Isn't amazing that we survived? (long)

[Momz]

Black and White Telivision (Under age 40? You won't understand.)
You could hardly see for all the snow,

Spread the rabbit ears as far as they go.
Pull a chair up to the TV set, 

'Good Night, David. 
Good Night, Chet.' 

My Mom used to cut chicken, chop eggs and spread mayo on the same cutting board with the same knife and no bleach, but we didn't seem to get food poisoning.

My Mom used to defrost hamburger on the counter and I used to eat it raw sometimes, too. Our school sandwiches were wrapped in wax paper in a brown paper bag, not in ice pack coolers, but I can't remember getting e.coli. 

Almost all of us would have rather gone swimming in the lake instead of a pristine pool (talk about boring), no beach closures then. 

The term cell phone would have conjured up a phone in a jail  cell, and a pager was the school PA system.

We all took gym, not PE...and risked permanent injury with a pair of high top Ked's (only worn in gym) instead of having cross-training athletic shoes with air cushion soles and built in light reflectors.  I can't recall any injuries but they must have happened because they tell us how much safer we are now.
Flunking gym was not an option... even for stupid kids! I guess PE must be much harder than gym.

Speaking of school, we all said prayers and sang the national anthem, and staying in detention after school caught all sorts of negative attention.

We must have had horribly damaged psyches. What an archaic health system we had then. Remember school nurses? Ours wore a hat and everything.

I thought that I was supposed to accomplish something before I was allowed to be proud of myself.

I just can't recall how bored we were without computers, Play Station, Nintendo, X-box or 270 digital TV cable stations. 

Oh yeah... and where was the Benadryl and sterilization kit when I got that bee sting? I could have been killed!

We played 'king of  the hill' on piles of gravel left on vacant construction sites, and when we got hurt, Mom pulled out the 48-cent bottle of mercurochrome (kids liked it better because it didn't sting like  iodine did) and then we got our butt spanked. 


Now it's a trip to the emergency room, followed by a 10-day dose of a $49 bottle of antibiotics, and then Mom calls the attorney to sue the contractor for leaving a horribly vicious pile of gravel where it was such a threat. 

We didn't act up at the neighbor's house either; because if we did we got our butt spanked there and then we got our butt spanked again when we got home. 


I recall Donny Reynolds from next door coming over and doing his tricks on the front stoop, just before he fell off.

Little did his Mom know that she could have owned our house.   

Instead, she picked him up and swatted him for being such a goof. It was a neighbourhood run amuck. 


To top it off, not a single person I knew had ever been told that they were from a dysfunctional family.

How could we possibly have known that? 

We needed to get into group therapy and anger management classes.

We were obviously so duped by so many societal ills, that we didn't even notice that the entire country wasn't taking Prozac!

How did we ever survive?

LOVE TO ALL OF US WHO SHARED THIS ERA; AND TO ALL WHO DIDN'T, SORRY FOR WHAT YOU MISSED. I WOULDN'T TRADE IT FOR  ANYTHING! 
 

[da prez]

  How true, an occasional butt whipping these days would do a lot of people a lot of good.  I am not talking about child abuse, but the total disrespect today is beyond belief. My parents had their faults, but we were taught respect, and manners. All that you posted is for all our age.
  I think the scarriest thing is the youth of today  are the doctors of tommorow.
  The last time I was at the V A hospital, talking to another vet, looking at the young military, we realized , I guess we looked like that to the older vets when we first went in.

                                                    da prez

[solo1]

Be careful Momz when you start talking about back when.  The 'good ole days' might ruffle some feathers here.

As for me, my feathers aren't ruffled, good post!

[SANDMAN5]

A lot of that sounds familiar!

[bscrive]

It's the lawyers fault.  They corrupted the courts by whittling out the common sense out of the judges.  Just need to get rid of all the lawyers...that's all   

[John Schmidt]

Be careful Momz when you start talking about back when.  The 'good ole days' might ruffle some feathers here.

As for me, my feathers aren't ruffled, good post!

Wayne, ain't that the truth. If you didn't live through it you have absolutely no way of identifying with it. Today's "connected" society is "disconnected" with each other on a personal basis. Good post Momz, I can remember getting my tail whacked nearly as much by my friend's parents as with my own. Had a tendency to teach a young kid to act the same away from home as you were expected to when at home.

[Bigwolf]

Yes Momz, It may be amazing that we survived.  Even so, I would not trade my dysfunctional childhood experiences for any part of the modern idea of what childhood should be.  We skined our knees and sometimes broke a bone but soon learned to tuck and roll when we fell instead of letting our head run face first into a curb while our hands just fell limp by our side.  Ever notice how kids these days fall?  No wonder they need helmets for just about any kind of activity.   

Just my observation.
Wolf

[old2soon]

People next door or across the street returned lost pets. You could leave your keys in the ignition over night and your car would be where you left it with no extra miles on it. People said hello to one another and didn't put their hand on their wallet. I remember climbing on the bare framework of a new house they were building. Do i want to go back to the old black and white T V-no. We as a people are meant to move on. I'm discussing stuff with people i've never met or talked to with this home computer thingy. I got a little metal red box i flip open and call anywhere in the world i want to-as long as i have bars. And i keep my bill current. I also remember two bit a gallon gas that they were happy to pump and clean your windshield. Also remember going to mickyds and feeding one person for less than a buck. Also remember NOT paying for T V service. Course i like my H D. Lot of this stuff is called progress. A lot of it is good. But seeing how some folks(not just young or older)act out in public has me wondering on the parental skills of some folks. I thank my parents and neighbors for putting me on what i consider the correct path. And for Uncle Sugars canoe club for completeing that training for life. I REALLY do not want to contemplate where i would be without it. These days are definitely different and interesting. In some ways better and in a few ways a lot worse. But all the above is my take on it as an person with mayhaps a narrow point of view. RIDE SAFE.

[czuch]

Yup, I was there too.

[Oss]

we used to play follow the leader but roof to roof (6 stories up and I HATE HEIGHTS) climb fire escapes and jump turnstiles to ride the subway because us kids didnt have the 20 cents for fare
I didnt own a baseball glove used spaldeen rubber ball for stickball and punchball in the street or intersections.  Three manhole cover blast is a home run

if you used spf 2 (the highest they had) you were considered a momma boy
the girls used baby oil to burn better

at school you would get smacked upside the head if caught talking during lunch quiet time
and given "charges"  I forget how many was detention then suspension

now the little ba s tards can sell drugs and kill for the 18 yr olds knowing they wont do time beyond 18
and they do just what they want

loved the post George

You can still look at old tv clips but online  I saw a link to Sky King and some others a while back

[art]

 

Be careful Momz when you start talking about back when.  The 'good ole days' might ruffle some feathers here.

As for me, my feathers aren't ruffled, good post!

[art]

Yes Momz, It may be amazing that we survived.  Even so, I would not trade my dysfunctional childhood experiences for any part of the modern idea of what childhood should be.  We skined our knees and sometimes broke a bone but soon learned to tuck and roll when we fell instead of letting our head run face first into a curb while our hands just fell limp by our side.  Ever notice how kids these days fall?  No wonder they need helmets for just about any kind of activity.   

Just my observation.
Wolf

I remember going to the store on my schwinn to get some eggs an on the way home crashing into a telephone pole.No more eggs an me all scraped up.Get out the iodine

[scoot]

I was thinking about that last night. I was sitting at a stop light and a guy pulled up next to me in a '70 some VW beetle. I thought what a simple time that was.

[The Anvil]

Sometimes I feel like I'm surrounded by a bunch of Abe Simpsons.

"I was wearing an  onion on my belt (which was the style at the time)"

[Highbinder]

Sometimes I feel like I'm surrounded by a bunch of Abe Simpsons.

"I was wearing an  onion on my belt (which was the style at the time)"

Just out of curiosity who is Abe Simpson....?

[The Anvil]

AKA: Grandpa Simpson



Some great Abe Simpson quotes:

"Grampa: In 1957 I saw him turn turn the Secretary of Agriculture into the Secretary of the Interior. It was hell on their wives, but it sure brought down corn prices. Built a house out of corn. It was the worst home I ever owed? when it got really hot it smelled like Frito's."


Lisa: One night we spoke only in lines from famous poems.
Grampa: Because I could not stop for death, he kindly stopped for me.
Lisa: Emily Dickson!?
Grampa: No, I was just describing my day.


Grandpa: Dear Advertisers, I am disgusted with the way old people are depicted on television. We are not all vibrant, fun-loving sex maniacs. Many of us are bitter, resentful individuals who remember the good old days when entertainment was bland and inoffensive. The following is a list of words I never want to hear on televison again. Number one: bra. Number two: horny. Number three: family jewels.

[YoungPUP]

Posts like this make me smile. I learned at a young age that gravity doesn't discriminate. That mouthin off will get you a beating, as will detention, swearing, bad grades, and staying out past curfew. Hell I got slapped by my mom on my wedding day when she heard me say "sheet" while talking and joking with my friends. Had the wife show me a helmet for the kids to wear while learning to walk called a "thud guard" Holy Crap whats this world coming to????

[Cruzen]

Momz,

I have read something similar in the past and it always make me smile to think back to those times.  Thanks for posting it again as a refresher. 

[Valkahuna]

First of all, thanks for the "Memories".

When I was a boy, and my Grandparents would carry on about how crazy the world had become, and how different everything was from what had been "their good old days", I used to think that they had it wrong, and that what was happening was progress.  

That was back in the '50's.

When I see the world changing today, and thinking how it's all "going to hell in a hand basket", and I then look at my sons and their children, who by the way, don't seem to share my thoughts about the future of our world, I often think back and remember how my grandparents felt then. It makes me wonder if this is only the "natural progression" of things, or if things are really as bad as I think they are.

And when I then later have an opportunity to spend some time with some of the "normal" young people, rather than the small percentage that really are screwed up beyond hope, it makes me smile and realize that both my grandparents and I were not totally correct. There is hope that the world will go on. It may be different, and I may not like it all, but hey...

Just too bad that as we continue to age, that the things we had thought would be there for us to enjoy, and the things that were there for our support and comfort will be beyond what we can afford to pay for them. Man, I hope my Grandparents, and I were/are both not as smart as we thought/think we are.

[RoadKill]

I am not a member of that over 40's crowd yet....but I remember all of those things. Mom and Dad raised us to believe we could not afford any better and we were content with making do with what we had. Found out years later that parents and G-parents conspired together to give us that kind of upbringing and yet made sure we NEVER went with out necessities.  When I found out that we could have owned a microwave oven BEFORE I moved out of the house I was pissed for about a few minutes...then it all made sense!   

I'm 36 and I'd rather get out a deck of playing cards and cook diner for a few friends than have cable T.V.!

[BIG--T]

Thanks for bringing those memories back Momz! I remember the "king of the hill" gravel fights ,and all you mentioned. Thanks 

[the inspector]

I think most of us here were their......glad some of us are still here.


"the inspector"

[Master Blaster]

They were good old days, and bad old days.  To me the biggest difference is the rampant amount of disrespect in this age.  Sure we had 17 cent a gallon gas, but we didnt make much money either.  Back then single income family was normal, and there was always a parent around to set and enforce rules.  One of the main rules was proper respect not only for others, but for oneself.   We were taught boundarys, and knew there were consiquences for crossing them.  Today there is very little parenting in much of the society. What is mostly taught is entitlements, you deserve whatever you want, and right now, not when or if you can afford it.  Not bitter, but that is just the way it is, I too miss the good old days.

[Randy3269]

Drank out of a water hose too!

[hubcapsc]

Also remember NOT paying for T V service. Course i like my H D.

HD flows in for free over the air just like LD used to... I always said I'd get a flat
panel TeeVee after the price came down to normal... We cyber-mondayed a 32
incher for $250 this week...  ;

Remember when you didn't need cyber monday, and you could go Christmas
shopping down at the store without getting shot or pepper-sprayed?

-Mike

[JerryH]

Winter - "Spear and sons" lumber company would dump a load of "kindling" in our back yard.  We would use that to start the coal fire in the furnace.  But before I had the privilege of throwing it down the wood shoot for winter storage we, the neighborhood kids, would hollow out the middle of the pile and play "fort".  The good square pieces would be cut to size and made into "rubber guns" from an old inner tube.  The best "rubber bullets" were made from the "English Racer" bikes - thin tire with thin inner tubes.  Boy - they left a welt when you were hit.

After the wood was put away then came the coal truck and dumped a couple of tons of coal down the coal shoot.  We had to make sure the coal bin boards were all up in place before he dumped the coal or the basement would be covered with coal soot.  We were then set for winter.  Except for hauling out clinkers to the back yard and making sure the water jacket on the furnace was filled each day (acted as a humidifier for the house.  In the summer I would be "helped" inside the furnace by my dad and handed a hammer to brake free any "clinker" buildup on the furnace walls or grates so that the furnace was clean when next winter came along.


Great memories - wouldn't trade them for anything.



Jerry