Growing up these days... Too bad

[NixVegaGT]

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's...

# First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.
# They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.
# Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.
# 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 infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.
# We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.
# We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank kool-aid made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because .

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!

# We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.
# No one was able to reach us all day, and we were O.K.
# We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride 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.
# We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound, CD's or Ipods! No cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms.......

WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

# We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
# We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
# We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays,
# Made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.
# We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house 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. Imagine that!!
# The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, 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 are one of them, CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives so much, than for our own good.

And while you are at it, share it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

[marco_1978_spyder]

Cool man.
Although I did have surround sound...

It was called 'quadraphonic' back then.

Pink Floyd records required for full effect.

[zeke]

Yes, things seemed simpler back then in some ways. I'd rather go to the dentist now-a-days tho.

I want my Pong game back!!

[bugdewde]

All applied to my childhood.......... with one caveat ... I did have an Atari 2600 sometime around '78. Space Invaders ruled.

[zeke]

I can relate to your post totally.

I had the same atari also, awesome graphics eh? Aftter the super nintendo, i lost interest in games tho except for racing games. Ocassionally I make time for my simulator

[bugdewde]

Zeke........ that, my friend, is AWESOME! Have you seen the ones for the flying simulators? They have PVC frames and when you move the joystick, they actually pitch and yaw..... Never built one.

I used to love coming home to fly WWII missions over the Pacific in Microsoft's Combat Flight Sim 2.

[zeke]

Yeah ive seen the flying pvc one, cool idea.

I have a force feedback wheel that ads realism, but a FF chair would be great. There are FF seat covers available that just have vibrators in them

I have a joystick and like microshaft's flight sim once in a while. Landing on the carrier is tough!

[djv8ga]

I loved those click-clack things. The 2 round resin balls on strings you would make slam into each other. Guess they had to be outlawed because they were fun.

[bugdewde]

Yeah, I have the same FF wheel. It rips my keyboard drawer off the slides of my desk......... and the pedals slide out from under my feet, too.

I like the Need For Speed Porsche Edition...... being an old VW fan/owner, I like the physics of a sim that really takes into account the throttle steering of a rear-engined car. The old underpowered 356's and the 914's are the most fun of the whole lot, to me.

I tried the Nascar Heat sim, but I can't really get it. Very difficult for me to stay in the 'draft'.... I get left behind quickly. And the road courses???? Forgetaboutit. I'll have busted radiators by the 2nd lap. I can't deal with no feedback on the braking pedal.... freaks me out.

[zeke]

I loved those click-clack things. The 2 round resin balls on strings you would make slam into each other. Guess they had to be outlawed because they were fun.

I rem those things and I think they had trouble with the balls exploding!

[monzamess]

zeke,

Way cool. I thought about doing something similar but not enough room in the new house. Besides I already have the arcade cabinet.

Around 1997 or so, I had one of just about every home computer and video game system made, up until that point. Atari 800, Commodore 64, VIC-20, etc, plus Atari 2600/5200/7800, Nintendo everything, Sega everything, etc. I sold off the computers when I hit grad school, then sold off most of the games when I needed to pay off my car. Thanks ebay. Plus thanks to emulators I have all those old games and more in my arcade cabinet.

I kept my 2600 collection, plus since then I've added a couple of modern systems. Also those little battery-powered Jakks Pacific games are great, especially for the little ones.

As for my little ones, they are growing up in a sterile, padded world, and I try my best to expose them to things when it's appropriate (or when my wife isn't looking ). My 2 yo just started playing outside at our new house where there are many more, and meaner, ants than at the old house. She got into some ants and now she's afraid to step foot outside even to go to her beloved playset. She just stands at the door yelling STUPID ANTS. Cute but I hope she gets over it soon!

[NixVegaGT]

OK I can say the kid across the street has been skateboarding a lot. He has his friends over and they jump stuff and do tricks. They built some portable rails and ramps. The best part: NO PADS! It's pretty awesome. It gives me hope for our next gen. Not afraid to do a little damage...

I remember smash-up derby bikes! LOL. We also played the "round the block game" kinda a derivative of hide'n'seek tag but it was around the block.

[zeke]

Dennis;

Great arcade sim man, I've seen that page in the past surfing the web i'm pretty sure. I made up a button box for my atari 2600 so i could play asteroids like the arcade game setup. Nothing quite so elaborate tho. Buddy of mine has a arcade asteroids that I've managed to keep working all these years. Discrete logic chips and a lot of em!

AH play all day... be home in time for home cooking and no bills! Yes, those were the days.

As for growing up today, kids have it made imo. A lot of cool stuff we never had. Motorized jeeps, bikes, skateboards, scooters. (I want a sbc bar stool )

[peterpan]

a cinder block or two and a 2x4 was commonly used to launch you flying and tumbling head over heels tangled up in your bike at the bottom of the steepest hill in town

more than once in the same day

my favorite toys were hot wheels and gi joe action figures the little ones

ahh the good ol days

[rpoz-29]

Those things with the balls were called "clackers" as I remember. I can remember walking to a local hardware store, buying a box of .22 shorts, (fifty cents in std velocity), with my Remington 514 on my shoulder. Then walking to a friends house, and catching a ride to the Chevy dealership his Dad owned, and mine worked at. We'd beg a ride from the parts runner to a riverbank and plink away with our .22's all day. Walk back to the dealership around closing and catch a ride home with our Dad's. Back in the late '60's, early '70's. I still have the friend, still have my Dad, and I still have that old Remington. I can't imagine what would happen if a couple of 12-15 year olds were seen walking along a busy highway, rifles slung over their shoulders, today.