselves for fixing something. Maybe thats just me...maybe my life was saved numerous times by research. Who knows.

[Guest Nic-Rebel450CA]

raw hamburger meat?

Now raw cookie dough is another thing.

 

I remember some of that stuff, but the punishment, as comeandzpa mentions, are what I remember the most. I am glad my parents spanked my little behind when I was bad. All that time-out crap just doesnt let kids know who's boss. When I was a kid, I thought that if I was bad, when I died God would whoop my ..., not make me sit there and think about what I did.

 

And PE IS hard! You have to like stand up, and walk around, and not sit on a couch n' stuff. Geez!

 

Oops, I almost typed "coach" instead of "couch". That would make an interesting typo...

[spdsk8r]

I remember when we were kids, if we were acting up or doing something wrong, all my dad had to do was start to unbuckle his belt and we would straighten up pronto. No raised voices or yelling. It was amazing.

[Guest Nic-Rebel450CA]

Ah yes, as Bill Engval says, "nothing like the sound of a belt clearing belt loops"

[Phantom]

And to add on to it:

I remember when we left the back door open - just the hook on the screen all night in the spring and fall to cool the house

That we didn't bother to lock the car and left the windows rolled down in the parking lot so it wouldn't overheat in the summer sun.

I remember when we played a game of tag - at night - all over the neighborhood - and didn't get attacked, shot at, or arrested.

I remember only having two television stations and a B&W TV, no video games, no stereo, and no walkman - still had tubes in the radios and they had to be plugged in - and we still had plenty to do - like a baseball game in the back yard.

I remember hanging out at the Frost Top and the A&W and cruising the strip on Friday and Staurday night - and not getting arrested or shot at.

I remember when the worst discipinary action in the school was for chewing gum in class - or being tardy.

I remember when we actually respected our teachers and looked up to them for the sacrifice they made to help prepare us for our future.

And best of all - I rember the '57 Chevy, the '63 split window Corvette, the '65 Mustang, The '66 Chevelle SS 396, The new '66 Olds Toronado,

the 426 Hemi, and best of all, my brand new '70 340 'Cuda.

[Tim240z]

Yup, I remember the TV stations having an epilogue at 12am, then it was test pattern until 7 am.

I remember when BetaMax was the dope!

I remember when we got our first Atari video game console. That was Dope too!!

I remember milk deliveries, and putting little plastic coupon 'coins' in the bottle....green ones for milk and red ones for cream.

I remember fighting to be the first one to get the milk in the morning to be the one to get cream which has risen and settled to the top.

I remember fearing the wrath of an angry parent, and respecting their discipline.

I remember having to go the Principal's office and getting 'six of the best' with his 'custom butt swatter'

I remember riding my bike to the mall at eight years old, 10 miles away just to play pac-man, and asteroids...cause those games were just dope!!, and the thought of being abducted, raped, killed etc was never even in our psyche..

I remember intermission in teh middle of a movie in the theatre...5 minutes for potty break and more popcorn (which you didn't have to take out a low interest loan to buy).

I remember cartoons &/or 3 Stooges 'shorts' before the main feature...

I remember using solvent or gasoline to clean out a wound when working in the garage, then using an old rag as a bandage, then kept on working....how are we all still alive.

I remember using pure benzene to clean parts, no gloves or 'fresh air' breathing equipment....

Ahhh the good old days....

[blueovalz]

Great memories stirred up on this one. Back then one could go ride a bike or on roller skates (remember the keys) without doning helmet and pads (I don't think you could even buy them back then).

 

A.D.D was something most of us probably had, but thought we were normal (whack!, "pay attention when I'm talking to you"), and delt with it.

 

Swimming in the creek and seining for minnows was the greatest time of the summer (until you lost your black plastic rimmed glasses in the water).

 

Getting a lottery number of 108 (this was high) for the draft and seeing the rare look of relief on my Dads face when he saw it.

 

Flashing an SOS with my pen-light at the police helicopter 5 miles away, and having him come at you with the big spotlight in the middle of the night, and not getting arrested for a false report.

 

Hearing "War Pigs" on the transister radio for the first time in High school and clueing in, "now this is music!"

[Guest Aaron]

I'm only 28 and I can actually remember most of that. I grew up in the country though. We did not have cable available until I was about 13. I did not do much swimming in the creek or lake, because I was too afraid of snakes. I have been told by some of the special ed teachers that I know that I had/have A.D.D., but I was beat into paying attention.

[johnc]

I remember:

 

Jumping off the neighbor's roof into their pool, our own high dive, when they weren't home. And then getting spanked by them when they turned out to be home.

 

Playing "war" with BB guns and actually shooting each other. They leave a nice welt.

 

Riding our bikes down into the big storm drains (in Brea) and seeing how far we could go before the drains got too small (in Santa Ana), then getting lost and not making it back home until 9:00pm. Had our bikes taken away for a month.

 

Sneaking into the closed Nike Missle site in the hills above our house and crawling into the demo'd silos.

 

Climbing on top of oil well pumps and riding them as they went up and down (got caught doing that and the local cops decided to lock us in the cell until our parents came and got us).

 

Saving your money from March until July so you can buy all the fireworks you possibly could. And then spend the rest of July just barely avoiding burning the neighborhood down.

 

Attaching razor blades to the outside edge of a Frisbee ('cuz Gary Spriner heard his older brother talking about it) and then realizing there's no way to throw it.

 

Getting spanked with belt at least weekly and learning how to fake cry after the second swat. If you fake cried on the first one, Dad would know you're faking and would give you a few extra good ones.

 

Living in fear of the Mother Superior and her paddle while going to Catholic school and having that fear realized more then a few times.

 

Building our own skateboard ramps out of ratty plywood. FYI... this was back when skateboard wheels were clay or metal.

 

Those were the good old days, but I remember always, desperately, wanting to "grow up." Sometimes memories are deceiving...