Remember When

When it got dark, we went under the bridge and lit torches made from canvas and the wheel grease from railroad cars. No telling how many hot boxes we caused. DUMB kids.

Quote: Toes14

I'm not quite as old as some of you (49), but a few of my friends & I were reminiscing about this topic last week. We decided that an entire summer's day was spent outside doing some combination of these activities:

playing basketball
riding bikes
setting up army men & then shooting them with BB guns
playing wiffle ball or indian ball
going into the woods & building a fort/treehouse
shooting off fireworks
team bottle rocket fights in the woods
fishing in the pond at the end of the street
play soccer
Playing 4 Square
playing Jarts (remember them?)
swimming in the richer family's 4' above ground pool
walking up to the 7-11 for candy
walking to the nearby elementary school to hang out at the playground (and maybe smoke a cigarette or two!)

The only time we were ever indoors was for lunch, to do chores, or if it was ungodly hot and one of the mom's let us play pool in their basement. After dinner, it was back outside for more of the same, catching fireflies, or playing capture the flag until it was bath/bed time.

4-square! lol Don't forget box hockey. Fast and slow.

And remember when 7-11 represented the hours when the store was open?

Growing up in Austin, I remember practically every truck had a gunrack in the back window holding a shotgun and/or rifle. I never see that anymore. Of course, trucks are everywhere now, didn't used to be that way.

And remember when boys settled their differences with fists? I even remember getting corporal punishment in 1st grade; paddled in the principal's office. Never did me any harm. America's so pussified now.

I think when movie historians in the year 2040 look back on our era, they'll laugh at our fascination with vampires. TV shows, books, movies, (Vampire Diaries, Twilight, True Blood, Lost Boys, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Blade, Fright Night, Dracula, Near Dark, etc, on and on and on...) until it finally culminates with 2012's most absurd movie idea yet:

Most elevators in the 50's and into the 60's had operators.
I can't imagine a more boring job. It gave employment
to many physically handicapped people, those with mobility
issues. Yet another profession wiped out by technology.

Quote: EvenBob

In some rural areas you can still do that. Has to be
in the middle of nowhere. Ever been thru Nebraska?

They tried to outlaw this recently but public outcry was such that I believe they backed off. Too many bureacrats who think their job is to find more things to regulate.

I think the mimimum age may have been raised to 14, however. At least for farm equipment on the roads. Still, show me someone who learned to work young via a farm, paper route, etc and I will show you an adult who is rarely if ever unemployed. I can't tell you just how much better people who had paper routes are at understanding customer service as adults.

Quote: EvenBob

Most elevators in the 50's and into the 60's had operators.
I can't imagine a more boring job.

Sitting in a missle silo.

McD Hamburger + Fries + Soda cost less than 50c.

I remember when kids actually had to WIN something to get a trophy!

Now, you get a trophy just for showing up. That sucks!

Quote: 98Clubs

McD Hamburger + Fries + Soda cost less than 50c.

In 1965 a burger was a dime, fries were a dime, and a drink was a dime.
I used to get 4 burgers, 4 fries, and a large drink for under a dollar.

Quote: EvenBob

In 1965 a burger was a dime, fries were a dime, and a drink was a dime.
I used to get 4 burgers, 4 fries, and a large drink for under a dollar.

Judging by this sort of comment, seems to me we have had a lot of inflation in fast food. Just using the CPI inflation calculator does not seem to explain all this.

I think one thing though is the fanciness and the *size* of the stuff we want to buy in fast food now. And the amount of money kids today expect to have as allowances and such.