Remember when...

I remember when nuclear winter was a real possibility, with a real chance of the entire world being annialated. Now some people threaten some people- we just all deal with it.

I remember when air quality was so bad- and when driving in a car, we would stink after a long day of travel.

I remember when water pollution was so bad, well- bodies of water would catch on fire.

I remember a whole lot of things that I would rather not.

I also think that most of the growing up parts is how people parent. If you are a parent and your kids would rather play video games than go outside, well, thats your fault. Complain about cost of food, yet kids are growing up with more diabetes, and fatter. Manners- parents, again.

Yea, the past is the past.

Oh and I remember when words were not spelled in acronyms!!!

I remember playing outside with just my friends - no parents - for hours on end, and my parents not worrying about me so much. People don't do that nowadays, but why? Not because it's a more dangerous time - in fact it's a less dangerous time. Abductions and violent crime are down.. just one of life's oddities. People are more scared of less violence.

Kids still love playing outside, half the time it's the parents that can't be bothered to get up off their butts and play with their kids.

I'm 26, so I don't remember most of the E36 M3 you're talking about. I did catch the tail end of the "went outside to play" thing though.

Goddamn senior citizens, GET OFF MY LAWN!

In reply to Grizz:

Heck I am only 6 years older than you. Granted I can remember seeing ET in the theater with my aunt and hiding from her so I guess I have a fairly good memory. I can also remember going to Return of the Jedi with my parents and falling asleep about half an hour in and not waking up until the Ewoks were on the scene.

It is funny even in the small town that I live in now you really don't see many kids out playing. There is really only one park in town that gets much traffic during the summer and that is because it has the river.

rebelgtp wrote: In reply to Grizz: Heck I am only 6 years older than you. Granted I can remember seeing ET in the theater with my aunt and hiding from her so I guess I have a fairly good memory. I can also remember going to Return of the Jedi with my parents and falling asleep about half an hour in and not waking up until the Ewoks were on the scene.

Heh. I drove to see Star Wars, and I took a date.

Hear ya on the kids outside. Lo plays, but it seems like only with the kids two houses down, and only in the cul-de-sac. They don't ride off into the countryside like we used to do.

In reply to friedgreencorrado:

I remember completely trashing my bike in a wreck about 3 or 4 miles from my house and having to walk back lugging the bike along. My biggest worry was I had torn a new pair jeans for school and got blood all over them. My buddy was laughing his ass off at me the entire way back. Granted I had done the same to him in a similar situation.

I am 23 and I grew up outside.

I am 23 and I grew up outside.

^I'm the same age as you, and I also had a thoroughly outdoors-y, wholesome childhood. (I grew up in the sticks, mind.)

I don't recall being allowed pocket knives in school, though. Nor was weed ever as cheap as $10/gram

dculberson wrote: I remember playing outside with just my friends - no parents - for hours on end, and my parents not worrying about me so much. People don't do that nowadays, but why? Not because it's a more dangerous time - in fact it's a less dangerous time. Abductions and violent crime are down.. just one of life's oddities. People are more scared of less violence. Kids still love playing outside, half the time it's the parents that can't be bothered to get up off their butts and play with their kids.

Yeah, I don't see that as much anymore it seems like.

My parents would have to yell at me to get me inside the house.

Luke wrote: ^I'm the same age as you, and I also had a thoroughly outdoors-y, wholesome childhood. (I grew up in the sticks, mind.) I don't recall being allowed pocket knives in school, though. Nor was weed ever as cheap as $10/gram

$10 buys a gram of damn good looking medical weed in Michigan, today.

"regular" gas had lead in it.

cars didn't need software updates.

Red meat was healthy

front wheel drive was weird

There are two kids next door to me and three kids four houses down that are playing outside ALL THE TIME. So much so that when I'm working in the garage, there's a random neighborhood kid stopping by every 15-20 minutes to see what I'm working on. It probably doesn't help that I'm building a giant freakin' robot right now. I guess if I don't want to be bothered I should work on boring stuff.

Oh, and I rode my BMX bike everywhere when I was a kid, and I'm not sure that bicycle helmets even existed back then, because I sure as hell never saw one.

I'm glad to hear some good news about kids being outside. And about younger folks who got outside.

Aside to Rebel: Longest walk like that I ever had, I was riding my new bicycle fast on a road I didn't know. Turned out to be the road to the boat ramp. Got a bad case of object fixation, rode straight into the water. My buddy said it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen.

16vCorey wrote: Oh, and I rode my BMX bike everywhere when I was a kid, and I'm not sure that bicycle helmets even existed back then, because I sure as hell never saw one.

The kids in my neighborhood rode modified Schwinn Stingrays or the equivalent. You knew something interesting/dangerous was soon to happen when you saw your buddies wearing a footbal helmet while riding bikes.

16vCorey wrote: Oh, and I rode my BMX bike everywhere when I was a kid, and I'm not sure that bicycle helmets even existed back then, because I sure as hell never saw one.

Yeah, I don't remember anyone riding a bike with a helmet on. We had some trails in the woods in the back of my neighborhood with tabletop jumps and burmed turns. We used to spend hours back there everyday. Man this thread is making me miss my childhood.

Luke wrote: ^I'm the same age as you, and I also had a thoroughly outdoors-y, wholesome childhood. (I grew up in the sticks, mind.) I don't recall being allowed pocket knives in school, though. Nor was weed ever as cheap as $10/gram

Oh yeah it was around here. In fact, it went like this: a nickel was a $5 bag, 1/4 oz. A dime was a half ounce, you could buy a 3/4 ounce lid for $15 and a full ounce for $20.

I used to watch Star Trek when I got home from school, then watch Saturday AM cartoons. At noon the cartoons ended, then it was outside for the rest of the day.

In reply to friedgreencorrado:

I had a buddy going down a steep long hill as about as fast as a BMX could go. We passed this girl a couple years older than us standing in her front yard in a bikini and looking like she was getting ready to go to the pool. My buddy locked on and as he rode by his head turned...He slammed into the back of a Volvo wagon. I laughed.

Anti-stance wrote: Yeah, I don't remember anyone riding a bike with a helmet on. We had some trails in the woods in the back of my neighborhood with tabletop jumps and burmed turns. We used to spend hours back there everyday. Man this thread is making me miss my childhood.

My childhood was a lot of fun, but being an adult is awesome. This weekend I got to tear apart a v8 and in a few weeks I'll be driving on a racetrack in South Carolina. I could only dream about that stuff as a kid. ;-)

lots of good memories of the "good old days" ... some of it not so good / some really great ...like ... no AIDS and no crack cocaine .. a little meth and H if you were stupid enough to try those ... but pot and powder ... relatively safe

dculberson wrote:

Anti-stance wrote: Yeah, I don't remember anyone riding a bike with a helmet on. We had some trails in the woods in the back of my neighborhood with tabletop jumps and burmed turns. We used to spend hours back there everyday. Man this thread is making me miss my childhood.

My childhood was a lot of fun, but being an adult is awesome. This weekend I got to tear apart a v8 and in a few weeks I'll be driving on a racetrack in South Carolina. I could only dream about that stuff as a kid. ;-)

Very true. I guess I feel like I had much more of a reason to be outside when I was a kid. But you're right, getting to drive a racecar on racetracks is far more fun than having a poster of a racecar on your wall.

One more bit of awesomeness from my adolescence... Anyone else break a collarbone flipping one of these on the transition from dirt to pavement?

I used to ride my bike everywhere. I was scared E36 M3less a couple of years ago when I was back 'home' and saw some of the hills I used to fly down as fast as possble in races with no helmet and cars coming the other way. I mean very twisty single lane roads with high stone walls on either side. The fact I survived shows that Darwin was a sleep for a few years then.