And the beat goes on............

[Straydog]

As a guy that remembers when 'Pong' was cutting edge I got a chuckle out of this.....

This is from a 30 something yr old...

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious
diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what
with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning uphill both ways
through year 'round blizzards carrying their younger siblings on their
backs to their one-room schoolhouse where they maintained a straight-A
average despite their full-time after-school job at the local textile
mill where they worked for 35 cents an hour just to help keep their
family from starving to death!
And I remember promising myself that when I grew up there was no way in heck
I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I
had it and how easy they've got it!
But....
Now that I've reached my thirties, I can't help but look around and
notice the youth of today.
You've got it so darned easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live
in a darned Utopia!
And I hate to say it but you kids today you don't even know how good
you've got it!
I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet--we wanted to know
something, we had to go to the library and look it up ourselves!
And there was no email! We had to actually write somebody a letter with
a pen!-- and then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it
in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!
And there were no MP3s or Napsters! You wanted to steal music, you had
to go to the record store and shoplift it yourself!
Try sticking an LP Album under your jacket, buddy!
Or we had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ'd
usually talk over the beginning and screw it all up!
You want to hear about hardship?
We didn't have fancy stuff like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone
and somebody else called they got a busy signal! And we didn't have fancy
Caller ID Boxes either! When the phone rang, you
had no idea who it was it could be your boss, your mom, a collections
agent, your drug dealer, you didn't know!!! You just had to pick it up and take
your chances, mister!
And we didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation videogames with
high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like
Space Invaders" and "Asteroids" and the graphics sucked! Your guy was a little
square! You had to use your imagination! And there were no multiple
levels or screens, it was just one screen forever! And you could never
win, the game just kept getting harder and faster until you died!
Just like LIFE!
When you went to the movie theater there no such thing as stadium
seating!
All the seats were the same height! A tall guy sat in front of you, you
were screwed! And sure, we had cable television, but back then that was
only like 20 channels and there was no onscreen menu! You had to use a
little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on!
And there was no Cartoon Network! You could only get cartoons on
Saturday morning... ...D'ya hear what the heck I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL
WEEK, you spoiled little buggers!!
That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy!
You're spoiled, I swear to God! You guys wouldn't last five minutes back
in the 80's!

[Kruechief]

Ain't it the truth!!!!

Krue

[Silver Hilton]

Ah, you young punks.

When I was a kid, we did, in fact, walk over a mile to the bus stop, and it was, in fact, uphill both ways (through a canyon), and on some days, in fact, it was below zero.

When I was a kid, even cable TV only had 5 channels. Some of my rich schoolmates had color TV, none of us did.

When I was a kid, stereo was something that Hugh Hefner had. We had the upscale record player, the kind you could stack multiple albums on.

When I was a teenager, the radio in the car was AM, and there was two radio stations, Top 40 and Country. Alternative music was the one you got when you hit the other button.

Video Games? Those came in during college, and you had to pay a quarter, back when a 4 quarters made up a dollar, and 2 dollars would buy a half rack of beer, for the privilege of getting killed in three minutes or less. This was on Defender, the one true video game that ever existed.

God, we had it tough. I wonder why I don't remember being miserable?

[Sturgeon Tom]

Wow this could go on forever. Atari 2600 who had that growing up? Who had cable tv. I had the real up to date strero and it was an 8 track. Gas was .259 but you were lucky to have 2 bucks for a week of gas. Boxing was on raido not TV. No monday night football.
It amazing we had so much fun.

[ryleysmom]

To funny Straydog!! Boy you said it all right there! The 80's! Im glad I was in that generation, it was a great 10 years....
Oh and dont forget all the guys and there mullet hair do's ... hehehe

[crabbait]

Im dealin' with children, here! When I was a kid we watched the radio! I seriously remember listening to Amos 'n Andy and Jack Benny on the radio which was a huge piece of furniture with a gigantic dial and very few stations, all AM (Philco).

When we finally got a TV it was another huge piece of furniture. What was playing most of the time was black and white ant battles which were finally replaced with a test pattern with an indian in the middle until the programs started! All black and white, "I Married Jane"! Westerns took up most of our time by the late fifties, "Paladin", "Gunsmoke", "Wagontrain", "Sugarfoot", "The Rifleman", "The Rebel", "Twenty Mule Team Borax", "Maverick". When "Bonanza" came out in color it was amazing! We made the drive to my uncle's house on Sundays after church just to watch "Bonanza" in COLOR!

Saturday mornings had more than just cartoons. There were good serial shows just for kids, also with a western theme for the most part: "Roy Rogers", "The Lone Ranger", "Zorro", "My Friend Flicka", "Fury", "Sky King", "Rin Tin Tin". The shows taught that honor and decency were worth striving for and that doing the right thing always was the best choice in the end.

Here is the biggest change: Mom never batted an eye when we strapped a rod across the handlebars of our hard rode and beat up Schwinn, threw a tackle box in the basket and an extra jacket in the rat trap and told her we were going fishing. Often we rode 5-8 miles one way to a good gravel pit, lake, or the Willamette or Mill Creek. We never had to tell her which of these haunts we would frequent that day, she knew we would be back before dark. No one ever messed with us and we never gave it a thought. Of course, we did run in packs and were extremely adept at rock chuckin', stick whackin', kickin', scratchin', bitin' and gougin'. Take on one and ya got us all! No one sane or insane stood a chance against us.

Combat was our favorite outdoor game, followed closely by cowboys 'n indians or cops 'n robbers. We prepared constantly for battle.

We watched John Wayne movies when we could afford the $.30 for a Saturday Matinee. A buck got you in, all the Boston Beans, JuJubees and Licorice you could eat and a large "Graveyard" to wash it down with (softdrink made from a combination of everything the guy had on tap). For another quarter you could ride the bus to town and back if the weather was too nasty for the bike.

We were armed to the teeth before we reached our teen years. Shotguns and .22s taught the value of a dollar because they weren't much good without ammo and ammo cost money.

We picked berries and pole beans, cherries and apples. We moved irrigation when we were big enough to reach the pedals on the tractor. Anything legal for a buck.

We were pretty self sufficient, independent, resourceful and hard as a ten penny nail. Things are a lot different now but I don't for a minute think they are better.

I had to walk to school both ways (about 3 miles and by choice) . In the fall we would take our shotguns to school and hunt ducks and phesants on the way home :grin:

TV? When we got a TV we got one station. The shows ran in Medford and then brought over to KF and ran the following week :depressed: .

WE had to share a phone line with other homes.

[Silver Hilton]

Man, that's right. I used to carry a rifle or a shotgun on my bike or walking through town, and no-one ever blinked, unless it was to give me grief because I wasn't carrying any birds.

In the neighborhood I live in now, mothers walk their fourth graders to the school that is 1/4 mile away. Or, if it looks like it might mist on their little darlings, they load them into the mini-van.

We're growing a nation of wimps.

[Silver Hilton]

Crabbait, did you guys hunt dinosaurs, too? What was the limit on Ichthysaurs?

[SHLEPROCK]

When I turned 12 I worked cutting firewood, We lived next to a plywood mill and every spring when high water came we would have a tugboat bring the lillypads {log ends} into our pond. They would bring in 6 to 9 rafts and when the water would go back down they would be high and dry in the field. The lillypads were mostly 5 foot in diameter 12 to 18 inches thick and bust like a watermelon. Split and delivered for 16 dollars for a cord and a half. If I wanted money I had to earn it.

[crabbait]

Wasn't going to bring that up, Silver Hilton, seeuns how we kilt 'em all. Learned to hold back some since then.

[1pump]

Man, I feel like such a pup! And I'm on the wrong side of 40.
I gotta agree with Silver Hilton. Some people cater to their kids. I stopped getting rides to school after kindergarten. Once I started 1st grade, that was it. The district I lived in didn't bus kids until 7th grade, so it was either hike or bike. It was my responsibility to get there on time, every day, regardless of the weather. Same with all the other kids. I never got a ride anywhere unless my sister or parents happened to be going in the same direction as me at the same time. And that wasn't very often.

[Fishplay]

If I had kids they would be delivered and picked up from school also. What this country seems to be growing is too many pedophiles. It's a different world from the one we grew up in. :depressed:

[Kruechief]

My fishing friends,

I managed a sex offender unit for several years.

When you hear stories of how little children are grabbed by their hair and stuffed in a trunk (or whatever) it makes the world a lot less safe. When I see little children trudging around with their backpacks it makes my heart hurt!

It's not the same world, at all. :depressed:

Krue

[Silver Hilton]

Fishplay,

While we certainly seem to hear about it a lot, that stats I have seen indicate that pedophiles are no more, and probably less of a risk than when we were kids. If for no other reason, risk is reduced because teachers and other child care workers are now sensitized to the issue. The accounts of the things that do happen are just very widely published, not least because we all read and watch them avidly.

More importantly annd sadly, the vast majority child sexual abuse is conducted by relatives and other children, the bulk of it in the child's own home. Children almost always know their abuser by name.

I won't belittle any parent's honest concern for their child, but the numbers don't support the concern around walking to school. They're in more danger of molestation when they get there.

If you'd like to know what you really should be scared of, visit the National Safety Foundation, and look at the stats for accidents. Your child is much more likely to die of a bicycle accident than most other causes.

[1pump]

Right again, SH. There aren't any more pedophiles now than there was 30 years ago. There's just more of them getting caught, due to children being educated about molestation and being encouraged to tell a responsible adult about it if it happens. Not to mention kids are taken seriously when they report it (in most cases), unlike "the good ol' days".
Occasionally a Westley Dodd (remember him?) will pop up, but fortunately they're rare. [img]graemlins/eek13.gif[/img]

More of this needs to happen Their Punishment

[crabbait]

Oh yeah, Keta, we need more mob violence where people are taken from law enforcement officials and lit on fire with gasoline a couple of times. These same good folks also killed a teen who was accused of theft some time before.

Just think of the money we could save by eliminating jails and courts! Police officers would not need a gun, just a fire extenguisher!

I think we do a poor job with sex offenders but I disagree that unsanctioned barbeques are the answer.

Crabbait,
Somewhere in the middle.

#1 A fair trial
#2 If they are convicted, castration and big jail time.
#3 Second conviction death.

If I catch one molesting one of my kids, skip to #3 on the spot.

[Kruechief]

Did I mention that this is my living?

Castarate? it's not about the sex, it's about the control.

Sex offenders are not rehabed they are watched and controlled.

The unknown perp preditory sex crimes are much more rampant then in past generations. And the violence is much worse.

Yes, the bible belt had its share of family/friend type and it is still MORE LIKELY to be that type today, but the preditory sex offender is truly scary.

Krue

[Silver Hilton]

Krue,

are they necessarily different? I mean the known type and the predatory type? Or is the difference that one kills? I'm not sure how you are defining the term.

This is an interesting area of criminology, along with the area of other rapists. There is a lot of evidence accumulating that these folks are simply always going to be dangerous. What is a realistic, pragmatic, just policy?

[skein]

Geez, Crabbait, are you really as old as I am? I remember all those things you talk about. Did 'em, too.

Remember the serials at the movie house on Saturdays? Cost us a dime. And newsreels? I was telling someone the other day I can remember the newsreel where Howard Hughes lifted off the Spruce Goose. I remember Floyd Patterson knocking out Ingemar Johannson - there's never been a better punch thrown in the history of boxing. Remember how cool the slow-motion was? And how we'd go out and pretend box?

And, oh, the hunting and fishing. I could go on all night.

Pedophiles and drug dealers? Krue, I have my own ideas on "managing" them - only you'd probably be out of a job. And in the end, I wouldn't destroy nearly as many innocent lives as they do.

Skein

[STGRule]

Krue: I also am needing clarification. I was under the impression that pedophiles were sexually attracted to children and people like Westly Dodd were more of the ego trip thing using sex and murder for the power and thrill.

[crabbait]

I may not be quite as old as you Skein but I have a really good memory. Born in '51.

Are you still thinking of making an Edwing trip? Any Tue or Wed count me in.

[skein]

Crabbait,

I'm heading up to Ed Wing's on Monday since the wife and I both have it off. You can't get free? I'd be glad to pick you up on the way through. And Nick could come along - my environment is pretty dog-friendly. :grin:

Skein