Thread: Gotta Be Over 40 to Understand

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 get food poisoning.

My Mom used to defrost hamburger on the counter AND I used to eat a bite raw sometimes, too.

Our school sandwiches were wrapped in wax paper, in a brown paper bag, not in icepack coolers, but I can't remember anybody 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 hightop 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.

What an archaic health system we had then. Remember school nurses? Ours wore a hat and everything, and she could even give you an aspirin for a headache or fever.

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

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 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.

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?

And if we had a fight with someone, we didnt need weapons, it was fists and thats it. And when it was all over, we were all still alive and most of the time later became friends. And we never had Video in our cars, we would read books and count VW bugs to pass the time. And we left our car doors unlocked, and could leave or bikes on the porch at night, and they would still be there in the morning..and no Im not over 40, but im gettin there quick...lol

Elvis was still alive and you could undestand every word he sang. Also, before car jackings. Before gang drive by shootings, with semi-automatic weapons. And dont for get pit-bulls.

Ahhhhh, the good old days.

Dixie

We could sleep out in the yard on cots on hot nights and try to count the stars...no one bothered us...we could take long walks thru the neighborhood stopping and visiting with folks taking the evening air on their porches...we knew everybody in our neighborhoods..

We walked to school...might be a mile or more...our town had just one highschool so my sister walked a couple of miles each way...We didn't have to have school buses...those were only for kids who lived miles and miles out..parents didn't drop off their kids when they lived only blocks away...No one tried to kidnap us..

We could leave our houses unlocked 24/7.

Television wasn't available in our area until I was 16 years old.

Criminals were punished severely...they weren't slapped on the wrist.Nobody said a criminal came from a 'bad home environment' or tried to 'understand' them.

MJ

Gasoline was $.25 per gallon, and I swear food tasted better. Candy bars were huge and nobody got fat.

We walked everywhere, and never got harassed. Schools had real holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, and actually celebrated them.

And speaking of Halloween, we were allowed to go out by ourselves, and never worried about what we were given. Had someone slipped us a razor blade or done something to our treats, the rest of the neighbors would have beaten them to a pulp.

Ah yes......and we rode our bicycles without helmets and survived spills. We took naps on the little ledge in the window in the backseat of the car on vacations. We could wonder around the toy department while mom and dad shopped and never worried about being abducted by some loon. We did math with no calculator!!!! Granted I did have to remove my shoes from time to time. We could count change back all by ourselves. We managed to learn alot and not have to tote a 50lb. back-pack everywhere we went. My papers were graded with a red pencil and my self-esteem wasn't damaged forever. We didn't have visits from social services at school telling us to report our parents if they swatted us or yelled at us. (They would kill me!!) We drank milk straight from the cow without being pasturized and everything! The principle had a paddle and used it . We did the pledge every morning. You could pray at lunch if you wanted to. We had to stand in the corner, have our desk put out in the hall or god forbid get sent to the principle when we were bad. Had to do things like write I will not talk in class 500x's, instead of being drugged up for being a kid. We had windows to look out to daydream of an idea to do our papers on or our art project. Gee amazing we survived it all...................

Originally Posted by CountFloyd

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 get food poisoning.

My Mom used to defrost hamburger on the counter AND I used to eat a bite raw sometimes, too.

Our school sandwiches were wrapped in wax paper, in a brown paper bag, not in icepack coolers, but I can't remember anybody 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 hightop 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.

What an archaic health system we had then. Remember school nurses? Ours wore a hat and everything, and she could even give you an aspirin for a headache or fever.

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

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 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.

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?

Amen!!

I had some ideas too to add but once I read the replies you all have covered it quite well. We just plain had more freedom. People trusted each other, most the time. Today parents have to be careful how they discipline their own children, teachers cannot discipline in the classrooms and consequently there is less respect. Now there is a word I heard a lot growing up - Respect! Aren't laws suppose to be for the good of the people? Society should be better than it was if that is the case. Now there is so much political correctness going on no one says what they really feel or they will offend someone or get sued. Sure is upside down from what it use to be. Well, I am glad I was able to ride in the back of a pickup truck, what a ride!

I actually feel sorry for my children and all the freedom I experienced as a child. I am not quite 40 (almost) but I do remember all of those things and more.

I remember leaving to go play with friends in the morning and my mom would say be home by dinner and just be without a care in the world and my parents did not have to worry about me.

My children will never know that freedom. They are 2 and 6 now and I do not even let them in their own yard without mom or dad. My daughter who is 6 was approached by a child molester in the city library of all places with her dad not 3 feet away on the other side of the book shelf. We had him arrested and he is awaiting trial for this and 2 other counts of child molestation. It is a sick, sick world and as a parent you cannot let them be free like we were. Sadly, that freedom is gone.

Soda pop was in glass bottles that you saved up and took back to the store to get the deposit fee to buy more soda. That special treat you only got once in a blue moon.We didn't throw them on the streets. Milk, water and kool-aid were the drinks available everywhere you went.

5th grade a new rule! A momentus moment for girl's. We were now aloud to wear dress pants to school. No more chaft, dry, hot pink legs in the winter. No more tights that always slipped down to leave wrinkles at your ankles and the crouch at your knee's. By the time 6th grade school shopping came around, we all had at least one polyester leasure pant suit in our school wardrobe. Our parents didn't buy us clothes year round. We shopped once for school. Got 4 to 5 outfits, and once for summer. Two pairs of shoes were it. School shoes and tennis shoes in summer. We wore handme downs from our older sibblings or cousins. Clothes lasted threw 2 to 3 kids because we took care of our clothes. Removed them after school and put on old worn out play clothes. Jeans became aloud in my 7th grade year of school.

Dinner time was always at a set time of evening. Usually shortly after dad got home from work. Every family member sat down for dinner together. 7 days a week no exceptions. If you whinned and protested to loudly about what mom made for dinner you got a smack in the chops, not a separate menu prepared for you. You cleaned your plate then asked to be excused to begin homework after the table was cleared. Our family never owned a calculater. We did our bill's and homework using our head's for math. No TV, No sterio, No phone calls, No computer going as we did it.

If you were out playing, you were to be home no later than dark. If you came in the door after dark fell you were grounded. No phone calls past 9pm at night from friends. In the winter, the entire family sat together watching TV in the evening. Carol Burnett Show, Gilligan's Island, Sonny & Cher, Mash, Lost in space, Star Trek, Evening News, Wrestling , Roller Derby, Lawerance Welk Show, Ed Sulivan, Lucy. On Saturday mornings the TV was non stop cartoons for kids. Tom & Jerry, Mickey Mouse, Scooby Doo, Josey and the Pussycats, Mighty Mouse, Mr Magoo, Go Speed Racer, Silverster & Tweety Show.

Bath time we all used the same bar of soap. No different bath gels for each child and adult. Toothpaste was one tube for everyone. No kiddie toothpaste that tasted like candy. The bar of soap at the sink was Lava soap. You learned early on not to use that one on your face. But, it damn sure got your hands clean. No tuti fruity squirt soaps. Lotion was usually a dolup of vasoline, and hair gel was your mom's spit. Laundry detergent always gave you a new floral towel gift in every box. Our mom's collected the entire set of towels, and wash clothes. And jams and jelly's were canned in drinking glasses so you could keep them and reuse them after the jam was gone. Room freshners and ionizers were an open window and the smell of bleach as your mom mopped the floor.

Christmas cookies came from a bag of flour and tub of lard not pre-made in a can. The Pilsbury doe boy was on the side of flour not half the refrigerator case at the store. TV dinners were only for mean old men living alone cause everyone was scared of them. Dinner out was a visit to the new Kentucky Fried Chicken place twice a year. Dinner at Grandma's consisted of an all day affair. From watching the chicken get caught then rocked to sleep, to the head chopped off and Grandma plucking feathers. Biscuits being cut, potatoes being peeled, corn shucked and green beans snapped. No one went away from that table hungry that night.

And when you got sick your mom kept your butt at home. Nursed you back to health. She didn't send you off to school to infect everyone there. Illness was still taken seriously. And the spread of any virus was serious. Your mom didn't decided to save her vacation days (for fun stuff) and send you off for teachers to clean up the vomit. Children coming to school with head lice was unheard of. Your family was verbally torchured if the kids were unkept and dirty. Hair was clean and combed, clothes clean and pressed. You never saw kids running around town with dirty faces covered in food, or snotty noses. Not even infants.