How we grew up

[cjk374]

Earliest news story for me was the Afghanistan invasion back in 2005 (okay, there was the death of Ronald Reagan in November 2004, but I don't consider that a notable event).

That's because of when you grew up. To some of us, it was a much bigger deal.

[Takumi]

According to my mom, I was supposed to be born on the day the Challenger blew up. I was actually born about 10 days later. I don't remember much news-wise before Desert Storm and the 1992 election, but we still had a lot of freedom growing up in the 90s. I remember going around neighborhoods to play without parental supervision. Trick-or-treating was usually done with my parents when I was really young, but that was mainly due to my brother being even younger. By the mid-90s I'd do it on my own. The main difference in trick-or-treating between then and now, that I've noticed, is that back then the parents would walk with their kids, but now, at least in my neighborhood, they follow them around in cars. Or even worse, they drive the kids around in the cars.

[bandit957]

According to my mom, I was supposed to be born on the day the Challenger blew up. I was actually born about 10 days later. I don't remember much news-wise before Desert Storm and the 1992 election, but we still had a lot of freedom growing up in the 90s. I remember going around neighborhoods to play without parental supervision. Trick-or-treating was usually done with my parents when I was really young, but that was mainly due to my brother being even younger. By the mid-90s I'd do it on my own. The main difference in trick-or-treating between then and now, that I've noticed, is that back then the parents would walk with their kids, but now, at least in my neighborhood, they follow them around in cars. Or even worse, they drive the kids around in the cars.

Also, trick-or-treating is now confined to a little window of 90 minutes to 2 hours. In my day, it lasted ALL DAY.

[formulanone]

Me for example: born 2 months before Richard Nixon resigned from the Oval Office. Pretty much a child of the 80s. I witnessed the end of the cold war. The Challenger disaster occurred on my 12th birthday.

We're close in age; the thing about the Challenger Disaster is that I lived in Florida at the time, though 150 miles south of Cape Canaveral. So you could see a little bit of a shuttle launch south of it; not much, usually 20-30 seconds...then it disappears out of the atmosphere. We were outside on recess, and my friends and I couldn't really tell what had happened, because it was partly cloudy (maybe 30% cloud cover). Our middle school had a few TV sets, but shuttle launches were commonplace, so we didn't make an "event" out of it like the first few.

It was only about 90 minutes later when some kids got back from a field trip that they heard what happened. You couldn't really filter the information from the garbage and the bad-taste jokes...it was middle school, after all...nothing's changed in that respect (that's right, this current generation is not the first to meme the shit out of a tragedy) until you got home from school and turned on the TV. Now, you could have more instant access to something like that.

I rode bicycles all over my area.

Yup, felt confident on a bike around the age of 8. While I didn't quite map out every little road, I did try to explore everything in a one-square-mile area and mostly stayed on the sidewalks (score one for suburban platting), since your schoolmates could be from all over that "zone". I didn't feel confident crossing roads with multiple lanes until I was 12. Be home by dinner, and unless you're going next door or across the street, never when dark...I's always had a watch by then, too.

I don't think I'd let my 10-year-old do that now. Maybe later on in age.

When we moved to Florida, my brother and I took a one-way flight to visit our grandparents as unaccompanied minors. Eastern Airlines made us wear these bright orange buttons on our way to Fort Lauderdale. I wouldn't let my kids so that now, except for the gravest of circumstances. As I recall from the various contracts of carriage, many airlines won't let a 6 and an 8-year-old fly alone. But they did let us see the cockpit during flight (there's one thing you absolutely cannot do today in America).

Mom left us home alone while she worked 2 jobs (I am the oldest of 4). We were also left out in the car in all kinds of weather while she went in the store.

I'm trying to recall when we were allowed to stay in the car. Maybe 9 or 10? No keys in the ignition, crack the windows a smidge. No more than 10-15 minutes. The car was our imaginary spaceship.

When I was 13, my mother and father trusted me with the keys if they left us behind, so we could keep it running for A/C and listen to the radio. They knew I at least knew how to pump gas, what the ranges did, and how to start a car. I knew it wasn't a spaceship any longer, but I also feared wrecking the car before I had a license, so I knew damn well to keep it in Park.

I wouldn't dare let my kids do that now, laws or no laws.

Louisiana had a drinking age of 18 when I was growing up. Then the feds threatened to yank highway funds away if Louisiana didn't change their drinking age.

I was fortunate enough to "buy" alcohol after hours because I worked in a grocery store. Not much, though. I'd had a few drinks during monthly extended family get-togethers since I was 9, but never more than one drink. My kids have no interest after trying a sip or two, but they're quite young.

I don't drink very much, anyhow...neither does my wife.

P.S.: a message to all of the youngens reading these stories  ...there is something to learn from our stories. Pay close attention to your own upbringing. You will be passing some of it off to your own kids. Be sure to pass off the best parts.

And like life today, and as it likely was in the past, life is what you make of it. There are plenty of things my kids get that we did not (availability and technology), and there's lots of moments they won't get to experience (old tech, safety, and the present social times). And lots of mundane moments in between. It all evens out.

Obamas first election is the first major event I remember.

I remember Ronald Reagan being elected when I was 7.

Do you remeber him getting shot?

I remember our 1st grade class doing a mock election, but I didn't really understand much of it. I recall we'd split pretty closely into thirds, which was kind of ironic...I had no idea who or what they stood for. And we'd watch the poll numbers which made sense. The next day, there were a few homemade banners for Reagan on the overpasses in Nashville. Kids called him "Ronald Raisin". And the outgoing one was "Farter". After all we were six year-olds.

I recall hearing he got shot, and recovered but I couldn't tell you where I was. Maybe the dinner table, because we started watching the news on our little black and white TV after eating. around that time. But afterwards, a few days later, we heard that he'd survived.

So I think the Challenger Disaster was the first I recall happening to me in a public place, where you sensed something wasn't right based on reactions. Fast forward to 9/11, and reactions were very different because it essentially occurred on live TV...a six-year-old probably couldn't understand that, either.

The main difference in trick-or-treating between then and now, that I've noticed, is that back then the parents would walk with their kids, but now, at least in my neighborhood, they follow them around in cars. Or even worse, they drive the kids around in the cars.

This bugs the crap out of me, honestly. It makes trick-or-treating much more dangerous than any amount of urban legend "razor blade apples" ever did.

I get that there's kids in rural areas and there's going to be poor folks where few people participate. For the former, it isn't safe to walk alongside the roads, and the latter isn't safe/productive for other reasons. They're kids after all, and after their own birthday and Christmas, this is the one holiday they look forward to with great enthusiasm.

But for a neighborhood with ample sidewalks, there's no reason to park and walk...the adults can get some exercise. Hell, we even have unused parking spaces in the center of the neighborhood. It's lazy and it needs to stop; it clogs the roads, adds fumes, and the mixture of headlights and darkness and overzealous kids (and errant teenagers) isn't a good mix with moving vehicles.

[vdeane]

Why walk along the road?  When I was young, we just cut across the yards.

[Roadgeekteen]

Why walk along the road?  When I was young, we just cut across the yards.

Some dick neigbor might yell at you.

[noelbotevera]

Earliest news story for me was the Afghanistan invasion back in 2005 (okay, there was the death of Ronald Reagan in November 2004, but I don't consider that a notable event).

That's because of when you grew up. To some of us, it was a much bigger deal.

Eh...I don't consider it notable myself, but to each their own.

Why walk along the road?  When I was young, we just cut across the yards.

I did that too, till I got yelled at. My parents tell me not to do so, but I do cut across a yard on the way home from school. Saves some time.

There's actually a space behind the fences of people's houses that I use on the way home sometimes just to have moments to myself. Just to think about things, relax, and just be by myself for a bit.

[bandit957]

There's actually a space behind the fences of people's houses that I use on the way home sometimes just to have moments to myself. Just to think about things, relax, and just be by myself for a bit.

That might be a paper street, or a paper alley in this case.

[formulanone]

Why walk along the road?  When I was young, we just cut across the yards.

There's neighborhoods with zero lot lines and/or fences.

[jeffandnicole]

Why walk along the road?  When I was young, we just cut across the yards.

Some dick neigbor might yell at you.

Ah, how times have changed.  Guess you don't know your neighbors all that well, which is a shame.

My best friend lived about 3 houses down on the street behind us.  To get to his place, I hopped over my fence along the rear of the property line and walked along the neighbors fence at the rear of the property line.  Hopped over the next fence.  Then hopped over the fences cattycorner to his property to get to his yard. 

If we hit baseballs or golf balls into the neighbors yard, we just jumped the fence to get them.  All the time.

Never thought anything about it.  Neighbor outside?  We said hi to each other. 

If I wanted to go the other way to the nearby golf course, where the 10th hole backed up to our neighborhood, I walked thru the backyard of my neighbor without a fence, then got to a pathway in the woods where a house wasn't at the time to get to the golf course.  Then I walked along the golf course trails.  In the marshy area along the 11th fairway, we'd go down and look for golf balls.

We also rode our bikes around without much thought.  There were railroad tracks nearby down a small hill, and we would always ride our bikes down there along the tracks.  Conrail trains used those rails, and if we were lucky enough to see the train (well, we pretty much knew the schedule they'll be by anyway) we would wave at the conductor.  He would wave back.  I could get to the little league fields without crossing any major streets because of those tracks.

Growing up, I would see beer bottles in the brush along the side of the road.  Never gave it a second thought that I could be riding my bike on the same road as drivers drinking.  I didn't realize it at the time, but it was when the drinking age was 18 too.

[Roadgeekteen]

Why walk along the road?  When I was young, we just cut across the yards.

Some dick neigbor might yell at you.

Ah, how times have changed.  Guess you don't know your neighbors all that well, which is a shame.

My best friend lived about 3 houses down on the street behind us.  To get to his place, I hopped over my fence along the rear of the property line and walked along the neighbors fence at the rear of the property line.  Hopped over the next fence.  Then hopped over the fences cattycorner to his property to get to his yard. 

If we hit baseballs or golf balls into the neighbors yard, we just jumped the fence to get them.  All the time.

Never thought anything about it.  Neighbor outside?  We said hi to each other. 

If I wanted to go the other way to the nearby golf course, where the 10th hole backed up to our neighborhood, I walked thru the backyard of my neighbor without a fence, then got to a pathway in the woods where a house wasn't at the time to get to the golf course.  Then I walked along the golf course trails.  In the marshy area along the 11th fairway, we'd go down and look for golf balls.

We also rode our bikes around without much thought.  There were railroad tracks nearby down a small hill, and we would always ride our bikes down there along the tracks.  Conrail trains used those rails, and if we were lucky enough to see the train (well, we pretty much knew the schedule they'll be by anyway) we would wave at the conductor.  He would wave back.  I could get to the little league fields without crossing any major streets because of those tracks.

Growing up, I would see beer bottles in the brush along the side of the road.  Never gave it a second thought that I could be riding my bike on the same road as drivers drinking.  I didn't realize it at the time, but it was when the drinking age was 18 too.

My neigbors are pretty nice.

[cjk374]

Speaking of trains....anyone remember waving to the conductor riding on the caboose on the rear of the train?

Neighbors: all of the people I had as neighbors growing up here are all dead & gone....and so are some of their houses. I hardly know anyone living here in my hometown compared to when I was growing up.

Trick-or-treating: we usually waited til right at dark (here in October would be about 6) then hit the next door neighbors' houses first. Then mom would drive us to a few of her friends' houses. We wouldn't stay out late because school was usually the next day.

[Roadgeekteen]

Speaking of trains....anyone remember waving to the conductor riding on the caboose on the rear of the train?

Neighbors: all of the people I had as neighbors growing up here are all dead & gone....and so are some of their houses. I hardly know anyone living here in my hometown compared to when I was growing up.

Trick-or-treating: we usually waited til right at dark (here in October would be about 6) then hit the next door neighbors' houses first. Then mom would drive us to a few of her friends' houses. We wouldn't stay out late because school was usually the next day.

You drove for trick or treating?

[cjk374]

Speaking of trains....anyone remember waving to the conductor riding on the caboose on the rear of the train?

Neighbors: all of the people I had as neighbors growing up here are all dead & gone....and so are some of their houses. I hardly know anyone living here in my hometown compared to when I was growing up.

Trick-or-treating: we usually waited til right at dark (here in October would be about 6) then hit the next door neighbors' houses first. Then mom would drive us to a few of her friends' houses. We wouldn't stay out late because school was usually the next day.

You drove for trick or treating?

Had to...there is some distance between houses here. If we wanted any decent amount of candy, we had to cover some territory quick.

[bandit957]

They always handed out bubble gum when we went trick-or-treating.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I fall into the millennial generation, though I wouldn't say it's a neat fit.

The first big news story I remember was the death of Princess Diana, though I didn't know why she was important.

Like a lot of 90s kids, we grew up playing outside without supervision and I walked to school through 2nd grade but by the early 2000s we were firmly immersed in gaming consoles and PCs, which has become a habit I somewhat regret picking up to the extent I did.

[Scott5114]

The first major news story I can remember is the Oklahoma City bombing. I was five. We lived close enough at the time that the blast was audible inside the house. We had no idea what it was, and there was a few minutes of speculation–prevailing theory was a sonic boom from something Tinker AFB was testing–until the local news came on.

My mom and her friend took me downtown a few days later and we saw the ruined building firsthand (from a safe distance, of course). It was a strange atmosphere; an unusual number of people were out and about for downtown OKC in those days, presumably to show some sort of solidarity as a city. This was before the days of Bricktown, after all. My mom bought a handmade flag pin from a street vendor, which even now isn't something you find in Oklahoma City much. I remember my dad being really upset that my mom had brought me down there, because he thought we shouldn't be treating it as something to go look at and get in the way of the people that needed to be there.

[GaryV]

They always handed out bubble gum when we went trick-or-treating.

And candy cigarettes.

[GaryV]

We rode bikes without helmets.

We rode in cars without seat belts or infant seats.

Playpens (called "pens" and not "yards") and cribs had slats that were more than 2 fingers apart.

We walked to school, sometimes more than a mile, without a parent along.

[cjk374]

They always handed out bubble gum when we went trick-or-treating.

And candy cigarettes.

The candy ciggs & baseball card gum was the worst taste to ever put in your mouth! You might as well be trying to eat pencil erasers.

[bandit957]

Dubble Bubble used to taste like root beer.

[US71]

Dubble Bubble used to taste like root beer.

I don't remember that

[Roadgeekteen]

We rode bikes without helmets.

We rode in cars without seat belts or infant seats.

Playpens (called "pens" and not "yards") and cribs had slats that were more than 2 fingers apart.

We walked to school, sometimes more than a mile, without a parent along.

How many kids died?

[jwolfer]

We rode bikes without helmets.

We rode in cars without seat belts or infant seats.

Playpens (called "pens" and not "yards") and cribs had slats that were more than 2 fingers apart.

We walked to school, sometimes more than a mile, without a parent along.

How many kids died?

You wouldn't believe the carnage!

LGMS428

[Roadgeekteen]

We rode bikes without helmets.

We rode in cars without seat belts or infant seats.

Playpens (called "pens" and not "yards") and cribs had slats that were more than 2 fingers apart.

We walked to school, sometimes more than a mile, without a parent along.

How many kids died?

You wouldn't believe the carnage!

LGMS428

What was the carnage like?