O/T: Our Childhood In Black And White

On Jun 12, 2:07=A0am, "Rick Samuel" <[email protected]>
wrote:
> "Lew Hodgett" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
> news:[email protected]...
>
>
>
> > Enjoy
>
> > Lew
> > =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
>
> > Our Childhood in Black and White.
>
> > (Under age 35? You won't understand.)
>
> > You could hardly see for all the snow,
> > Spread the rabbit ears as far as they go.
> > Pull a chair up to the TV set,
> > 'Good Night, David. Good Night, Chet.'
>
> > My Mom used to cut chicken, chop eggs and spread mayo on the same
>
> > cutting board with the same knife and no bleach, but we didn't seem to
>
> > get food poisoning.
>
> =A0Amen!
> I kinda feel sorry of the younger generations. =A0When a new cell phone w=
ith
> the latest and greatest bells and whistles is the highlight of this
> month=85.tells me you haven=92t a clue as to what life is.
>
> =A0The sad thing is it=92s our fault. =A0We sure fu*ked up.

We turned responsiblity for child raising over to experts, while
mothers took jobs outside the home so families could have more
"stuff." Then we turned our society around so it becamse "child
centered," meaning that everything that could be done for kids was
done.

Ye reap what ye sow. Today, kids are told they're wonderful, even with
rolls of fat at the waistline at 12, poor school attendance, no
progress in any subject, and an attitude that would have gotten their
asses stomped flat in school, or spanked at home, 50 years ago.

Yup. They're better off today.

Want to have some fun? Look at the faces of youngsters in the malls
after they sit and relax and quit gabbling and texting. Look at the
clothing worn by the fat little girls.

You see built-in sullenness and a lack of happiness in those relaxed
faces. You see fat little girls wearing clothing that is super tight
and that stops 5-6" north of their belt-lines.

The fortunate thing is that not all of them are like that. A goodly
percentage retain their youthful right to wear idiotic clothing and
hair styles without falling into the trap of thinking they're the
sunshine of the world. If you check, I believe you'll find their
parents make them hew a more definite line.

Larry Blanchard wrote:


> > I grew up in the country, what's a "street"?
> >
> A flat stretch of dirt between two cornfields :-).

I grew up in what was formerly the Panama Canal Zone so
I must ask "What's a cornfield?" "Street" I'm familiar with,
paved either with asphalt or concrete. Flat paths cut
through the jungle were called trails while those that also
had a layer of gravel were referred to as roads, though
they quickly disappeared if the bush wasn't kept at bay.

On any given Saturday or Sunday, when not paddling a
mahogany dugout cayuco (similar to but much heavier
than a canoe or kayak) in a lake or up a river running
into the lake, or at a swimming hole in the jungle, or
lounging on a beach, or fishing off a causeway or dock,
we'd grab a face mask, flippers and a glove and go catch
lobster - the longostina type - without those nasty claws.

Oh - and we'd run behind the DDT truck that came through
the neighborhood once a week and we ate rose apples and
star apples and star plums right off the tree we'd be sitting
in - without so much as a rinsing. Monkey meat? Ate it. Boa?
Ate it. Cat meat? I think I probably did - you never asked what
kind of meat was on the Meat On A Stick you could get on every
other corner in Panama City - cooked on half an oil drum barbecue.

And shoes? Well you only wore them when a parent insisted.

Played pick up football games - tackle with no pads, mouth piece
or helmet - hell no shoes either (though "sensitive plants" that
had stickers on our "field" were a minor problem.

If you could get your money on the bar or counter, even if you
had to throw it up there, and you could drink - beer or rum,
usually with coke, or if a twist was added, a Cuba Libre. Sure,
out of about 800 high school kids, one or two, always guys,
would get wracked up or killed - typically involving a motorcycle
and alcohol. Turns out hitting a cow at 70+ mph, at night, isn't
good for your health.

Turns out that falling through 25 to 30 feet of tree, before
hitting the ground usually wasn't fatal, or even involve broken
bones, just cuts and abrassions/

Fortunately, skiing was on water. Fall and you stop - rather
suddenly - no sliding down a mountain, head first - with two long
pieces of wood attached to your feet. And while you CAN drown
in a water skiing tumble, you didn't have to worry about freezing
or being buried in an avalanche.

In article <[email protected]>,
Lew Hodgett <[email protected]> wrote:
> How did we ever survive?

We did *real* chemistry at school and poured acid out of bottles, put
stuff in test tubes which we heated over a bunsen burner with a proper
flame. While the teacher was talking we chased little balls of mercury all
over the bench with our fingers.

The kids just sit at desks these days, wear goggles and gloves, if they're
lucky the teacher performs an experiment behind a safety glass screen and
they watch.

We did stuff with chisels and saws in woodwork; drilled holes, turned
stuff on a lathe and brazed and forged in metalwork. These days kids are
lucky if they get given a pair of blunt scissors to do something.

P.E?
In the winter was football with *proper boots*, not the funny trainer like
things they wear now, a real leather ball and no shin-pads - sometimes we
played Rugby. If it was raining it was "cross-country running" around the
lanes and across the field near the school.

Summer was cricket, again with a proper ball, no helmets. Gloves were only
worn by the wicket keeper and pads by the batsman. Sometimes we got in the
gym if the girls were out playing netball or hockey. If it was raining.....

In article <[email protected]>,
Scritch <[email protected]> wrote:
> Lucky you didn't get tetanus, because there was no vaccine.

There was in the 50s when I was at school (or at least a jab for it)

I would guess it was around 1955/56, I was around 8 or 9. They were
building an extension on the school and of course we weren't supposed to
go anywhere near. It was winter and it was raining so I was sent to school
wearing my wellingtons (rubber boots) and the builders weren't around that
day. It was breaktime and a few of us lads were round the building site. I
stepped on a plank which had a nail sticking out of it and it went
straight through the boot sole and into my foot. I sat for the rest of the
day in school in agony because I didn't dare admit to a teacher that we'd
been anywhere near the new building.

Anyway when I got home I had to tell my parents and they took me down the
hospital because by then it was looking really nasty.

I had an anti-tetanus jab and penicillin injections for the next six days,
in my backside. Most seem to be given by a middle-aged nursing sister who
seemed to enjoy sticking the needle in my bum with some relish!

I not sure which hurt most, the injections or the nail going into my foot!

In article <[email protected]>,
Scritch <[email protected]> wrote:
> > My Mom used to cut chicken, chop eggs and spread mayo on the same
> >
> > cutting board with the same knife and no bleach, but we didn't seem to
> >
> > get food poisoning.

> Wood cutting boards harbor fewer bacteria than plastic, the few studies
> seem to show. Also, there was less harmful bacteria around. The
> overuse of disinfectants and industrial farming techniques are breeding
> more and tougher harmful bacteria. Also, you were probably lucky.

These days everyone uses anti-bac wipes, soaps and lotions and we're so
clean that we develop all sorts of auto-immune diseases and allergies
because our immune systems aren't kept properly occupied. When something
does come along our immune systems are too weak to fight it.

On Thu, 11 Jun 2009 23:14:49 GMT, "Lew Hodgett"
<[email protected]> wrote:


>Almost all of us would have rather gone swimming in the lake instead
>of a pristine pool (talk about boring), no beach closures then.

Around here we had family operated sand pits where everyone went to
swim. About 25 years ago insurance rates took care of that.

>We all took GYM, not PE . and risked permanent injury with a pair of
>high top Ked's (only worn in gym) instead of having cross-training athletic
>shoes with air cushion soles and built in light reflectors.

Don't forget senior vs freshman dodge ball.
Way more fun as a senior!

>We didn't act up at the neighbor's house either because if we did, we
>got our butt spanked there and then we got butt spanked again when we got
>home.

Been there...more than once.



Mike O.

"Larry Blanchard" wrote:

> Remember when "go play in the street" wasn't a sick joke?

I grew up in the country, what's a "street"?

Lew

On Thu, 11 Jun 2009 23:14:49 +0000, Lew Hodgett wrote:

> LOVE TO ALL OF US WHO SHARED THIS ERA, AND TO ALL WHO
>
> DIDN'T; SORRY FOR WHAT YOU MISSED. I WOULDN'T TRADE IT FOR
>
> ANYTHING.

Remember when "go play in the street" wasn't a sick joke?

--
Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw

"Lew Hodgett" <[email protected]> wrote in news:JdgYl.1975$u86.1654
@nwrddc01.gnilink.net:

> Enjoy
>
> Lew
> =======================================
>
> Our Childhood in Black and White.
>
> (Under age 35? You won't understand.)
>
> You could hardly see for all the snow,
> Spread the rabbit ears as far as they go.
> Pull a chair up to the TV set,
> 'Good Night, David. Good Night, Chet.'
>
> My Mom used to cut chicken, chop eggs and spread mayo on the same
>
> cutting board with the same knife and no bleach, but we didn't seem to
>
> get food poisoning.
>
> My Mom used to defrost hamburger on the counter AND I used to eat it
>
> raw sometimes, too.
>
> Our school sandwiches were wrapped in wax paper in a brown paper
>
> bag, not in ice-pack coolers, but I can't remember getting e.coli.
>
> Almost all of us would have rather gone swimming in the lake instead
> of a
>
> pristine pool (talk about boring), no beach closures then.
>
> The term cell phone would have conjured up a phone in a jail cell, and
> a
>
> pager was the school PA system.
>
> We all took GYM, not PE . and risked permanent injury with a pair of
> high
>
> top Ked's (only worn in gym) instead of having cross-training athletic
>
> shoes with air cushion soles and built in light reflectors.
>
> I can't recall any injuries, but they must have happened because they
> tell
>
> us how much safer we are now.
>
> Flunking gym was not an option, even for stupid kids!
> I guess PE must be much harder than gym.
>
> Speaking of school, we all sang the national anthem, and staying in
>
> detention after school caught all sorts of negative attention.
>
> We must have had horribly damaged psyches. What an archaic health
>
> system we had then.
>
> Remember school nurses?
>
> Ours wore a hat and everything.
>
> Thought that I was supposed to accomplish something before I was
>
> allowed to be proud of myself.
>
> Just can't recall how bored we were without computers, Play station,
>
> Nintendo, X-box or 270 digital TV cable stations.
>
> Oh yeah ... and where was the Benadryl and sterilization kit when I
> got
>
> that bee sting? I could have been killed!
>
> We played 'king of the hill' on piles of gravel left on vacant
> construction
>
> sites, and when we got hurt, Mom pulled out the 48-cent bottle of
>
> Mercurochrome (kids liked it better because it didn't sting like
> iodine did)
>
> and then we got our butt spanked.
>
> Now it's a trip to the emergency room, followed by a 14-day dose of a
>
> $149 bottle of antibiotics, and then Mom calls the attorney to sue the
>
> contractor for leaving a horribly vicious pile of gravel where it was
> such a
>
> threat.
>
> We didn't act up at the neighbor's house either because if we did, we
> got
>
> our butt spanked there and then we got butt spanked again when we got
>
> home.
>
> To top it off, not a single person I knew had ever been told that they
> were
>
> from a dysfunctional family. How could we possibly have known that?
>
> We needed to get into group therapy and anger management classes?
>
> We were obviously so duped by so many societal ills that we didn't
> even
>
> notice that the entire country wasn't taking Prozac!
>
> How did we ever survive?
>
> LOVE TO ALL OF US WHO SHARED THIS ERA, AND TO ALL WHO
>
> DIDN'T; SORRY FOR WHAT YOU MISSED. I WOULDN'T TRADE IT FOR
>
> ANYTHING.
>
>
>

Thanks Lew for the trip down memory lane :)

"Lew Hodgett" <[email protected]> wrote in news:JdgYl.1975$u86.1654
@nwrddc01.gnilink.net:

> Enjoy
>
> Lew
> =======================================
>
> Our Childhood in Black and White.
>
> (Under age 35? You won't understand.)
>
> You could hardly see for all the snow,
> Spread the rabbit ears as far as they go.
> Pull a chair up to the TV set,
> 'Good Night, David. Good Night, Chet.'
>
> My Mom used to cut chicken, chop eggs and spread mayo on the same
>
> cutting board with the same knife and no bleach, but we didn't seem to
>
> get food poisoning.

Wood cutting boards harbor fewer bacteria than plastic, the few studies
seem to show. Also, there was less harmful bacteria around. The overuse
of disinfectants and industrial farming techniques are breeding more and
tougher harmful bacteria. Also, you were probably lucky.

>
> My Mom used to defrost hamburger on the counter AND I used to eat it
>
> raw sometimes, too.

As before, industrial meat farms create and spread more harmful bugs than
when the operations wer smaller, and more frequently inspected. That being
said, you still can eat steak tartare if you wish, and you probably won't
get sick, assuming you get your meat from a reputuable source (not Armour).
Also, you were probably lucky.

>
> Our school sandwiches were wrapped in wax paper in a brown paper
>
> bag, not in ice-pack coolers, but I can't remember getting e.coli.

Also, you were probably lucky, but your sandwiches dried out. Mine still
do if I use wax paper.

>
> Almost all of us would have rather gone swimming in the lake instead
> of a
>
> pristine pool (talk about boring), no beach closures then.

If you could get to a lake. I grew up in San Jose, and San Francisco Bay,
the only "lake" you could swim in (reservoirs were off-limits) was
difficult to get to and freezing cold all year. And what about things like
smog so bad you couldn't see five blocks? And how about the "down-
winders" from A-bomb tests who are suffering now from thyroid cancer and
other radiation-induced ailments? And how about mesothelioma from
asbestos?

>
> The term cell phone would have conjured up a phone in a jail cell, and
> a
>
> pager was the school PA system.
>
> We all took GYM, not PE . and risked permanent injury with a pair of
> high
>
> top Ked's (only worn in gym) instead of having cross-training athletic
>
> shoes with air cushion soles and built in light reflectors.
>
> I can't recall any injuries, but they must have happened because they
> tell
>
> us how much safer we are now.
>
> Flunking gym was not an option, even for stupid kids!
> I guess PE must be much harder than gym.
>
> Speaking of school, we all sang the national anthem,

What about the First Amendment?

> and staying in
>
> detention after school caught all sorts of negative attention.
>
> We must have had horribly damaged psyches. What an archaic health
>
> system we had then.

Yeah, I had the whooping cough and almost died becuase they didn't have
antiviral medicines then. I guess I wasn't tough.

>
> Remember school nurses?
>
> Ours wore a hat and everything.

They still couldn't give you anything except a Bandaid.

>
> Thought that I was supposed to accomplish something before I was
>
> allowed to be proud of myself.

Instead you were ignored by the teacher if you were a girl.

>
> Just can't recall how bored we were without computers, Play station,
>
> Nintendo, X-box or 270 digital TV cable stations.

Can't argue with you there. We played war and threw rocks at each other
until someone got hurt.

>
> Oh yeah ... and where was the Benadryl and sterilization kit when I
> got
>
> that bee sting? I could have been killed!

You could have. Like my cousin.

>
> We played 'king of the hill' on piles of gravel left on vacant
> construction
>
> sites, and when we got hurt, Mom pulled out the 48-cent bottle of
>
> Mercurochrome (kids liked it better because it didn't sting like
> iodine did)
>
> and then we got our butt spanked.
>
> Now it's a trip to the emergency room, followed by a 14-day dose of a
>
> $149 bottle of antibiotics, and then Mom calls the attorney to sue the
>
> contractor for leaving a horribly vicious pile of gravel where it was
> such a
>
> threat.

Lucky you didn't get tetanus, because there was no vaccine.

>
> We didn't act up at the neighbor's house either because if we did, we
> got
>
> our butt spanked there and then we got butt spanked again when we got
>
> home.
>
> To top it off, not a single person I knew had ever been told that they
> were
>
> from a dysfunctional family. How could we possibly have known that?
>
> We needed to get into group therapy and anger management classes?
>
> We were obviously so duped by so many societal ills that we didn't
> even
>
> notice that the entire country wasn't taking Prozac!
>
> How did we ever survive?

Also, you were lucky.

>
> LOVE TO ALL OF US WHO SHARED THIS ERA, AND TO ALL WHO
>
> DIDN'T; SORRY FOR WHAT YOU MISSED. I WOULDN'T TRADE IT FOR
>
> ANYTHING.
>
>

I bet you would trade the beatings.

"Stuart" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> These days everyone uses anti-bac wipes, soaps and lotions and we're so
> clean that we develop all sorts of auto-immune diseases and allergies
> because our immune systems aren't kept properly occupied. When something
> does come along our immune systems are too weak to fight it.
>

The medical community agrees with you. They are saying that average life
expectancy is likely to drop due to obesity and weak immune systems.

"Lew Hodgett" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Enjoy
>
> Lew
> =======================================
>
> Our Childhood in Black and White.
>
> (Under age 35? You won't understand.)
>
> You could hardly see for all the snow,
> Spread the rabbit ears as far as they go.
> Pull a chair up to the TV set,
> 'Good Night, David. Good Night, Chet.'
>
> My Mom used to cut chicken, chop eggs and spread mayo on the same
>
> cutting board with the same knife and no bleach, but we didn't seem to
>
> get food poisoning.


Amen!
I kinda feel sorry of the younger generations. When a new cell phone with
the latest and greatest bells and whistles is the highlight of this
month….tells me you haven’t a clue as to what life is.



The sad thing is it’s our fault. We sure fu*ked up.

"Larry Blanchard" wrote:

> A flat stretch of dirt between two cornfields :-).


Touche.

Lew

On Fri, 12 Jun 2009 20:31:39 +0000, Lew Hodgett wrote:

> "Larry Blanchard" wrote:
>
>> Remember when "go play in the street" wasn't a sick joke?
>
> I grew up in the country, what's a "street"?
>
A flat stretch of dirt between two cornfields :-).


--
Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw