back in the day

[Black and Blue Landscaper]

a friend of mine wrote this and i thought it was pretty fn cool so i figured i would share with C&Gers, this kinda relates to everyone but is more aimed at my generation. enjoy Before the Internet or the AIM Before semi automatics and drugs on the street Before playstation2 or X-bOX Before the 5 hours of homework you put off every night... ..Way back... I'm talkin' bout hide and go seek at dusk. Red light, Green light. Playing kickball & dodgeball until your porch light came on. Mother May I? Red Rover four square Hula Hoops Running through the sprinkler Happy Meals Getting the privelage to sit in the front seat of the car Wait... Watchin' Saturday Morning cartoons Like Hey Arnold and Doug Or what about legends of the hidden temple, global guts, double dare, and who, ARE YOU AFFRAID OF THE DARK! Who could forget Snick Or the teenage mutant ninja turtles, scooby doo, and Power Rangers, Christmas morning... Your first day of school Bedtime Prayers and Goodnight Kisses Climbing trees Getting an ice cream off the ice cream truck A million mosquito bites and sticky fingers Jumpin' down the steps Jumpin' on the bed Pillow fights Runnin' till you were out of breath Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt and you almost peed your pants Laughing so hard that you did pee your pants Being tired from playin' all day Your first crush... Rainy days at school meant playing "Heads up 7-Up" in the classroom Remember that? I'm not finished yet... Kool-Aid was the drink of the summer Giving your friends a ride on your handlebars or spokes Wearing your new shoes on the first day of school Class Field Trips When nearly everyone's mom was at home when the kids got there. When getting high was swinging on the swing-set When $5 seemed like a million, and another dollar a Miracle. When your parents took you to McDonalds and you were so cool. When Toys r Us overuled the "mall" I want to go back to the time when... Decisions were made by going "eeny-meeny-miney-moe" Mistakes were corrected by simply exclaiming, "do over!" "Race issue" meant arguing about who ran the fastest. Money issues were handled by whoever was the banker in "monopoly" Catching fireflies could happily occupy an entire evening It wasn't odd to have two or three "best" friends. Saying cuss words were referred to the "F, B or S - word" or h-e double hockey sticks. Being old, referred to anyone over 20. The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was cooties. The only real heart break you had was when your mom wouldnt buy you that new toy Nobody was prettier than Mom Nobody was cooler than Dad Scrapes and bruises were kissed and made better It was a big deal to finally be tall enough to ride the "big people" rides at the amusement park. Getting an inch of snow was a dream come true. Abilities were discovered because of a "double-dog-dare" Spinning around, getting dizzy and falling down was cause for giggles. If you can remember most or all of these, then you have LIVED!!!

[Croc]

YESSSSSSSSSS I have lived!

[Teh Ricer Civic!]

Spinning around, getting dizzy and falling down was cause for giggles.

[post="27486"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

hell thats still fun :P

[Enzora]

Yeah, I still like doing a lot of those.

[balthazar]

All that junk sounds wonderfully familiar except the TV shows, which were 'after my time'.

[Cory Wolfe]

Damn, I'm only 16 and every one of those is in my memory. I also still do quite a few of them. :D

[staceface]

That is the best list ever! My fave thing was having my evening shower, then being allowed to go outside in my pyjamas as long as i stayed on the porch! Believe it or not, that was the highlight of my day! Everybody used to sit outside on their porches after supper, and go for walks. It was so cool!

[AAS]

Woo Hooo... I lived! *you forgot to mention "You Can't Do That on Television"

[razoredge]

great memories

[Croc]

Woo Hooo... I lived!

*you forgot to mention "You Can't Do That on Television"

[post="27682"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

HAHA Alanis Morissette...BEFORE she was famous!

[LosAngeles]

All that junk sounds wonderfully familiar except the TV shows, which were 'after my time'.

[post="27526"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Yeah, 90s Nickelodeon was when I moved on to collecting albums and driving to see chicks.

[razoredge]

Yea I got the Power Rangers and Turtles when my daughter was young, lots of animal planet, ect. We had Scooby though, scoob and shag were the best.

How about 100 yard wheelies on a single speed 20" bike ?

Walking the tracks, running the salt cars

sitting down in the tressels when the trains blew through

climbing through open car carrier RR cars that had early 70's cars all shiney and new, headed for their dealerships.

carrying Guitar in one arm and twin 12" amp in the other great distances for the soul purpose of cranking out terrible renditions of Smoke on the Water, Funk 49 and Born to be Wild on hot summer days.

climb to the top of a tree

call of the Loon

song of the coyotes

smell of fresh cut hay

chasin fire flys

catching trout in hand beneath the rocks

16" of snow is a party

first day in the lake by May :blink:

sunset swims in the evening calm of August :)

better yet sunset ski in that dead evening calm :D

"These are a few of my favorite things" http://www.cheersandgears.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/AH-HA_wink.gif Edited October 13, 2005 by razoredge

[Cremazie]

Good read, I am all Nostalgic now!
Just a note:
Girls still have cooties http://www.cheersandgears.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/AH-HA_wink.gif

[Brandon Lutz]

I remember before all the fancy toys we had to use our imagination to have fun. If you had a stick you were in business. If it had a little stem coming off of it near one end you had a pistol. A stick could be used as a sword, a spear, a rifle, a cane, and etc. Hell get a rock and you could play baseball. Now ya need an interactive dvd program to entertain children. Not mine when I have em, Im going to place an emphasis on having fun in a fun way but they're going to appreciate the simple things in life a lot more than most kids will. Sure they'll have whateve playstation or Xbox they want and etc but they wont be glued to it 24 7 like todays kids are. I remember when my car craziness started, it was like when I was 8 and I got my sisters hand-me-down go kart. Couldnt pry me away from pretending I was Mario Andretti :)

[capriceman]

yes so i lived few arent aplicable.

[Enzora]

Good read, I am all Nostalgic now!
Just a note:
Girls still have cooties  http://www.cheersandgears.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/AH-HA_wink.gif

[post="28139"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Ah yes. But now we're old enough to realize how much fun a girl's cootie can be.

[Black and Blue Landscaper]

well i am glad everyone could enjoy and add to the list

[Dsuupr]

Woo Hooo... I lived!

*you forgot to mention "You Can't Do That on Television"

[post="27682"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

That was one of my all time favorites as a kid. I loved the slime.

[Dsuupr]

My kids still have most of that list in their lives. Not getting a video game, and living in a town of 2900 people helps. I don't see some of the classic things with kids now days like; 1. Riding on the handle bars 2. Happy Meals (my girls would rather have a salad bar)

[Sixty8panther]

Indeed I have lived. OI experienced many of those (or similar fun activities) in Slovakia as a kid in the 1980s. I came here to the USA in '87 at 8 years old so I got to see two very differnt but inherantly similar cultures. Catching Fireflys... that's a great one. Front seat of the old 1981 Wartburg (2 cylinder, 2 stroke 4-speed manual) was a privelage my grandfather alloed me only if we were traveling a short distance... otherwise me and my cousins would fight over who got the window seats. No one wanted to be stuck in the middle.

[Teh Ricer Civic!]

My kids still have most of that list in their lives.  Not getting a video game, and living in a town of 2900 people helps. 

I don't see some of the classic things with kids now days like;
1. Riding on the handle bars
2. Happy Meals (my girls would rather have a salad bar)

[post="29191"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

1. cause that was stupid...
2. happy meals rule!!! salads r evil!! tell them they need protien or they will get osteoperosis when they are 65 :P

[LosAngeles]

Why is it when these lists come up, Nickelodeon is always mentioned? It's as if kids who grew up in the 90s didn't watch regular TV.

[Croc]

i grew up in late 80s/early 90s and all i was allowed to watch for the longest time were disney and nickelodeon

[MGZ06]

When Toys r Us overuled the "mall"

When getting high was swinging on the swing-set

LOL. . . Ya those were the daysss. . . .

[Flybrian]

Gee, our old LaSalle ran great.

[RichW5]

Before TV there was Radio (AM only). When TV started. It didn't come on until 4:30 pm and ended programming at midnight. Uncle Miltie. Steve Allen. Stock car racing on TV every friday night. Playing softball (16 in) in the street or alley 'til the ball hit a car down the street. Then it was run like hell and hide. Playing canasta or blackjack until midnight, on your best friends front porch (summer only). Collecting empty pop bottles in the neighborhood for the 2 cent refund and spending the money in the neighborhood grocery store gumball machine. Fast pitching, with a rubber ball, against a factory wall. Catching snakes in the nearby railroad yards and bringing them to school. Telling your parents that your black eye was from falling down and hitting your eye on a door knob. Your best friends older brother didn't do it. Dodge ball at the local school gym always ended up between you and the kid that lived across the street. Standing up to the neighborhood bully! After you beat him, he wanted to be your friend. Riding "no hands" on your bike. Your best friend had something called "Polio" and his older older brother died from it.

[Robert Hall]

I remember when MTV had music videos and I remember when there was no MTV. I remember when most all cars had carburators and AM radios and vinyl interiors were still common. I remember watching new episodes of 'Starsky & Hutch' and 'The Rockford Files' on TV. I remember piling up big piles of leaves in the fall and racing through them on my go-cart. I remember have a bicycle with 1 speed, then later a 10-speed. I remember going to the grocery, the drug store, the post office, the gas station, etc and people actually knew my name and my mom's name! Edited October 17, 2005 by moltar

[LosAngeles]

I remember piling up big piles of leaves in the fall and racing through them on my go-cart

[post="30249"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

OK, now explain how that was safe?