Tales for spoiled brats

[Legion]

I remember watching snooker in black and white.

Pot Black.

 

[Legion]

I remember when you had to walk right up to the TV and point right at it, or the remote didn't work.

I remember poking at the buttons with a broom stick because I was too lazy to get up.

And winding cassette tapes with pencils.

 

[Proinsias]

Thinking back I was probably living in luxury, I had access to high speed dubbing pretty early on.

 

[Dave-the-rave]

Air raid shelters. They smelled of urine and were littered with beer cans and condoms.

 

[cw62803]

When I was young we couldn't afford rocks to beat our dirty clothes. We had to use our heads.

 

[Avi]

 

[Legion]

Renting records, or borrowing them from the library, because you didn't have the money to buy it outright.

Owning a Betamax VCR, and watching the selection at the video store slowly dry up.

The seething fury that happened because you rented a movie, and found that the ***** before you didn't rewind it.

 

[Doc4]

When I was a kid, the Easter Bunny brought real eggs that had been hard-boiled and painted, not this chocolate nonsense.

Keto Easter!!

 

[RayClem]

When I was a kid, a cure for boredom (and test of masculinity) was taking a standard yellow #2 pencil and erasing a hole into the back of your hand with it. If you didn't cry out when the eraser created a searing red pathway of pain on your flesh, you were tough. Or stupid. Or some combination of both.

I told you that kids today are smarter than we were at their age. This, post confirms it.

 

[Dave-the-rave]

Know what I haven't seen in decades? A kid climbing a tree.

 

[Legion]

Know what I haven't seen in decades? A kid climbing a tree.

No, that's true. If a kid fell these days their parents would sue the tree, the owner of the tree, or both.

I always wanted one of those big tree houses you saw in American TV and movies. Sadly, Aussie trees are unsuited to children's property development.

 

[Dave-the-rave]

No, that's true. If a kid fell these days their parents would sue the tree, the owner of the tree, or both.

I always wanted one of those big tree houses you saw in American TV and movies. Sadly, Aussie trees are unsuited to children's property development.

So I guess the old 'stamping on yer brothers fingers as he climbs up' is right out of the question nowadays then???

 

[Captain Pre-Capsize]

I remember when you had to walk right up to the TV and point right at it, or the remote didn't work.

Exactly. My grandparents had the first one I ever saw as a kid. As you changed the channel with the remote the dial on the front of the TV would slowly spin, one channel at a time. If you held down the remote it would just keep spinning. So, kids do what they will do... "Okay kids, let the channel flipper rest!"

Unrelated but many cars and trucks from the 1950's and earlier had a button on the dash that was tied to the carburetor. So you could pull it out and race the engine. (There was often another one for the choke you pulled out prior to turning over the engine.) As a practical matter it was seldom used but on a cold winter morning you could pull it out just a bit and the engine would warm up faster while you were inside getting ready. So as a high school kid with an old truck that had a personality to it, getting it to start was an art of sorts. My dad used to say, "You have to flap the foot-feed just right and it will fire right up." It was called the "foot-feed" because there was the dash-feed for the engine as well.

Now, to the OP - have your child go out and find that foot-feed in the car.

 

[Dave-the-rave]

Tell him to wind the window down.

 

[Proinsias]

So I guess the old 'stamping on yer brothers fingers as he climbs up' is right out of the question nowadays then???

In a moment of wonderful nostalgia I seen a big brother kick down at his crying little brother whilst laughing and shaking the tree only last week.

 

[StuMcB]

Jumping small brooks on my Raleigh Chopper push bike or my brother Grifter. If you couldn't jump the brook you were a p***y simple as that. Proper skate board when I was a kid is now called a penny board of trainer, my daughter says.

 

[RayClem]

When I first learned to drive, the car had no power steering, no power brakes, no power seats, no power mirrors, no power windows, and no air conditioning. If you got hot, you could open the side vent or use a crank to roll down the windows. It did have an AM/FM radio (mono only) and no tape player, CD player or other entertainment devices. The lights were sealed beam incandescent blubs. The GPS was a a map obtained free at the nearest Esso or Texaco station where leaded gasoline sold for $0.299 per gallon. I would generally purchase 5 gallons of gas costing $1.50. The car did have a feature that is very difficult to obtain these days- a 265 cubic inch high-compression V8 engine. Mine also had a two-speed automatic transmission. I learned to drive a stick shift a few years later.

 

[_MementoMori_]

I told you that kids today are smarter than we were at their age. This, post confirms it.

I challenge you to a hand erasing duel.

 

[Sabre]

I have a friend whose job was to service payphones (collect the coins, check the operational status, minor mechanical repairs, etc.). He was only let go within the last three years.

I saw somebody on a payphone last weekend. I thought the box had been converted to a cash machine.

 

[Doc4]