How did we ever survive

Chemistry sets.

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Man, I loved these things as a kid. After I would get a set for my birthday or Christmas I'd run down to the basement where my folks let me set up my "lab" (the fools!) and immediately start building my next Frankenstein. I remember one of my favorite elements that was always packed into these sets - sulfur.

Many a happy hour I spent burning sulfur in the basement. :cool:

I would even go to the local hobby shop on a Saturday, where they had a complete collection of Pyrex labwear as well as replacement chemicals, and blow my allowance on chemicals of mass destruction.

No more, alas. *sigh*
 
I can remember once two kids(not me) doing this in my neighborhood. Luckily no injuries.
 

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Bullie76 said:
I can remember once two kids(not me) doing this in my neighborhood. Luckily no injuries.
Click to expand...

:D:D:D I was once playing cowboys and Indians with my brother and managed to shoot him in the back with a homemade bow and arrow.:eek: No real damage, but, my a$$ got good and warm when the old man got home.:)brother carries the scar, but not the grudge.
 
Remember slingshots? And....BB guns? I had an uncle who was a real terror as a kid, and he had several slingshots and BB gun. His parents spoiled him and always defended him - even when he hurt another child or a pet. He was quite a bully and actually a sadist, even as an adult....someone to be avoided. (He died at 52, a lonely alcoholic.) Sorry for the tangent, but I couldn't help but think of him.
 
We survived, because (as far as I'm concerned) more common sense was instilled upon young and growing children back in the day (compared to nowadays), and because moms stayed home, there was almost always a set of watchful eyes on the children at all times, so when someone did something that was dangerous, they were reined-in promptly.

Lawn Darts? One of my very favorite childhood outdoor games! We used to play for hours!
 
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What amazes me was that I had to walk to school. I lived one mile from the school. ( The policy was that you could ride the bus if you were over 1 mile from the school. If I lived next door I could have rode the bus, but I was just under a mile.) So I had to walk to school, and come home for lunch. Then back to school. Close to 4 miles a day- and I was 7. Nobody thought that was a big deal. Today, parents are suing the school district, if the school bus doesn't drop off the kids right in front of their home. I live in a development, Moms are sitting there, in their minivans, waiting for kids to get off the bus, while their homes, are just a few hundred feet away. When I was a kid, nobody was waiting for you, when you came home, via the bus.
My parents didn't make a fuss, because that's what they did when they were kids.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
What amazes me was that I had to walk to school. I lived one mile from the school. ( The policy was that you could ride the bus if you were over 1 mile from the school. If I lived next door I could have rode the bus, but I was just under a mile.) So I had to walk to school, and come home for lunch. Then back to school. Close to 4 miles a day- and I was 7. Nobody thought that was a big deal. Today, parents are suing the school district, if the school bus doesn't drop off the kids right in front of their home. I live in a development, Moms are sitting there, in their minivans, waiting for kids to get off the bus, while their homes, are just a few hundred feet away. When I was a kid, nobody was waiting for you, when you came home, via the bus.
My parents didn't make a fuss, because that's what they did when they were kids.
Click to expand...
Times have changed for sure. I was just 5, and toddling to school each day by myself (half days then... my kindergarten year), but the school was roughly 10 blocks away, so not far, but for a 5 year old, far enough.

Then when I started junior-high, I walked as well, but I'm talking 7-8 miles (at least), and the only time I didn't walk regularly, was over the course of winter, at which time I took the city bus.

Was good for us kids though...
 
I also walked to and from school for the duration of my public school career. My elementary school had no cafeteria, so we'd walk home for lunch, then back for the afternoon. Hiking to high school was well over a mile, and we did it in all kinds of weather and temperatures...and we liked it! If a classmate lived along your route, you'd meet up with them, and walk the distance together, having great discussions. Outside of the occasional bully, the world was safer then, and walking kept us fit...
 

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