Topic: When I was young

[BlindDruid]

Just had a birthday the other day and I was thinking of the good old days.

We didn't have commercials with the subtitles, "Do not try this at home".

The Looney Tune cartoons were just that, cartoons!  Not some promotional concept created to sell 'stuff'.

Politicians actually debated political points of view, instead of just slinging 'mud' at each other.

Television had 3, maybe 4 channels to chose from, not 1000+.

People were famous for what they did, not who they did.

The only time you ever saw 'buttcrack' was on a plumber, not on every young man walking down the street.

People had home phones, not cell phones.

People read books, not electronic devices.

I learned to do math in my head, rather than get to use a calculator.

Gas Station Attendants actually pumped the gas into your car, rather than hide in a bullet resistant glass cage.

Phone booths could be found around town, like in Superman movies.

One could enjoy themselves at a movie for $5 or less, including snacks, rather than paying more than $5 for just the darn ticket.

   I'm sure that there are a number of things that I haven't listed here, probably because I've forgotten them due to old age.... or something like that.

[Metalhawk]

Television had 3, maybe 4 channels to chose from, not 1000+.

Still kinda does. The current 1000+ all seem to play the same few shows.

[stone169]

We didn't have video games, so we actually went out and played.  You could walk out the door with a baseball glove and end up playing street hockey or vice versa.

I was a kid the 70s and a teenager in the 80s.  People knock those two decades all the time, but the truth is we had more fun and more respect for the people around us, then kids do now.

[BlindDruid]

Stone,  you are absolutely correct.  We played outside until our parents dragged us into the house for meals and bedtime.  I remember taking my bike and fishing rod out for a day of fishing when I was 12-13 years old.  Now I'm not sure if its the parents who are afraid of sending their kids outside because of all the bad things that can happen or if its kids attitudes of not wanting ay adventure in their lives.  Back then there was no social media so you didn't hear much about the bad things I guess or they have just increased over time.  I guess its a combination of both.  Give the kid a device and you start them down the path of isolated activity.

[stone169]

I remember the one golden rule of being a kid back in the day..."You come home when the street lights come on."

I encourage my kids to go out and hang out with friends all the time, just so long as they let us know where they're going, who they are with, and when they intend to come home (that's when the negotiation starts).

Although my oldest could never understand why we always got on him over playing video games and not his younger brother.  We kept trying to explain to him that the difference was he never let the house to physically socialize with anyone, while his younger brother would go hang out with friends, play video games, play outside, then go back to playing video games.

[CrustyOldGuy]

I remember the one golden rule of being a kid back in the day..."You come home when the street lights come on."