"Older Days"

[Helen]

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL BORN IN 1930's, 1940's, 50's, 60's, 70's !!!
First, you survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a tin, and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, your baby cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints. You had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when you rode your bikes, you had no helmets, not to mention, the risks you took hitchhiking ....
As children, you would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a van - loose - was always great fun.
You drank water from the garden hosepipe and NOT from a bottle. You shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.
You ate cakes, white bread and real butter and drank pop with sugar in it, but you weren't overweight because...... YOU WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!
You 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 you all day. And you were OK. You would spend hours building your go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out you forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, you learned to solve the problem .
You did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no text messaging, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........YOU HAD FRIENDS and you went outside and found them!
You fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents you played with worms(well most boys did) and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. You made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although you were told it would happen, you did not poke out any eyes.
You rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them! Local teams 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 you out if you broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

This generation has 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. You had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and you learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS!
What a blessing have had the chance to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives 'for our own good.

 

[Helen]

The sad thing is...our grandchildren will never be sad....because you can't miss what you never had...therefore they have grown up in the 'new normal'.
Now that is sad!! ( to us)
And the generation after them will not even be the generation which had the first cell phones...
This is all scarifying to me...the gradualism of isolation while in a crowd...and not knowing it.

 

[amadeus]

Ah yes, when I was quite young, I remember setting my tricycle aside promising to get back to it later as I always loved riding it. When sometime later I thought about it and went to check, it was gone. My mother or step-father had seen to it. That all would have been in the 1940's [born in Dec 1943]. I was very sad that my tricycle was gone and never to return to me. I could never ride it again.

 

[Helen]

Ah yes, when I was quite young, I remember setting my tricycle aside promising to get back to it later as I always loved riding it. When sometime later I thought about it and went to check, it was gone. My mother or step-father had seen to it. That all would have been in the 1940's [born in Dec 1943]. I was very sad that my tricycle was gone and never to return to me. I could never ride it again.

Oh that's sad.
I thought you were going to say that your mom and step dad had"seen to it" meaning, put it out of sight, to teach you not to leave your stuff around.
Did they give it away? Or what?

Parents did teach us lots of lessons 'back then '...sadly kids are hardly noticed these days ...in Malls and Food Courts , one can see the kids talking to the parents , but they are too busy on their cell phones to answer the children...so sad.
I remember my mother picking a holly leaf from our garden...at meal times she'd pin it just under my chin...to teach me to bring my fork or spoon up to my mouth, rather than lower my head to the spoon etc!! I was about 8.
I can tell you..that was a very painful lesson.

But the freedom to roam and play with friends safely, until evening was wonderful.

 

[amadeus]

Oh that's sad.
I thought you were going to say that your mom and step dad had"seen to it" meaning, put it out of sight, to teach you not to leave your stuff around.
Did they give it away? Or what?

It just disappeared. I never got around to asking where it went. That happened to many of my things when I did not use them for long periods. Even when I got older. I remember going off in the army for three years and when I came back my mother had sold the piano. Technically it was hers as she paid for it, but I was the only one who played it. That one really disappointed me. I used my mustering out pay from the army to buy me a new one.

But the tricycle was simply gone. That I still remember it so clearly brings home just how important it really was to me.

Parents did teach us lots of lessons 'back then '...sadly kids are hardly noticed these days ...in Malls and Food Courts , one can see the kids talking to the parents , but they are too busy on their cell phones to answer the children...so sad.
I remember my mother picking a holly leaf from our garden...at meal times she'd pin it just under my chin...to teach me to bring my fork or spoon up to my mouth, rather than lower my head to the spoon etc!! I was about 8.
I can tell you..that was a very painful lesson.

But the freedom to roam and play with friends safely, until evening was wonderful.

Oh yes, I grew up in a very small California town [San Juan Bautista] and we were able to go anywhere safely any time of the day or night. I used to like to go to the old Catholic mission church at night when no one else was there. The front door in those days was always unlocked and a low light was always burning. Every year they had a big parade, rodeo and barbecue. I loved those times. The parade and rodeo were terminated many years ago.

 

[Philip James]

Walking places... Taking the bus.... By our selves to go and play and swim and skate and cycle and catch crayfish and toboggon and bumper shine :)

 

[FHII]

I was born in the 60's. Yet I heard how soft my generation was from my elders. The thing is I listened and at around the age of 18 0r 19 I grew to appreciate hard work, blue collar and certain values they spoke of.

I still loved pin ball, but it was on the outs when I was a teen as the "pac man" generation was rising. Back then... Even though it was shunned by the older generation, you actually had to come up with a quarter to play a game. And you had to ride your bike to the arcade!

We still played sandlot football and baseball in the 70's and 80's. Oh... And the woods! An actual forest! That was a great playground! They were all "haunted" and all secretly had a mountain lion and a sacred Indian burial ground there... Maybe bigfoot as well! We believed and went looking for them!

Walking 2 miles round trip to get a slushee was not unheard of. Riding 10 round trip to hang out with your girlfriend just to hold her hand and pray you may get a kiss was also the norm.

And we guys all feared our girlfriend's dad! Cause then... They were actually intimidating to us!

Just reminising!

 

[Helen]

I was born in the 60's. Yet I heard how soft my generation was from my elders. The thing is I listened and at around the age of 18 0r 19 I grew to appreciate hard work, blue collar and certain values they spoke of.

I still loved pin ball, but it was on the outs when I was a teen as the "pac man" generation was rising. Back then... Even though it was shunned by the older generation, you actually had to come up with a quarter to play a game. And you had to ride your bike to the arcade!

We still played sandlot football and baseball in the 70's and 80's. Oh... And the woods! An actual forest! That was a great playground! They were all "haunted" and all secretly had a mountain lion and a sacred Indian burial ground there... Maybe bigfoot as well! We believed and went looking for them!

Walking 2 miles round trip to get a slushee was not unheard of. Riding 10 round trip to hang out with your girlfriend just to hold her hand and pray you may get a kiss was also the norm.

And we guys all feared our girlfriend's dad! Cause then... They were actually intimidating to us!

Just reminising!

Oh that sounds delightful.
So I am old enough to be your mother!! My kids were born in the sixties. :)

As I look at it, you and my kids still had some 'safe freedoms'...although I still said " Don't talk to strangers" when they went off to the park to play.
Because I am biased, I still think that we who where born during the war in England, had the best of childhoods. The stiff Victorian age was well behind us ( my parents were Edwardian by birth 1907 ) ...and safe freedoms were our portion in the 40's when the war ended. Even rationing was an art for our parents. Juggling and swapping coupon with neighbours. I remember it well

 

[Truth]

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL BORN IN 1930's, 1940's, 50's, 60's, 70's !!!
First, you survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a tin, and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, your baby cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints. You had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when you rode your bikes, you had no helmets, not to mention, the risks you took hitchhiking ....
As children, you would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a van - loose - was always great fun.
You drank water from the garden hosepipe and NOT from a bottle. You shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.
You ate cakes, white bread and real butter and drank pop with sugar in it, but you weren't overweight because...... YOU WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!
You 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 you all day. And you were OK. You would spend hours building your go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out you forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, you learned to solve the problem .
You did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no text messaging, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........YOU HAD FRIENDS and you went outside and found them!
You fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents you played with worms(well most boys did) and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. You made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although you were told it would happen, you did not poke out any eyes.
You rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them! Local teams 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 you out if you broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

This generation has 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. You had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and you learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS!
What a blessing have had the chance to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives 'for our own good.

1953- was the year I was born, the last of 5 children, we did have plenty of freedom as children, we played in the streets without many cars to contend with,I looked up to my older brothers, and always followed their lead. I was struck by your statement about not coming home until the street lights came on! Wow that was somewhat of a Commandment from my Parents, we were not allowed to sit in the house, or watch TV, we were expected to just go out and play, and there were no real predators out to harm Kids, It would be like living in a domed world of safety, compared to today! We also were disciplined when we messed up, we were taught right from wrong, respect for others, and their property, YES we had the Time to be Children, and it went SOOO Fast, Thank You for This Thread, it does Warm the Soul!

 

[Helen]

Yes, we are blessing indeed. A rich life. And good to stop a moment and be thankful . :)

 

[amadeus]

I spoke before of living in a small California town, but my father lived all of his life in Oklahoma City. While I lived in California with my mother I visited my father almost every year. I remember the difference between Oklahoma City and our nearest large city of San Francisco was like day and night.

Even in those days San Francisco, although mild compared to today, already had a bad reputation on some things and a person needed to be very especially in some neighborhoods. When visiting my father in Oklahoma City I lived and played then as I did in that small California town. I routinely walked alone even at night from my father's house to my grandmother's house several blocks away.

Today I live less than 100 miles from Oklahoma City and my father's old neighborhood is a dangerous place even to drive a car. Our world has been changing. This was called the "Bible belt" in those days. I haven't heard that phrase used to describe it in quite a while.

 

[Helen]

Ouch John...sad indeed. But even so...we are blessed to be able to remember the freedoms. The next generation wont even know about it unless they read of it in books...but the, ..not long and they will be saying-

"Mom, what is a book? " and really mean it!!!!

 

[Truth]

I spoke before of living in a small California town, but my father lived all of his life in Oklahoma City. While I lived in California with my mother I visited my father almost every year. I remember the difference between Oklahoma City and our nearest large city of San Francisco was like day and night.

Even in those days San Francisco, although mild compared to today, already had a bad reputation on some things and a person needed to be very especially in some neighborhoods. When visiting my father in Oklahoma City I lived and played then as I did in that small California town. I routinely walked alone even at night from my father's house to my grandmother's house several blocks away.

Today I live less than 100 miles from Oklahoma City and my father's old neighborhood is a dangerous place even to drive a car. Our world has been changing. This was called the "Bible belt" in those days. I haven't heard that phrase used to describe it in quite a while.

Yes I grew up just south of Frisco, San Mateo, and as I grew up I watched all the small towns from San Jose to Frisco grow together. It was pretty Safe even when I left in 1977 to Modesto, and I watched that place grow, to much gangs, so I moved to Idaho in 1989 and when I left California I promised myself that I would not return to California, only went to visit my dad in 2011, for the last time. I think you would have to carry to many Guns to return to my old Neighborhood in San Mateo, sad state California! I enjoyed growing up there, but would not return to save my life!

 

[Truth]

The sad thing is...our grandchildren will never be sad....because you can't miss what you never had.

That is the Heartbreak, we used to use our Imaginations, we would always find something to do, we didn't need high tec stuff to take away our ability to think, we also didn't have to keep up with all the peer pressure, the rules, being politically correct, even freedom of speech still lived, we took care of our disagreements behind the bleachers, and then returned as friends, with respect for each other! now they kill each other with one form of weapon or another! Please God Help Our Youth, So much to loose!

 

[Helen]

 

[amadeus]

Yes I grew up just south of Frisco, San Mateo, and as I grew up I watched all the small towns from San Jose to Frisco grow together. It was pretty Safe even when I left in 1977 to Modesto, and I watched that place grow, to much gangs, so I moved to Idaho in 1989 and when I left California I promised myself that I would not return to California, only went to visit my dad in 2011, for the last time. I think you would have to carry to many Guns to return to my old Neighborhood in San Mateo, sad state California! I enjoyed growing up there, but would not return to save my life!

We were geographically fairly very close to one another then. I transferred on my job from Richmond, CA to Merced, CA in 1981 where I worked until 1984. The Merced office was a branch of the Modesto District Social Security office so as part of training or covering when they were short-handed I periodically spent a day working in Modesto. I went from Merced to Sunnyvale for my last year in California before to Wyoming in 1985. I was there 2 years before finishing up my secular career in Oklahoma.

My wife, who was born in San Francisco said she would never go back to live in California for some of the reasons we are discussing and we have not although we have visited family there a few times over the years.

 

[Stranger]

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL BORN IN 1930's, 1940's, 50's, 60's, 70's !!!
First, you survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a tin, and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, your baby cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints. You had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when you rode your bikes, you had no helmets, not to mention, the risks you took hitchhiking ....
As children, you would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a van - loose - was always great fun.
You drank water from the garden hosepipe and NOT from a bottle. You shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.
You ate cakes, white bread and real butter and drank pop with sugar in it, but you weren't overweight because...... YOU WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!
You 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 you all day. And you were OK. You would spend hours building your go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out you forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, you learned to solve the problem .
You did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no text messaging, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........YOU HAD FRIENDS and you went outside and found them!
You fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents you played with worms(well most boys did) and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. You made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although you were told it would happen, you did not poke out any eyes.
You rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them! Local teams 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 you out if you broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

This generation has 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. You had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and you learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS!
What a blessing have had the chance to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives 'for our own good.

The Lord was with us.

Stranger