Getting older

[Bud in PA]

I have recently discovered one of the very few advantages of getting old. I can remember living in a politically Incorrect world, where things were actually made in the USA. Also there were some honest politicians.

[notownkid]

Amen Brother!  Me too, 1/100,000 of the rules and regulations.  I fear for my grandkids in this dismal world looking more like a swamp than what we grew up in.  Our generation (post WWII) had the best of times in the US.  It's amazing we lived to this age without all of todays rules and the disaster called public education. 

[ThomasPowers]

My kids tell me that their friends were envious that they were encouraged to do "dangerous" things like tree climbing, working with the forge, having me weld up their yard art designs while they watched with the other mask on, etc.  Hope we can pass it another generation on as well...

[SpankySmith]

I tell people all the time that our rule, as kids, was "Out of the house after breakfast and back by dark" - that was IT.  We roamed the entire city, later across several states in my first car, without our parents having any idea whatsoever where we were at any given moment.  Pre-cell phones, so no way to get in touch except a pay phone and I never recall using one for that purpose.  Parents doing that today would be (and I believe HAVE been) arrested.  

I remember in the last couple years they tried to pass a regulation at the local schools that cell phones weren't allowed in the classrooms.  Parents had a FIT - HOW will our little precious's reach us if they need us?  What if I need to reach my Precious?  Well... um.... you could CALL THE SCHOOL or go by there, like our parents did!   I sit at traffic lights and grumble about every 4 out of 5 drivers passing me being on the phone.  Seriously people.... what is soooooooo important? 

I've just recently instituted my own "no technology" rule when I get home.  I was getting so obsessed with checking work emails and online stuff and it was doing me no good at all, so I simplified - that stuff stays off in the evenings.  So I go and sit on the back porch and watch the sun go down - IMAGINE THAT!   It's immensely relaxing. 

Man, I'm starting to sound like Frosty (!  ) but this is a sore point for me.  Put down the phone, put down the iPad and go see what trouble you can get to in the neighborhood, kids!   Sadly, though, it's not really safe to do that anymore.  Different age we live in now.  sigh......

[JME1149]

3 hours ago, Bud in PA said:

Also there were some honest politicians

Dang Bud, just how old are you?

[ThomasPowers]

lets just say he remembers when *flint* was the next big thing...Actually the "some" can get you pretty close to modern times as long as you don't add "career" to the list.

[Frosty]

Dang Bud how old are you? Is RIGHT! I think the only definition of "honest" that applies where politicians is concerned is, Stays Bought. I think any form of honesty we'd recognize went out of fashion when they stopped having duels on the floor of Congress and as a method of a citizen's recourse.

It might be safer for kids to play in the neighborhood or park if they were allowed to go armed. Seriously how much fun would bullying be if the victim tasered AND pepper sprayed the bully? Same for kidnapping Sure nothing's perfect but if a kid might be packing pedophiles might go home and take their situation in hand. . . So to speak. I know if I had a daughter she'd be shackled to a BIG dog till she was old enough to be kicked out on her own. A great Pyrenees is a good choice, gentle giants till they decide something is a threat to their charge then they become death incarnate, purely terrifying to hear one growl in a serious manner.

I knew where the fire arms AND ammunition were and knew how to use them by time I was about 8. My older brother Dennis actually held a loaded cocked 30-30 on an intruder till the police arrived and Kathy had to run to a neighbor's to call. The bad guy had ripped the phone out of the wall. I think Dennis was maybe 10, I wasn't born yet.

I'm frankly glad I live in a state where it's legal to protect yourself and property. Unfortunately it's also a state with a WAY too high rate of alcohol abuse,  gang banger wannabes and punk thuggery. Shootings are becoming an almost daily occurrence.

Frosty The Lucky.

 

 

 

[ianinsa]

4 hours ago, Bud in PA said:

 there were some honest politicians.

Considering "honest Abe" used to incaserate his political opponents without trial below the gatehouse of the military base on Alcatraz you have to be really old Bud

[Frosty]

7 minutes ago, ianinsa said:

Considering "honest Abe" used to incaserate his political opponents without trial below the gatehouse of the military base on Alcatraz you have to be really old Bud

But he didn't hide or lie about it. That's pretty honest isn't it?

Frosty The Lucky.

[Charlotte]

Many of practical jokes that kids got away with back " in the day"  get them sent to Juvenile detention today.  Even though I spent a lot of my childhood in city apartments there were always places we could get to that were not supervised and nobody cared if we make a little mess or a small fort.

Think of this if you will there are more than twice the people living in the US than there were when you were born. Then think about the number of lawsuits that are filed over supposed civil liabilities.   Gone are the days when you and your dad could get down in the grease pit with the mechanic to look at the problem.

 

[ThomasPowers]

Joys of small town life; my mechanic takes me out through the bays of other vehicles up on lifts to show me issues with my truck.  I've also picked up my truck from his house when I needed to get it on a weekend.  Shoot even the local scrapyard lets me wander the piles.  Part of it is knowing people as people rather than "objects".

[Charlotte]

One of the things I missed most when I left east Tennessee was the junk yard owned by kindly man that would let me pick through selected scrap piles.  Right here near the Big Easy things are not so easy.  Yup small towns are also better to be a kid in even today.

[Crazy Ivan]

I may not be all that old (27 this Friday) but I can definitely resonate with this sentiment. Growing up dirt poor in a "at risk" neighborhood may have played into it but still. I used to take the subway as to the end of the line and play around in the woods by myself, or with friends. Hikers would see us and wave. Nobody called DSS or DYS or child services or whatever it may be called where anyone lives. We has slingshots, bb guns, made fires (sometimes out of abandoned probably stolen and dumped) cars, climbed trees, went swimming in ponds made rope swings and walked around the cities at the tender age of 12 years old. I'm not gonna evven say the other stuff we used to get into.  Nowadays if a kid that age is more than 30 feet from their parents, somebody reports it. How are kids gonna learn if they don't screw up once in a while? Once they are 18 and out of the bubble wrapped world they are brought up in,what sort of culture shock does that bring? 

Now as to the "this generation everyone gets trophies and is equal no matter how hard they try" well....who was it that gave us those trophies and taught us those things?  

I'm glad I barely skated by that gap even if it was under poor circumstances. 

[LawnJockey]

I like political incorrectness, aka honesty.  I strongly believe if everyone is saying or thinking in a certain way it is probably wrong. It is laughable when people assign a letter for a word that can't be said.  Just today I was at an office supply and the clerk was so stupid she couldn't figure out how to complete a simple transaction.  I asked for a manager.  When I explained to the limp wristed  assistant manager that the gal was retarded I was told I was being "inappropriate" whatever that means.  I guess I will be struck by lightning for using the "R" word.  Anyway I went on and told the little fella what I really thought including that it was inappropriate to put rejects from the fast food industry in clerk and assistant manager positions.  I think Rachel Jeantel had a higher IQ than the two of them combined.

[Glenn]

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