What kids don't do anymore

Here's a couple you won't see happening nowadays:

Kids in the residential area front yards playing shoot'em up with very realistic looking toy guns. (none of that silly orange cap on the barrel thing) The entire neighborhood is the designated warzone.

Or better yet and probably not even in farm country anymore unless it's way out of the way: The big kids taking the little kids up to the runway or into the hayfield to teach them to shoot. I'm not talking BB guns either, I'm talking boom you're flat on your butt guns. Oh yea, to get to the shooting area, you're walking a mile on a public road carrying a few guns per kid and more ammunition than most small country's have. The county sheriff and all the locals know who you are so it's no big deal.
 
Get their drivers license.

I know so many kids (16 to 22) that don't have their drivers license because their parents are willing to cart them all over the place.

I don't get it.
 
mbond said:
Get their drivers license.

I know so many kids (16 to 22) that don't have their drivers license because their parents are willing to cart them all over the place.

I don't get it.
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I recently discovered a co-worker whose 17 year old son does not have a license yet. This boggles my mind. I took my test on my 16th birthday and drove back to school afterward on my dad's suggestion.

But, he also goes home on lunch hour to wake up his older son (19) to make sure he makes it to work on time.
 
Jack Spectre said:
I recently discovered a co-worker whose 17 year old son does not have a license yet. This boggles my mind. I took my test on my 16th birthday and drove back to school afterward on my dad's suggestion.

But, he also goes home on lunch hour to wake up his older son (19) to make sure he makes it to work on time.
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Its very common.

Kids have no ambition to do anything anymore and parents are enabling it.
 
Jack Spectre said:
I recently discovered a co-worker whose 17 year old son does not have a license yet. This boggles my mind. I took my test on my 16th birthday and drove back to school afterward on my dad's suggestion.

But, he also goes home on lunch hour to wake up his older son (19) to make sure he makes it to work on time.
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Heck, Leslie didn't have a license until we were married. We lived in the city, and took public transportation.
 
Smoking is not condoned for young people any more. My HS had dedicated smoking areas outdoors for students.
 
We had the smoking areas too. We also had pickups with gun-racks, and guns, in the high school parking lot.
 
Jack Spectre said:
I recently discovered a co-worker whose 17 year old son does not have a license yet. This boggles my mind. I took my test on my 16th birthday
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It depends on your viewpoint and needs. (Actual needs, not wants)

I've been driving farm equipment on the road since I was probably 12 or thereabouts. The great coveted drivers license was about as exciting to me as used toilet paper. I simply wasn't impressed enough to persue a drivers license until it became essential.

Pilot license at 17. (And that was only because the FAA wouldn't let me take a checkride before then)
Driver license at 18 out of necessity for long range travel. On the farm it was walk or drive the equipment. If I wasn't on the farm, it was bicycle everywhere. (No babysitter drivers for me. Either I figured out a way there on my own or I didn't go)

A quarter decade later and I STILL can't figure out what the big deal about a drivers license is. It's really nothing special at all.

FWIW: A friend of mine in the theatre is 23. She walks, rides her bicycle or takes a bus. The DL is merely used as an acceptable form of ID and nothing else.
 
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fgcason said:
Kids in the residential area front yards playing shoot'em up with very realistic looking toy guns. (none of that silly orange cap on the barrel thing)
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Not a 2nd amendment comment, just a comment on the silliness of people today. I noticed those orange caps a while back, couldn't figure out what was up with that. Then I was down in DisneyWorld this fall and saw that the 'pistoles' for sale in the Pirates of the Caribbean shop were all either red or blue. Scratched head, figured it out. OOOOOOHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I get it, we wouldn't want anyone to think they were guns, would we?????? :mad2:

The joke is on them of course, as young boys can make imaginary guns out of anything. Young girls can too, but it seems to be a particular trait of boys.
 
Jack Spectre said:
I recently discovered a co-worker whose 17 year old son does not have a license yet. This boggles my mind.
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When I met my wife she was 25 and didn't drive. I fixed that. Now she drives like Mario Andretti. But she has four sisters, all in their 40s. Two of 'em still don't drive! One of her sisters who DOES drive has a daughter who is 22 and doesn't drive yet. And these people live in the suburbs, not the city. The two who do drive spend their time ferrying the rest of 'em around. Seems strange to me.
:frown2:
 
flyersfan31 said:
I noticed those orange caps a while back, couldn't figure out what was up with that. Then I was down in DisneyWorld this fall and saw that the 'pistoles' for sale in the Pirates of the Caribbean shop were all either red or blue. Scratched head, figured it out. OOOOOOHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I get it, we wouldn't want anyone to think they were guns, would we??????
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Actually I think it's supposed to be a way for someone to determine that it's really a toy before firing in self defense. Not that there is orange paint readily available at any local crafts store or anything... Of course if some punk looking kid reaches behind his back and whips something gun like out and points it at someone, I doubt the person being pointed at will have enough time to be wondering if the tiny tip is black, silver or a teeny orange plastic bit before defending themselves. IMO, it's a TSA/DHS type security procedure thing - cute in concept but completely useless in reality.

One of these days I'll have to see if the old toy rifle and some pistols I had as a kid playing wargames in the street with other kids is still at my parents house somewhere. I could post pictures of them up here claiming they're my gun collection and it would probably take a while for quite a few people to figure out they're just harmless toys. I distinctly recall 2 of them that are very convincing at <10 feet when they're laying on the table next to the real thing.
 
I am currently 14.... and there is a way to get around caller ID... dial *67 before the number... I only know that through friends but don't prank call much myself. And for wars? well.... now there is laser tag (some don't need the giant vests), airsoft, and paintball. (I only read up to about there so no more to say)
 
Dragan said:
laser tag, airsoft, and paintball.
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There is no room for the imagination to do it's thing or proper social skills development in organized, definied rules, technologically supported activities in defined safety designed areas. The street/field/creek wars were never about shooting each other or winning. No one ever kept count because it didn't matter. It was about the social skills including the ability to play fair in an unfair fight...and sorting out dynamic troop armies that you had to figure out constantly.

Ours went something like this: bang, you're dead, no i'm not you missed, oh yea, yea, why's that, because I'm not on that side of the bush I'm on this side and could see the side of your barrel when you yelled bang, oh ok you're still alive oh i see you now, bang, bang, dang now we're both dead, neat cloud up there huh, yea, hey let's be our own army and double team our old armies we can just walk up and take them out since they don't know yet, ok let's go I'm your prisoner since yours are closer.

No one ever got mad or stomped off to tell on someone or whine because we all knew it was barn king of the hill rules during wars.
 
fgcason said:
No one ever got mad or stomped off to tell on someone or whine because we all knew it was barn king of the hill rules during wars.
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Maybe not in your world but I remember the whiners.
 
Everskyward said:
Maybe not in your world but I remember the whiners.
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I remember them too though we didn't play with them at all. We were the rough farm kids. They were afraid of any risk such as fully involved physical activities - fun stuff like the rope swing out into the river, falling 15 feet in the barn with haybails falling on top of them, sinking the rowboat in the pond with no life jackets or riding the boat anchor to the bottom so they stayed away...far far away.
 
fgcason said:
I remember them too though we didn't play with them at all. We were the rough farm kids. They were afraid of any risk such as fully involved physical activities - fun stuff like the rope swing out into the river, falling 15 feet in the barn with haybails falling on top of them, sinking the rowboat in the pond with no life jackets or riding the boat anchor to the bottom so they stayed away...far far away.
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So you are not really speaking about what kids were like in the old days, just kids in your group. ;)
 
Everskyward said:
So you are not really speaking about what kids were like in the old days, just kids in your group.
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The beginning of the over protected ones were starting in the late 70's early 80's. 1 in 100 were like the newer generations.
 
fgcason said:
Here's a couple you won't see happening nowadays:

Kids in the residential area front yards playing shoot'em up with very realistic looking toy guns. (none of that silly orange cap on the barrel thing) The entire neighborhood is the designated warzone.

Or better yet and probably not even in farm country anymore unless it's way out of the way: The big kids taking the little kids up to the runway or into the hayfield to teach them to shoot. I'm not talking BB guns either, I'm talking boom you're flat on your butt guns. Oh yea, to get to the shooting area, you're walking a mile on a public road carrying a few guns per kid and more ammunition than most small country's have. The county sheriff and all the locals know who you are so it's no big deal.
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Demograhics changed. More people live in urbanized areas now, more idiots per square mile who would abuse such an activity. I carried a full size Martini Henry rifle through our neighborhood to go shoot in the woods. Nobody cared.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Actually, I have... Just seem to end up in the warehouse garden waaaaaay too much. :(

There's a small strip of western Jersey that's very pretty, and the south/east portion down toward Atlantic City (but not ALL the way) has a lot more wide-open space, if a bit flat and boring (kind of Ohio-ish). But I still ain't ever seen any good-sized (flower, not warehouse) gardens there...
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I don't know how I missed this until now...
But gardens are used to grow vegetables too and compared to NE farms, South Jersey farms are generally gardens. If you get off of route 55 or the ACE, you'll see the farms. The area around Millville, Vineland, Hammonton- all have lots of farms. As I lived down there until only a few years ago, I do know of what I speak.
 
fgcason said:
Ours went something like this: bang, you're dead, no i'm not you missed, oh yea, yea, why's that, because I'm not on that side of the bush I'm on this side and could see the side of your barrel when you yelled bang, oh ok you're still alive oh i see you now, bang, bang, dang now we're both dead, neat cloud up there huh, yea, hey let's be our own army and double team our old armies we can just walk up and take them out since they don't know yet, ok let's go I'm your prisoner since yours are closer.

No one ever got mad or stomped off to tell on someone or whine because we all knew it was barn king of the hill rules during wars.
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Frank I think we may have played together as kids:D
 
Cap'n Jack said:
I don't know how I missed this until now...
But gardens are used to grow vegetables too and compared to NE farms, South Jersey farms are generally gardens. If you get off of route 55 or the ACE, you'll see the farms. The area around Millville, Vineland, Hammonton- all have lots of farms. As I lived down there until only a few years ago, I do know of what I speak.
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Lots of McMansions dot the landscape that once had dairy farms....
 
Anthony said:
I carried a full size Martini Henry rifle through our neighborhood to go shoot in the woods. Nobody cared.
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My dad (and I) used to shoot guns in the backyard and no one complained that I know of. Now that I think about it I'm not sure that was such a good idea...
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Ahhh, the Guide to Guys. Friggin' hilarious. Here's an example of what's in it - The Guyness Quotient quiz:
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Barry's quiz said:
How to Score: Give yourself one point for every time you picked answer "C." A real guy would score at least 10 on this test. In fact, a real guy would score at least 15, because he would get the special five-point bonus for knowing the joke about the guy who has Alzheimer's disease and cancer.
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That's funny; I just read this quiz out loud to Abby (the 2nd of my three daughters--wait, there's THREE of them?!? :yikes:).

When we got done, she laughed, loudly. Why? She said: "I know that joke!!!" :rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
kevin47881 said:
When was the last time someone lit a sack of dog doodie on a porch and rung the door bell before running away? :D
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My stepbrother did this ten years ago, three times, and got convicted of three attempts to commit arson.
 
I on the other hand remember when I got the improvised munitions handbook and couldnt wait to try everything in it, I used to ride my motorcycle with a shotgun slung over my back, beg borrow or steal whatever was needed to construct the latest motorized creation of the kids on the block. I remember disappearing into the woods for days with one of my friends and we would set up camps and try to attack each other over the next few days. When we returned I found out that his mother had called my dad a number of times and was worried sick about us since no one had seen us for days,to which my dads responded, "they are fine, I saw some smoke coming from the valley just this morning." Every kid in the neighborhood knew what a gun was, how to handle them, and didnt freak out if you mentioned/had one. I miss the good old days and hope my kids try some of the stuff I did, I just hope they are as lucky as I was and will be around to tell the tales of their childhood.
 
My 17 year old niece made me feel really old today. While watching TV we saw the Progresso soup commercial where they are talking into "can phones", the cans tied together with string like we used play with. After the commercial, she turned to me and said, "I don't get that commercial. Why are those people talking in to cans?" (as she simultaneously texts away on her cell phone) :yikes::mad2:
 
fgcason said:
Ours went something like this: bang, you're dead, no i'm not you missed, oh yea, yea, why's that, because I'm not on that side of the bush I'm on this side and could see the side of your barrel when you yelled bang, oh ok you're still alive oh i see you now, bang, bang, dang now we're both dead,...
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Yeah, but I bet you thought "Man it would be cool if we didn't have to pretend to hit them. What if we could prove it?" I know I did. The ultimate home gunplay kit would have to be one of those laser setups the Army uses (MARS?). That would be awesome.

All for pretend, of course. When I was a kid we had absolutely no problem differentiating between actually shooting and killing people and just pretending. I think kids today could do the same, but nobody lets them. "AHHHHH They're playing with GUNS!!!!"
 
I remember a really funny prank we used to pull.

We'd go out around 3am and find a payphone, use 0 to call collect, and enter a random number. When asked to speak our names, we'd yell as loud as we could. Imagine:

Old Lady: He....he...hello??
Operator in sweet subdued voice: Hello, this is AT&T with a collect call from...
US: YAAAAAAAAAAAA AGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!
Old Lady: Oh dear...oh dear!!
Operator in sweet subdued voice: To accept this call, press 1, otherwise hang up
Old Lady: What's going on...oh dear....oh dear....

Click.

LOL! Using 0 around here was the only way to hear the other person's reaction. Plus, since it was recorded, no one could catch us. Good stuff.
 
flyersfan31 said:
Yeah, but I bet you thought "Man it would be cool if we didn't have to pretend to hit them. What if we could prove it?" I know I did. The ultimate home gunplay kit would have to be one of those laser setups the Army uses (MARS?). That would be awesome.
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MILES -- it was ok, but a leaf could stop the beam so in tank on tank engagements, you cuold protect against a 120 mm round by hiding behind a bush.

Also, in close quarters it was hazardous to shoot blanks, so you'd just say "You're dead."

Kinda like when we were kids..

:yesnod:
 
dmccormack said:
MILES -- it was ok, but a leaf could stop the beam so in tank on tank engagements, you cuold protect against a 120 mm round by hiding behind a bush.

Also, in close quarters it was hazardous to shoot blanks, so you'd just say "You're dead."

Kinda like when we were kids..

:yesnod:
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Yes, MILES, that's it!! I know guys would also smear the reflectors with vaseline.

Still, plenty of fun for kids!!!!!
 
On a different note, and on topic, girls no longer cut out paper dolls. Barbie put an end to that.
 
AuntPeggy said:
On a different note, and on topic, girls no longer cut out paper dolls. Barbie put an end to that.
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Once my kids discovered scissors, though, they cut their own hair, each other's hair, the cat's hair, Barbie's hair, ...
 
flyersfan31 said:
Yeah, but I bet you thought "Man it would be cool if we didn't have to pretend to hit them. What if we could prove it?"
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Actually I don't think it ever crossed my mind even once. It was a case of eh, whatever, do whatever and keep playing. Then again, I didn't care if any kind of score was being kept. It was a bit unfair when after counting 10 someone starts to get up and got shot down again before getting to their feet. After 2-3 times of that, they get up anyway and run.
 
We used to play some kind of dodgeball, can't remember what we called it. If you got hit in the head or chest you were done. Otherwise, you weren't allowed to use whatever body part got hit. Think of the Black Knight from Monty Python except with a dodge ball instead of a sword. Tis but a flesh wound! It got pretty crazy, especially when you couldn't use arms or legs, and were rolling on the ground trying to avoid a head-shot.
 
fgcason said:
Actually I don't think it ever crossed my mind even once. It was a case of eh, whatever, do whatever and keep playing. Then again, I didn't care if any kind of score was being kept. It was a bit unfair when after counting 10 someone starts to get up and got shot down again before getting to their feet. After 2-3 times of that, they get up anyway and run.
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well it crossed my mind, because my little brother NEVER seemed to get hit. You could pull a (pretend)M16 and stick it in his gut and somehow you would miss.:mad3:
 
flyersfan31 said:
well it crossed my mind, because my little brother NEVER seemed to get hit. You could pull a (pretend)M16 and stick it in his gut and somehow you would miss.:mad3:
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I think our practice, when confronted with that behavior, was to let the dirt-clods and crabapples start flying.
 
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