To all the kids who survived...

[Coyote]

thats whats so bloody weird. something on telly a month ago that said the radius that people let their kids roam has decreased from something like 2km to 600m (i made those figures up but it was a lot).

I blame the internet and telly - too much information generating fear about the big bad pedalfiles, gangsters and aunty helen.

what sort of weirdo creates a website to spread "information" anyway hahahaha.

In the olden days my radius was my house, now it's New Zealand

[Coyote]

That's 'cause of all the deep rooted trauma from our childhood.

So all that booze and drugs in the womb did have some effect?

[Ocean1]

So all that booze and drugs in the womb did have some effect?

Of course, that and the lead painted buzzy bee. But being the bunch of general good pricks we are we rose above the overwhelming dissadvantage and suffering to become the godlike figures of ethical rectitude you see before you now

[Usarka]

my mum smoked drunk and i licked buzzy bees like a trooper. didn't do me any bloody harm.

also used to ride in the back of a ute on the road the cops would be all over that shit now, my old man wouldv'e been beaten on the side of the road like rodney king

[deanohit]

Was a few years too late, but me and my friends did all those things. Our radius was as far as we could ride our bikes, often up to 10 kays. We raced homemade carts,we made bow an arrows an hunted possums and rabbits with our dogs, went fishing down the wharf and speared eels in the rivers. We had slingshot wars with the kids from the other streets and didnt have to be home till 6;30 for dinner.
And you know what, we all survived it fine.

Edit: I remember now, only one kid out of all of us lost an eye.

[Edbear]

You know, it's kinda sobering to go visit the museum and see the toys, implements and gadgets you used now considered antiques...

When I was a kid we used these phones on party lines, (see pic). We were still using draught horses and sleds for feeding out hay that was stacked with pitch-forks. My mother drove a Daimler school bus with the Wilson pre-selector gearbox and Dad had a series 1 Standard Vanguard which was often pressed into service as a tractor.

We churned our own butter and ice-cream and Dad milked 50 cows by hand.

Most things we now take for granted were invented, or developed for public use, in my lifetime.

Computers,(PC's and Laptops), cellphones, TV's, Transistor radio's, microwaves, air-conditioning for cars and houses, radial tyres, electronic ignition, multi-grade engine oil, space rockets, video players, camcorders, and I'm sure others can add to this list. Mum got the latest wringer washing machine and how proud we were!

Matchless/AJS's and BSA singles were the bikes to have and anyone with a Triumph twin, was King!

Armstrong Siddleys were the rich snobs cars and any car with a heater was envied, and if it had a valve radio as well....!!!!

[Virago]

And the QRF maintains a diplomatic silence...

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=38195

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=21299

[Her_C4]

Yet they raised their kids in the pussy manner that you're taking the piss out of, hmmm...

..................and yet! A lot of us didn't ... hmmmm

[Highlander]

thats whats so bloody weird. something on telly a month ago that said the radius that people let their kids roam has decreased from something like 2km to 600m (i made those figures up but it was a lot).

70% of statistics are made up on the spot.

[Edbear]

And the QRF maintains a diplomatic silence...

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=38195

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=21299

How very diplomatic! Was that a deafening silence or a golden one...

[kerfufflez]

When I was a kid we used these phones on party lines, (see pic). :

Hehe, we had a phone like that, I remember having to turn the crank thing and say "working, working" down the line to the exchange. And the only morse code I know is because of the old phone numbers with a letter on the end.
I used to see dial telephones on programmes on tv and think they were soooooo exotic, haha.

[Mekk]

Bah humbug.

This thread is one giant "when I was a boy, we had to walk through FIFTEEN MILES of snow, BAREFOOT. None of this new-fangled WHEEL crap you kids have today. You don't know how lucky you are...in fact this one time..."

You lot may have been tougher back then... but you sure as hell make up the complaining, whining lot of today!

Return to your former glory and... HTFU.

[KATWYN]

70% of statistics are made up on the spot.

I think its 73%...... i'm 91% sure about that

[DEATH_INC.]

Dunno if it's been here before, but I haven't seen it so here it is (pinched off the 750turbo site ) good for a giggle...


CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE

1920's, 30'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 and lived in houses made of asbestos.

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

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 or shoes, 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 Ute on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

Take away food was limited to fish and chips, no pizza shops, McDonalds,
KFC, Subway or Red Rooster.
Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn't open on the
weekends, somehow we didn't starve to death!

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE
actually died from this.

We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner store
and buy fruit tingles and some fire-crackers to blow up frogs with.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soft drinks 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. We built tree houses
and cubby houses and played in creek beds with matchbox cars.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no videogames at all,
no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, nosurround sound,no
mobilephones, 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


Only girls had pierced ears!

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us
forever.

You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Crossed Buns at Easter
time.......no really!

We were given BB guns and sling shots for our 10th birthdays,
We drank milk laced with Strontium 90 from cows that had eaten grass
covered in nuclear fallout from the atomic testing at Maralinga in 1956.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or
rang the bell, or just yelled for them!

Mum didn't have to go to work to help dad make ends meet!
Footy had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to
learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

Our teachers used to belt us with big sticks and leather staps and bully's
always ruled the playground at school.


The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!

Our parents got married before they had children and didn't invent stupid
names for their kids like "Kiora" and "bl*de"

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

The past 70 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

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

[Patch]

Ahhh, the good ole days - when men were men, an women knew their place