NationStates Jolt Archive


For Those Born Before 1980!

JuNii
28-07-2006, 06:45
Just a little something I recieved in my Email... and it brought back alot of memories.

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN 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 carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were 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 children, we would ride in cars with no 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 soda pop with sugar in it, 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 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet 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 yelled for 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!

Those generations has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned

HOW TO

DEAL WITH IT ALL!

And YOU are one of them!

CONGRATULATIONS!

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

and while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.

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

PS -The big type is because your eyes are shot at your age.
New Stalinberg
28-07-2006, 06:48
Yeah, I wish I had been born then.
HotRodia
28-07-2006, 06:51
Heh. I was born in '84, and that sounds a lot like my childhood.
UpwardThrust
28-07-2006, 06:57
Heh. I was born in '84, and that sounds a lot like my childhood.
83 and same
Colodia
28-07-2006, 06:58
Isn't this the same generation that brought us great philosophers to power like George W. Bush and destroyed that evil thing called the ozone layer?

Oh right, and isn't that the generation that today is pretty much the most obese in the world?

Yeah well at least you did one thing right, produce a younger generation with the brains to realize how badly everyone else before us messed up!!!

(Heh I don't mean to sound like a horrid jackass (ooo apparently your generation can deal with it so I shouldn't have to apologize! But I must anyway) yeah you're supposed to take my post as a joke in case you didn't realize it)

...Sue me, I felt left out...
Voxio
28-07-2006, 07:04
Yeah, I wish I had been born then.
Me too...the music was better, the clothing lookd better on me and I wouldn't have to deal with so many things I hate about society.
Pepe Dominguez
28-07-2006, 07:07
So what happened in 1980 exactly? ;)

Heh. I was born in '84, and that sounds a lot like my childhood.

Ditto.
Posi
28-07-2006, 07:08
Isn't this the same generation that brought us great philosophers to power like George W. Bush and destroyed that evil thing called the ozone layer?

Oh right, and isn't that the generation that today is pretty much the most obese in the world?

Yeah well at least you did one thing right, produce a younger generation with the brains to realize how badly everyone else before us messed up!!!

(Heh I don't mean to sound like a horrid jackass (ooo apparently your generation can deal with it so I shouldn't have to apologize! But I must anyway) yeah you're supposed to take my post as a joke in case you didn't realize it)

...Sue me, I felt left out...
Don't forget pedophilia.
NERVUN
28-07-2006, 07:10
I always love the "Life was so much better then" threads because they always ignore the bad stuff going on during those times too.
Posi
28-07-2006, 07:17
I always love the "Life was so much better then" threads because they always ignore the bad stuff going on during those times too.
Like how they did not have the XBOX 360, the PS3 and the Wii.
Colodia
28-07-2006, 07:21
Don't forget pedophilia.
Feh, we get free candy out of that. Or at least we're supposed to. I guess the definition of "candy" isn't well-defined sometimes. :eek:
Not bad
28-07-2006, 07:24
Isn't this the same generation that brought us great philosophers to power like George W. Bush and destroyed that evil thing called the ozone layer?

Oh right, and isn't that the generation that today is pretty much the most obese in the world?

Yeah well at least you did one thing right, produce a younger generation with the brains to realize how badly everyone else before us messed up!!!

(Heh I don't mean to sound like a horrid jackass (ooo apparently your generation can deal with it so I shouldn't have to apologize! But I must anyway) yeah you're supposed to take my post as a joke in case you didn't realize it)

...Sue me, I felt left out...

Ladies and gentlemen I present to you the future of mankind.

We are doomed doomed doomed
Dinaverg
28-07-2006, 07:24
Like how they did not have the XBOX 360, the PS3 and the Wii.

Or the internet. I assume.

...they had to use dial-up.
Colodia
28-07-2006, 07:31
Ladies and gentlemen I present to you the future of mankind.

We are doomed doomed doomed
Is this a bad time to mention how much I like small, cute, and fluffy things? THEY'RE SO GODDAMNED ADORABLE! I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!
Not bad
28-07-2006, 07:32
Is this a bad time to mention how much I like small, cute, and fluffy things? THEY'RE SO GODDAMNED ADORABLE! I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!

doomed
Posi
28-07-2006, 07:33
Ladies and gentlemen I present to you the future of mankind.

We are doomed doomed doomed
No, you just have to learn to deal with us.
Dinaverg
28-07-2006, 07:34
No, you just have to learn to deal with us.

Or die of old age, whatever works for you guys really.
The South Islands
28-07-2006, 07:35
doomed

He can't be any worse than the previous generation.
Posi
28-07-2006, 07:36
Or die of old age, whatever works for you guys really.
Just don't expect a pension.
United Chicken Kleptos
28-07-2006, 07:38
I was born in '91. Does that make me elligible?
Not bad
28-07-2006, 07:42
He can't be any worse than the previous generation.

Thats exactly what they wrongly predicted about the previous generation compared to the one before it.

Gen X to Gen next to Gen hexed
Posi
28-07-2006, 07:44
He can't be any worse than the previous generation.
Yes he is. If only out of spite. We've put up with allot of the last gen's crap.
HotRodia
28-07-2006, 07:47
I was born in '91. Does that make me elligible?

To get a learner's permit in the US, yes.
The South Islands
28-07-2006, 07:49
I never would have guessed how many really old and really young people we have on this forum.
Posi
28-07-2006, 07:50
I never would have guessed how many really old and really young people we have on this forum.
The moderatly aged have shit to do.
United Chicken Kleptos
28-07-2006, 07:52
To get a learner's permit in the US, yes.

Sweet! I'll be running over crap in no time! :D
The South Islands
28-07-2006, 07:53
The moderatly aged have shit to do.

Indeed, old chap, indeed.
Posi
28-07-2006, 08:00
Indeed, old chap, indeed.
:confused: But just how old of a chap am I? Mankind shall never know. :confused:
The South Islands
28-07-2006, 08:01
:confused: But just how old? :confused:
How old is moderately aged?

Hmmm...18-24?
HotRodia
28-07-2006, 08:03
How old is moderately aged?

Hmmm...18-24?

That depends on what sort of liquor you're talking about.
Posi
28-07-2006, 08:05
How old is moderately aged?

Hmmm...18-24?
Shit! I got shit to do!
The South Islands
28-07-2006, 08:06
That depends on what sort of liquor you're talking about.

Well, that's not bad for most liquors that I'm familiar with, and very good for most.

A 24 year old Pinot Noir is most excellent.
The Archregimancy
28-07-2006, 08:06
TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN 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 carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.


All of which might well go some way towards explaining why I was told in January that I have leukaemia.

Oh, I'm sorry - was that too much of a downer?
Posi
28-07-2006, 08:10
All of which might well go some way towards explaining why I was told in January that I have leukaemia.

Oh, I'm sorry - was that too much of a downer?
No. Their generation can deal with bad news.
Unlucky_and_unbiddable
28-07-2006, 08:34
I find it amusing how those e-mails complain about kids not going outside and how they are babied when those are the age groups that preventing kids from doing as they did. I also found it amusing when they mentioned how they used to do things that some of my moms close friends died from.
Laerod
28-07-2006, 08:51
Just a little something I recieved in my Email... and it brought back alot of memories.Actually, a lot of those apply to my childhood too... And I was made in the 80s...
Intangelon
28-07-2006, 08:52
I think the whole OP can be boiled down to a greater acceptance in those decades of passive eugenics. The kid that didn't figure out brakes on his go-kart didn't grow up to have kids of his own. Thinning the herd, as it were.

In the interest of full disclosure, I was born in 1970. I had the benefits of all the things in the OP, but I did have a video game beginning in 1980. It was the Intellivision. We got it because Sylvania, a hardware/TV component of what was then GTE (and is now the incomprehensibly named Verizon) offered a discount to GTE employees on the then $250 retail price. And while I was a thin, energetic and outdoors-lovin' kid, I did spend many spare hours glued to that son-of-a-bitch. In fact I blame the game Utopia for starting my addiction to strategy games that lingers to this day (Civ 4, anyone?).

Astrosmash, Dungeons & Dragons: The Treasure of Tarmin, Discs of Tron, Sub Hunt, Sea Battle, Armor Battle, Space Battle, Star Strike, NFL Football, NBA Basketball, Major League Baseball, Microsurgeon, Truckin', Night Stalker, and countless other titles ended my Saturday morning cartoon habit and converted it into my Saturday morning get-past-the-damned-minotaur-on-level-16 habit. We even had a forward-thinking video store in the early 80s that would rent you Intellivision, and it's lesser but more popular counterpart, Atari, games. That kind of service is considered fairly new now. When Video West went out of business, they began to sell their rental games for 2, 3, and eventually 5 for the price of 1.

I still have the console and those games, and they still work.

Good times.
Intangelon
28-07-2006, 08:54
I find it amusing how those e-mails complain about kids not going outside and how they are babied when those are the age groups that preventing kids from doing as they did. I also found it amusing when they mentioned how they used to do things that some of my moms close friends died from.
Well, as far as I can tell, becoming a parent seems to make you immediately forget the "dangerous" stuff you did as a kid. Or at the very least understand why your parents freaked at some of that stuff.
Dryks Legacy
28-07-2006, 09:12
Like how they did not have the XBOX 360, the PS3 and the Wii.

I still don't :(

I never would have guessed how many really old and really young people we have on this forum.

I know better now.
Cannot think of a name
28-07-2006, 09:15
Well, as far as I can tell, becoming a parent seems to make you immediately forget the "dangerous" stuff you did as a kid. Or at the very least understand why your parents freaked at some of that stuff.
Well that's pretty much it, isn't it? If parents didn't freak out about the things that we did we would have gotten into far crazier shit. Pulling towards the center.

As to that list, I was born in the required set, but you know what? Some of that shit was a bad fucking idea. Yeah, my parents used to pop me on top of the tonneau of the TR-3 when I was only 3 years old-but that was a bad idea. Just because I survived it doesn't make it a good idea. I mean, for fucks sake, people used to do all kinds of crazy stupid shit that they survived but I'm not lining up to do any of it. "Shit, they lived" is the lowest criteria possible.

Some stuff, like I think childhood is the time for minor failures like losing games or not getting picked for teams so that you learn that not everything you want is going to work out the way you want it to and you can work to mitigate that but ultimately you have to learn to deal with it-sure. But I don't see how pregnant women smoking our tossing 55 pound kids in the back of an open truck bed does that.
Whereyouthinkyougoing
28-07-2006, 09:20
But I don't see how pregnant women smoking our tossing 55 pound kids in the back of an open truck bed does that. I would have loved to ride in the back of a pick up truck. <.< We don't have those here, but I also always loved to ride in the "trunk" of vans and station wagons.

[/irrelevant picking out of one single item and turning danger into nostalgia]
HotRodia
28-07-2006, 09:23
I would have loved to ride in the back of a pick up truck. <.< We don't have those here, but I also always loved to ride in the "trunk" of vans and station wagons.

[/irrelevant picking out of one single item and turning danger into nostalgia]

It can actually be a lot of fun. I used to ride in the back of a pickup to family cookouts.
Cannot think of a name
28-07-2006, 09:25
I would have loved to ride in the back of a pick up truck. <.< We don't have those here, but I also always loved to ride in the "trunk" of vans and station wagons.

[/irrelevant picking out of one single item and turning danger into nostalgia]
Actually riding in the back of a pick up is kind of kick ass. Sort of crappy magic carpet action. I also dug those station wagons (estates, for the weirdos) that had backward facing rear seats.

And what the hell, did you just nap? Doesn't seem that long ago you where all "Ah, I'm going to sleep cause I can't hang" or something.
Lerkistan
28-07-2006, 09:28
*snip - very colourful text*

...and what is more, the people born before the 1980 can read this text without getting blind. Although I think I might be getting eye cancer now.
Isiseye
28-07-2006, 09:29
Hey I was born in 1985 and although I never got a bb gun and did have video tapes I did everything on the list...thou I did live in the country side so maybe thats why!
Whereyouthinkyougoing
28-07-2006, 09:33
sort of crappy magic carpet action. Yeah, totally. It was always real special to ride in the "trunk" because you only got to do so when there were too many people for the car so somebody had to volunteer to ride in the back - I was always the first one to yell "Here!" :p.
I also dug those station wagons (estates, for the weirdos) that had backward facing rear seats. Oooh, that sounds cool. We didn't have those.
And what the hell, did you just nap? Doesn't seem that long ago you where all "Ah, I'm going to sleep cause I can't hang" or something.Well, I went to bed at 7am and slept till shortly after 9am when I think I woke up because of somebody doing some kind of noisy repair stuff in my building. Now I'm up. Even though I've already been dead tired for the last week or so and actually had to get up at 8am the last two days. So, as usual, I went and screwed up my whole rhythm again in one fell swoop tonight (well, okay, if I ever even had a rhythm it was completely irregular anyway, but still >.<).
Cannot think of a name
28-07-2006, 09:48
Yeah, totally. It was always real special to ride in the "trunk" because you only got to do so when there were too many people for the car so somebody had to volunteer to ride in the back - I was always the first one to yell "Here!" :p.
I'm really just chasing the magic carpet experience. That's why I loved riding my old motorcycle or want a dune buggy so bad.

Though I think your family was just fuckin' with ya when they made you ride in the trunk...hehe
Oooh, that sounds cool. We didn't have those.
Oh yeah, totally. If there is one thing people in other cars are completely not prepared for, it's eye contact.
Well, I went to bed at 7am and slept till shortly after 9am when I think I woke up because of somebody doing some kind of noisy repair stuff in my building. Now I'm up. Even though I've already been dead tired for the last week or so and actually had to get up at 8am the last two days. So, as usual, I went and screwed up my whole rhythm again in one fell swoop tonight (well, okay, if I ever even had a rhythm it was completely irregular anyway, but still >.<).
Tell me about it. I have a 9 am call and I think I'm about to light up a cigar instead of going to bed.
Whereyouthinkyougoing
28-07-2006, 09:54
I'm really just chasing the magic carpet experience. That's why I loved riding my old motorcycle or want a dune buggy so bad. You know, don't even try. There is simply no way you could rationalize a fucking dune buggy. :p
Though I think your family was just fuckin' with ya when they made you ride in the trunk...hehe Heh, yeah, I was kinda waiting for that - we'd use the word for "trunk" in German even in vans and station wagons, but I guess I should have just said "back", right? >.<

Tell me about it. I have a 9 am call and I think I'm about to light up a cigar instead of going to bed. So? Whimp! It's only 2am (I think) where you are - that's a whopping 7 hours sleep time (or at least like 5 hours even if you have to get up at 7am). Off with you!
Cannot think of a name
28-07-2006, 10:00
You know, don't even try. There is simply no way you could rationalize a fucking dune buggy. :p
You don't have to rationalize something that cool, it rationalizes itself...
Heh, yeah, I was kinda waiting for that - we'd use the word for "trunk" in German even in vans and station wagons, but I guess I should have just said "back", right? >.<
I knew station wagons where called 'estates' in England...what do you want from me, woman? Actually, I kind of figured that was the case since vans don't have trunks, I just wanted to make that crack...

So? Whimp! It's only 2am (I think) where you are - that's a whopping 7 hours sleep time (or at least like 5 hours even if you have to get up at 7am). Off with you!
I think I've opted just to finish this bowl instead. This is a job where I want to be all impressive because it's for a professor I never got to take a class from but she was the one everyone thought was the best we had. So, you know, I'm all on top of that by staying up late smokin' bowls...
Whereyouthinkyougoing
28-07-2006, 10:03
So, you know, I'm all on top of that by staying up late smokin' bowls...Er, sure, that makes sense. *pats*
Cannot think of a name
28-07-2006, 10:08
Er, sure, that makes sense. *pats*
See kids? Because we where raised wrecklessly we don't have the sense to sleep when we should!

Eh? EH? Who says I can't keep things on track...
BogMarsh
28-07-2006, 10:14
Just a little something I recieved in my Email... and it brought back alot of memories.


The good old days :D

We can ride a bike without a helmet and without an angst-attack at the same time.

*thumbs nose at angsty kids*
HotRodia
28-07-2006, 10:18
"Look ma, no hands!"








































*crash*
BogMarsh
28-07-2006, 10:19
"Look ma, no hands!"



SNIP
*crash*

See, we can do that stuff without helmet, without angstiness, and WITH all our :Dteeth:D intact.
HotRodia
28-07-2006, 10:20
See, we can do that stuff without helmet, without angstiness, and WITH all our :Dteeth:D intact.

Amen, brother.
Lunatic Goofballs
28-07-2006, 10:50
In a nearby town, in order to safeguard their kids, the residents built a park for the kids to play. They made a nice safe slide. You know, not too high or steep. They made climbing tunnels and other safe play structures. They covered the ground with soft padded rubber.

A few months later a kid was crushed to death while playing on a pile of large rocks and boulders behind the empty new park. One of the boulders rolled unexpectedly and pinned him.

So they removed the boulders. Now the kids play in the street.

They should've made the park out of rocks and boulders. :p
Cameroi
28-07-2006, 11:56
what that fails to mention is that a lot of us didn't survive. it's just that there were so many of us a lot of us did.

but dam, we DID have FUN. and some of us still do.

not all of those things were harmless.

but i think there is a good point that in dictatorialy protecting people from taking VOLUNTARY (to THEMSELVES) are we not causing as much harm as good?

if someone takes a risk that puts others at risk, yes i think we have a collective right to prevent them from doing THAT.

but letting someone, even adolescent or younger, put THEMSELVES at what is often a relatively minor risk, this is indeed apples and oranges.

the only rationaly basses for the acceptability of a risk is the degree to which it is completely voluntary.

of course it is only polite consideration to think about others who may have to clean up the mess, but this is still a matter of SELF dicipline and PERSONAL responsibility.

you know, there were similar things said by our parent's and grand parent's generations about the overprotectiveness of OUR childhoods.

you DIDN'T know that?

once upon a time there didn't have to be handrails or fire exits.
a lot of people died NONvoluntarily because there weren't.

that was the era BEFORE the one refered to. before the one that 'WE' survived. there were also in THAT era, no immigration laws or border patrols.

when i was a child, any nation that closed it's borders was considered a dictatorship. grated there WAS ellis island. my mom's folks came through there, before wwii. they were lucky. those who came over here then, to escape what soon fallowed. the prelude to that conflict.

yes we have sold out our freedom to the insurance mafia.

many of those things we 'survived' were NOT all that harmless,
but, most were not such entirely unreasonable risks either.

nor has attempting to ban them, prevented others from arrising to take their place.

seat belts DO save lives. but wouldn't not getting into accidents save more of them? how about walking, biking and public transit, at least in densely populated areas where there's no good reason people should be forced to depend on private passinger automobiles, and as far as i'm concerned they do not belong in the first place.

also the thing about eating habits. yes we used white sugar and drank soda, but most meals out were NOT at macdogburgers, because fast food franchises, for the most part DID NOT YET EXIST. and so we ate a sufficiently nutritous DIVERSITY of OTHER things to keep us a good bit more healthy.

there WERE a LOT fewer of us. that's the main thing. and the reason that's the main thing is because it ment nearly all of us could either go for long walks out in the woods by ourselves, or at least walk or ride a trolly to the park. and the space between where we lived and the park or forrest, was, for most of us, a hell of a lot more inviting to walk through.

the reason for that is DIVERSITY. something we have screwed up our collective minds by all these factors that tend to reduce.

the diversity that is missing from tickey tackey developments, gated appartment complexes and fast food franchises.

we evolved in a universe that was WIERD, and was supposed to be, the way nature intended, and it is the lack of that 'wierdness', straingeness, diversity, that has us all sick today. and trying to make it less wierd, diverse and strainge, is only making us sicker.

=^^=
.../\...
Londim
28-07-2006, 12:00
Born in 88 and my life has been like that so far. Hooray for adventures in The Pit ( a small valley type thing behind my house that recenly got filled in to make more houses:( no more adventures...)
Robust Headbangers
28-07-2006, 12:06
Born in 1980... What does it make me? :eek:

Anyway, Didn't have a computer, played outside, had real friends, didn't eat junkfood like "McCrap" and all that sort of stuff you mentioned.

It is the same damn baby boomer generation that is killing the world with insane political leaders (El-Busho, Rummy, Blair and Co..);).
Corporate greed on an unprecedented level and over consumption that has led to the highest levels of obeisity ever!

Not to mention all this crazy over legislated and regulated mess of a society that we have nowdays. You have yourselves to blame for that.

Yeah, don't even dream about ever getting the pension or even health care when you retire.
Our generation is allready heavily disadvantaged financially and socially thanks to your egoistic and greedy hogging of well paid jobs and property.

So I can only say, I hope you choke on it.

It will be kerosene baths and dog food for your golden years, Seniors.
:D :D :D
Kanabia
28-07-2006, 12:23
I eat tuna from the tin. What's wrong with that? >.>
Whereyouthinkyougoing
28-07-2006, 12:28
I eat tuna from the tin. What's wrong with that? >.>
It's so totally three decades ago? :p
BackwoodsSquatches
28-07-2006, 12:28
I eat tuna from the tin. What's wrong with that? >.>


Nothing, if you love cute cuddly mercury-laden dolphins.
Kanabia
28-07-2006, 12:30
It's so totally three decades ago? :p

It is? I mean, what's the point in putting it in a bowl? It's already in a container.
Dobbsworld
28-07-2006, 12:30
It's a fairly accurate description of my childhood.
Kanabia
28-07-2006, 12:31
Nothing, if you love cute cuddly mercury-laden dolphins.

Sure, the other white meat. :)
Whereyouthinkyougoing
28-07-2006, 12:31
Nothing, if you love cute cuddly mercury-laden dolphins. See, that's the only thing I could think of that they might mean, but then they just would have written "ate tuna", period. Because whether you eat it out of the can or serve it on Meissen porcellain doesn't really change the mercury content nor save any dolphins.
Kanabia
28-07-2006, 12:32
See, that's the only thing I could think of that they might mean, but then they just would have written "ate tuna", period. Because whether you eat it out of the can or serve it on Meissen porcellain doesn't really change the mercury content nor save any dolphins.

...this tin says "dolphin friendly". Maybe it's shark instead.
BackwoodsSquatches
28-07-2006, 12:34
Yes, I am all those things brightly colored at the start of the thread.

However, I had video games, too.
Atari 2600 baby.
I AM Pitfall Harry, bitch!
and I have your Yar's Revenge hangin!


Anyways, back then, the people werent fed a daily dose of fear on the news every night.
We werent told that the only safe thing to drive your kids in, is a gas-guzzling SUV.

As for the bike helmets, I dunno...I had a friend from school fall while riding his bike and suffered a head wound.
He died from it, a week later.
But thats the only bike accident death I know of.
Whereyouthinkyougoing
28-07-2006, 12:36
It is? I mean, what's the point in putting it in a bowl?
No, it's not. :rolleyes: But I don't eat tuna out of the can either, because
1) it's makes icky screeching noises when you scrape around in the can with the fork
2) I can't eat a whole can of tuna just like that. I can maybe put it in a salad or something, but I can't eat it just straight.
3) hence, I'd have to put the half-empty can back in the fridge, and then I would start to imagine all the bacteria that came with the can (sitting on the outside) start their little march over the lip of the can and dive into the tuna and that just does seem a tiny little less hygienic than putting the contents into a small bowl to begin with.
Mstreeted
28-07-2006, 12:37
I was born in 81 and that all applied to me too!
Whereyouthinkyougoing
28-07-2006, 12:39
...this tin says "dolphin friendly". Maybe it's shark instead.
Yeah, they almost all say that these days. Let's just hope it's true. Or shark.
Kanabia
28-07-2006, 12:40
No, it's not. :rolleyes: But I don't eat tuna out of the can either, because
1) it's makes icky screeching noises when you scrape around in the can with the fork

Pfft.

2) I can't eat a whole can of tuna just like that. I can maybe put it in a salad or something, but I can't eat it just straight.

Crackers, duh. :p

3) hence, I'd have to put the half-empty can back in the fridge, and then I would start to imagine all the bacteria that came with the can (sitting on the outside) start their little march over the lip of the can and dive into the tuna and that just does seem a tiny little less hygienic than putting the contents into a small bowl to begin with.

I'm not talking about a massive 200g can though. Just one of those little sandwich serve ones.
Whereyouthinkyougoing
28-07-2006, 12:49
Crackers, duh. :p That's some weird kind of Anglosaxon thing, to put all kinds of random stuff on crackers. Must be because your bread is so shitty. :D

I'm not talking about a massive 200g can though. Just one of those little sandwich serve ones. Oh. Well, 200g is the normal size here, there's only like a couple more expensive brands that make anything smaller. And I'd never buy those because 1) they're disproportionally expensive, and 2) it's even worse for the environment (I mean resource/recycling-wise, not fish-wise) than the bigger cans.*tries to make you feel bad*
Spriggans
28-07-2006, 13:29
In the interest of full disclosure, I was born in 1970. I had the benefits of all the things in the OP, but I did have a video game beginning in 1980. It was the Intellivision. And while I was a thin, energetic and outdoors-lovin' kid, I did spend many spare hours glued to that son-of-a-bitch. In fact I blame the game Utopia for starting my addiction to strategy games that lingers to this day (Civ 4, anyone?).

Astrosmash, Dungeons & Dragons: The Treasure of Tarmin, Discs of Tron, Sub Hunt, Sea Battle, Armor Battle, Space Battle, Star Strike, NFL Football, NBA Basketball, Major League Baseball, Microsurgeon, Truckin', Night Stalker, and countless other titles ended my Saturday morning cartoon habit and converted it into my Saturday morning get-past-the-damned-minotaur-on-level-16 habit.
I still have the console and those games, and they still work.

Good times.

I was born in 1973 and it sounds like we are identical twins. I was also a very skinny, outdoor loving individual that spent many a day inside glued to the Intellivision. My Intellivision still works as well and somewhere, I still have all of my high scores for the 50 or so games that I had. My sister would complain about my black thumb fromthe controller pad. I saw some high score records somewhere, and my 500,000+ high score on Astrosmash was well over twice what was listed.

You forgot one of my favorites, Bump'n'Jump. You're right that Utopia was the precursor to all of the strategy games that I now play as well.
Keruvalia
28-07-2006, 13:31
I'm not too sure what the OP is talking about.

I was born in 1972 and had a Commodore Vic-20, a television, and 300 acres of traffic/pedophile/neighbor free land. Trees were my friends.

Every generation seems to think the next is "getting softer". Well, they aren't.

People spew drivel about the "greatest generation", but feh ... that's all based on war. Fine ... war. The "greatest generation" were drafted. My generation is all volunteer and is *still* out there entrenched in a perpetual war.

I don't think the generations are gradually getting softer, I think they're getting more focussed. The kids born in, say, 1990 have greater access to world knowledge that any other generation that came before them. They're getting smarter.

Sure, we played in trees and ate worms, but one of them will cure cancer.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Hamilay
28-07-2006, 13:34
We 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 cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

:eek: Like, the internet thing HASN'T been around for two thousand years?How did you survive? Did you, like, sit around doing cave paintings with your own blood and urine? Or did you go watch people fight to the death?

:D
LiberationFrequency
28-07-2006, 13:43
Reading that email forward makes me think not that much has changed.
Deep Kimchi
28-07-2006, 14:09
Oh right, and isn't that the generation that today is pretty much the most obese in the world?

Aren't I one of the most fit 45 year old men I've ever known?

Yes.

Not even remotely obese.
Baguetten
28-07-2006, 14:12
Just a little something I recieved in my Email...

That's where I stopped reading in avoidance of the silly spam sure to follow.
Aelosia
28-07-2006, 14:13
Having born in 1979 counts?

And well, here in the third world infants still live that kind of life. Blame those facts of your extraordinary GDP :p
Bottle
28-07-2006, 14:17
It's all well and good for people to think back fondly on their own childhoods, but I think this particular list is rather silly.

Yay, we grew up back when lead-based paint was used in cribs! Which resulted in a whole lot of babies getting sick and dying! Of course, we weren't among the babies who died, so who cares!

Yay, we grew up back when parents didn't encourage their children to wear safety gear when riding bikes! Which resulted in more children dying each year from easily-preventable injuries, or being crippled from a simple tumble off their bike! Of course, we aren't among the children who died or were crippled, so it was a much better age back then!

Yay, we grew up back when women were not informed about the risks of smoking or drinking during pregnancy! Of course, we were the lucky ones who managed to escape without critical birth defects, so that was a much happier age!

Back when we were kids, we played outside! No kids ever do that now! They're all fat and playing Xbox! No, I'm not a crusty old fart, so shut up!

Meh.

I think progress has been made, as it generally is, but there have had to be sacrifices along the way, which there usually are. It's ok to feel that life was better Back In The Day, but it's stupid to say that life was better BECAUSE more people were being hurt or killed in preventable accidents.
Farnhamia
28-07-2006, 14:24
I'm not too sure what the OP is talking about.

I was born in 1972 and had a Commodore Vic-20, a television, and 300 acres of traffic/pedophile/neighbor free land. Trees were my friends.

Every generation seems to think the next is "getting softer". Well, they aren't.

People spew drivel about the "greatest generation", but feh ... that's all based on war. Fine ... war. The "greatest generation" were drafted. My generation is all volunteer and is *still* out there entrenched in a perpetual war.

I don't think the generations are gradually getting softer, I think they're getting more focussed. The kids born in, say, 1990 have greater access to world knowledge that any other generation that came before them. They're getting smarter.

Sure, we played in trees and ate worms, but one of them will cure cancer.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
I have to agree with you on this. All that e-mail means is that things change from generation to generation (but not as much as you might imagine) and that adults get crabby as they get older. Everything was always better in the past, wasn't it? But trust me, you really don't want to go back to your parents' or grandparents' day. Give up your microwaves and computers and cell phones and 500-channel satellite TVs? Go back to depending on the newspaper for the news? Go back to Jim Crow laws (talking US here, of course) and lynchings and segregation both overt and hidden? Back before polio vaccine and modern antibiotics and organ transplants? Back before deodorant? I think not.

I think modern parents are a little over-protective but then again, I haven't any kids, so who am I to say (though I do think scheduling every minute of every day of your kids' lives is a bit excessive)?
Jeruselem
28-07-2006, 14:27
Born in 1973 ... :p
Not_utopia
28-07-2006, 14:40
I don't think the generations are gradually getting softer, I think they're getting more focussed. The kids born in, say, 1990 have greater access to world knowledge that any other generation that came before them. They're getting smarter.



I'd agree with you up to a point; Yes we do have greater acess to knowlage. are we getting smarter? proberbly not. from my current experience i'd say that children today, myself begrudgingly included, are suffering from a chronic loss of common sense. proberbly due to a lack of 'real life' experience that you all got to some degree.
Keruvalia
28-07-2006, 15:29
I'd agree with you up to a point; Yes we do have greater acess to knowlage. are we getting smarter? proberbly not. from my current experience i'd say that children today, myself begrudgingly included, are suffering from a chronic loss of common sense. proberbly due to a lack of 'real life' experience that you all got to some degree.

You may be right, but if you cure cancer, you'll make up for it. :D
Farnhamia
28-07-2006, 15:47
I'd agree with you up to a point; Yes we do have greater acess to knowlage. are we getting smarter? proberbly not. from my current experience i'd say that children today, myself begrudgingly included, are suffering from a chronic loss of common sense. proberbly due to a lack of 'real life' experience that you all got to some degree.
All children lack "common sense" and "life experience." That's because they're children. The life experience kids nowadays acquire is different from that which my generation got or my parents' got. I never had to learn that you don't reveal details about yourself on-line to people you don't know (although "Don't talk to strangers" has been a rule for ages). I never had to get a job when I was a teenager to support my family because I didn't grow up in the 1930s during the Depression.
Big Jim P
28-07-2006, 16:04
Hell, I got my first bb gun when I was 7. Up until then I had to be satisfied occasionally shooting my dads rifles or shotguns. I, and my younger siblings would roam around the woods for miles, sometimes spending the entire day away from home.

Within an hour of getting my first bicycle, I was jumping homemmade ramps.

I would climb tree, cliffs, and just about anyting else I could get to.

We did so many other "dangerous" things, that technically, by todays standards, I could not have survived. Yet here I am.

Ah, we were a tougher generation back in the day. Now all we seem to be able to raise are a bunch of nuerotic pansies, with no sense of adventure.
Andaluciae
28-07-2006, 16:32
I think you really ought to move the cutoff forward a bit. Kids born in the eighties got plenty of these things, where you get the really crazy-overprotectiveness is now. Dodgeball being banned as a game in elementary school gym class? Hell, that would have caused riots in my elementary school. A couple hundred of screaming 7, 8 and 9 year olds burning and pillaging would be very impressive.
Deep Kimchi
28-07-2006, 16:37
Hell, I got my first bb gun when I was 7. Up until then I had to be satisfied occasionally shooting my dads rifles or shotguns. I, and my younger siblings would roam around the woods for miles, sometimes spending the entire day away from home.

Within an hour of getting my first bicycle, I was jumping homemmade ramps.

I would climb tree, cliffs, and just about anyting else I could get to.

We did so many other "dangerous" things, that technically, by todays standards, I could not have survived. Yet here I am.

Ah, we were a tougher generation back in the day. Now all we seem to be able to raise are a bunch of nuerotic pansies, with no sense of adventure.


My children are growing up around firearms, and of my firearms, my daughter (the oldest child) is allowed to use this:
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b283/jtkwon/girl2.jpg

and this:

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b283/jtkwon/DSC_0060.jpg

If they are taught safe firearms handling and good social skills (i.e., a firearm is a tool, and used only for specific activities), they are better off than kids who were overprotected, and only received their familiarization with firearms from watching TV and movies.

My daughter was at a school presentation by a police officer, who took out his service Glock and handed it to her (she had asked to see it).

Our rule is that you never hand someone a loaded weapon.

She dropped the mag, locked the slide back, and reprimanded him.

I feel safer around her than I do that policeman.
Big Jim P
28-07-2006, 16:42
{snip}

I stand corrected. Not all of the younger generations is going to be lost after all. My kids will have the benefit of learning how to use firearms (among other so-called "dangerous" activities) and the first rule they will learn is the responsibility that comes with that freedom.

BTW, good move on your daughters part, especially correcting the officer. Always assume that a gun is loaded until proven otherwise.
Big Jim P
28-07-2006, 16:44
BTW I assume that supressor on the glock is legal.
LiberationFrequency
28-07-2006, 17:24
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

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 soda pop with sugar in it, 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 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 yelled for them!

I'm 17 and we did/do all those things aswell

Those generations has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned

This is very adult way of saying "we're better than you na na na"
New Xero Seven
28-07-2006, 17:27
Though I was born in 1987, I can still kinda relate. :cool:
Deep Kimchi
28-07-2006, 17:48
BTW I assume that supressor on the glock is legal.
Yes. And very easy on the ears at the range.
Posi
28-07-2006, 21:39
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!
Why? Outside sucks. Being inside pwns being outside in the face. If you were our age, you'd know.
Sarkhaan
28-07-2006, 22:59
83 and same
86 and yet another ditto...I was always active and such...
Intangelon
28-07-2006, 23:02
I was born in 1973 and it sounds like we are identical twins. I was also a very skinny, outdoor loving individual that spent many a day inside glued to the Intellivision. My Intellivision still works as well and somewhere, I still have all of my high scores for the 50 or so games that I had. My sister would complain about my black thumb fromthe controller pad. I saw some high score records somewhere, and my 500,000+ high score on Astrosmash was well over twice what was listed.

You forgot one of my favorites, Bump'n'Jump. You're right that Utopia was the precursor to all of the strategy games that I now play as well.
BUMP 'N JUMP! How could I forget?

Right on, brother. Intellivision was desinged for kids smarter than those who complained about its controllers!
Liberated New Ireland
28-07-2006, 23:03
...I wish I was born in the 60's. Instead I get crappy '89. The 90's SUCK!:(
Intangelon
28-07-2006, 23:06
My daughter was at a school presentation by a police officer, who took out his service Glock and handed it to her (she had asked to see it).

Our rule is that you never hand someone a loaded weapon.

She dropped the mag, locked the slide back, and reprimanded him.

I feel safer around her than I do that policeman.
That's f**king brilliant! Great story, and good for both of you.
Pompous world
28-07-2006, 23:10
after reading that i am reminded of how I still want to be 18 in 1969 in the US.
Intangelon
28-07-2006, 23:11
Why? Outside sucks. Being inside pwns being outside in the face. If you were are age, you'd know.
I suppose I should let that go, but I'm not gonna.

I'll let "pwns" go because I know it was deliberate, even if it is painfully lame l33t-speak.

"If you were ARE age?!?"

I was fully prepared to agree that the OP was a bunch of "these kids today" horseshit updated, but when I see gross errors like that which are in no way typos, I begin to weep for the future.

The OP is mostly grumbling, but I'll still weep at the pride many modern kids seem to take in their ignorance. And that's WITH spell check, which is another thing I and my peers did not have.
Liberated New Ireland
28-07-2006, 23:17
after reading that i am reminded of how I still want to be 18 in 1969 in the US.
I don't, I'd be in Vietnam... Which wouldn't be bad, actually. Actually, yeah, I'd much rather be 18 in '69 than '07...
Pompous world
28-07-2006, 23:19
I don't, I'd be in Vietnam... Which wouldn't be bad, actually. Actually, yeah, I'd much rather be 18 in '69 than '07...

wat vietnam in 1969, total kip man
Liberated New Ireland
28-07-2006, 23:20
wat vietnam in 1969, total kip man
...What the hell does that mean?
Pompous world
28-07-2006, 23:23
you said you want to live in vietnam in the 1960s? no way. total hellhole.
Liberated New Ireland
28-07-2006, 23:25
you said you want to live in vietnam in the 1960s? no way. total hellhole.
Uh, I'm an American. I wouldn't live in Vietnam, I'd be fighting in Vietnam.
BackwoodsSquatches
28-07-2006, 23:27
Why? Outside sucks. Being inside pwns being outside in the face. If you were are age, you'd know.


Right.

Thats why kids these days arent developing good social skills, and resort to bringing guns to school as a way to deal with a bully.
Posi
28-07-2006, 23:39
Right.

Thats why kids these days arent developing good social skills, and resort to bringing guns to school as a way to deal with a bully.
Having those kids get their asses kicked by bullies every day isn't going to help them develop good social skills either.
Liberated New Ireland
28-07-2006, 23:43
Backwoods Sasquatch: How do you expect kids to deal with bullies

Posi: Yes it does. It turned me from a total dork to a normal, fairly popular guy, in 3 short years. Thank you middle school!
Pompous world
28-07-2006, 23:44
Uh, I'm an American. I wouldn't live in Vietnam, I'd be fighting in Vietnam.

thats what I mean, it would suck ass. unless you like unjust wars and carnage
Liberated New Ireland
28-07-2006, 23:48
thats what I mean, it would suck ass. unless you like unjust wars and carnage
Look at it this way:
I could have fought in Vietnam, which COULD be argued to be a just war, and, in any case, those who served are seen as heroes nowadays...

Instead, I WILL fight in Iraq, which is blatant US imperialism, and I'll be seen by those who know me as a supporter of evil nations and imperialism throughout history
Pompous world
28-07-2006, 23:50
Look at it this way:
I could have fought in Vietnam, which COULD be argued to be a just war, and, in any case, those who served are seen as heroes nowadays...

Instead, I WILL fight in Iraq, which is blatant US imperialism, and I'll be seen by those who know me as a supporter of evil nations and imperialism throughout history

fair enough. pursue your destiny young warrior
Liberated New Ireland
28-07-2006, 23:51
fair enough. pursue your destiny young warrior
...Karate Kid?
Sel Appa
29-07-2006, 00:08
Born in 1990:

I'd love to do almost everything there, but you guys are the ones that say its "a different world" when we are amazed you left your doors unlcoked when you went to the grocery store. It's not a different world. You guys became paranoid and made those laws and such. I'd love to be able to just say "I'm going out for a few hours" and not be given questioning looks and asked a thousand follow-up questions. It's your fault, not ours, not the government, not capitalism...well actually, that might have played a role. YOU screwed up our lives. Have a nice day.

{sarcasm}:fluffle:{/sarcasm}
Posi
29-07-2006, 00:20
{sarcasm}:fluffle:{/sarcasm}
:fluffle:
Sel Appa
29-07-2006, 00:24
Sorry about getting a little ranty there, but it is true.
Farnhamia
29-07-2006, 00:42
Born in 1990:

I'd love to do almost everything there, but you guys are the ones that say its "a different world" when we are amazed you left your doors unlcoked when you went to the grocery store. It's not a different world. You guys became paranoid and made those laws and such. I'd love to be able to just say "I'm going out for a few hours" and not be given questioning looks and asked a thousand follow-up questions. It's your fault, not ours, not the government, not capitalism...well actually, that might have played a role. YOU screwed up our lives. Have a nice day.

{sarcasm}:fluffle:{/sarcasm}
Nicely put, kid. When did life become all about fear? When I was growing up, in the 50s and 60s, there was the Threat of Communism, the Bomb, but I don't recall living in the constant state of fear and trepidation that seems to be a requirement these days. Neither did my parents, or if they did, they were much better actors than I give them credit for. By the time I became politically conscious, in the late 60s, it was the time of Vietnam and even though the hawks ranted about stopping the tide of communism and made noises about defending America overseas (sounds oddly familiar, somehow), I knew that wasn't the case, so it didn't bother me.

But somewhere in the last twenty years it's become all about being afraid, afraid of terrorists (you are scary but aren't beseiging the city I live in, nor any of the ones I know about nearby), afraid your job is going to get shipped overseas, afraid your kid won't get into a good school if you don't have him or her scheduled every minute of every day from the moment the nurse wipes that little face in the delivery room.

I don't get it and now I'm depressed. Maybe I'll go to the window, open it and yell, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!"
Llewdor
29-07-2006, 00:44
WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
I didn't need friends. I had books.
Posi
29-07-2006, 00:53
Nicely put, kid. When did life become all about fear? When I was growing up, in the 50s and 60s, there was the Threat of Communism, the Bomb, but I don't recall living in the constant state of fear and trepidation that seems to be a requirement these days. Neither did my parents, or if they did, they were much better actors than I give them credit for. By the time I became politically conscious, in the late 60s, it was the time of Vietnam and even though the hawks ranted about stopping the tide of communism and made noises about defending America overseas (sounds oddly familiar, somehow), I knew that wasn't the case, so it didn't bother me.

But somewhere in the last twenty years it's become all about being afraid, afraid of terrorists (you are scary but aren't beseiging the city I live in, nor any of the ones I know about nearby), afraid your job is going to get shipped overseas, afraid your kid won't get into a good school if you don't have him or her scheduled every minute of every day from the moment the nurse wipes that little face in the delivery room.

I don't get it and now I'm depressed. Maybe I'll go to the window, open it and yell, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!"
Our you could jump out the window.

You never answered your question BTW.:D
Farnhamia
29-07-2006, 00:54
I didn't need friends. I had books.
I had both and it was good.