Planetfurry BBS

[Rifts980]

wow. that was MY childhood despite being born in the 90's.

'cpet I had Gameboy.

[Benleopard]

born in the early 80's... still rode the bike without a helmet every after many times being told to wear one. I did alot of things and even played on the old playground system with the metal bars and old wood support beams, if I got a splinter I just ripped it out and kept on going. Kinda miss the old days of innocence.

[Wolfshead]

71 here. Managed to survive. Haven't even broken any bones yet, though a few friends did. Lots of little scars to remind me of dumb stunts that boys pull. I look back sometimes and wonder why I never manged to seriously injure myself.

[Wulfie_Vulphyre]

I was born in '87. I have 3 brothers. We build a tree fort that went higher in the tree then our 3 story home! We build bikes out of spare parts, we've all fallen out of the tree fort. We build ramps out of old wood and rode our bikes over them. We took spills, we got cuts, my little brother got smacked in his temple with a stray hammer, that fell from a higher area in our tree fort. Only 1 of us actually broke a bone and that was my older sister. Some of us had stitches from different cuts, and my eldest brother had a nail go entirely through his foot. We surely didn't have helmets for our heads, and if we got into a fight with someone, we didn't end up with a lawsuit. We kicked their behind, or they kicked ours, our parents scolded us, and then we usually ended up being friends. A fight in school did not get you arrested, and suspended for 10 days! Each person got 3 days out, and usually got their tail's busted when their parents found out.
People actually disciplined their children not to act like idiots in public. You could spank your child, and not have the police called for child cruelty. If we acted up at a friend's house, usually their parents had permission to discipline us. We Did get game systems as they were available, but we weren't allowed to plant inside on them all day. We had our play time on them if it was nasty outside, or once it was dark. And we actually had to WORK to earn money to go do things. House chores, cutting neighbors lawns, helping Grampa in the huge garden he had, and even working under the table for a few family friends at their places of business. Childhood was fun, and we were well taught children. That was life at it's finest.

[Teric]

Born in 1973.

Biking without a helmet: check.
Falling out of trees: check.
Staying out until the streetlights came on: check.
Making up games with friends using sticks and rocks: check.

[SPark]

Meh.

Those decades also produced the Vietnam and Korean wars, the McCarthy era, and lots of other idiocy. When you were born has less to do when the kind of person you turn out to be as how you were raised and who you choose to be.

I know you meant this post as something positive, but it's awfully dismissive of anybody who was born later. Or of anybody who found their truest friends and favorite activities on the internet. Which you're on right now, so the "get off the computer and do something real" attitude there is kind of ironic.

Not trying to start a fight with this, just pointing out that from my perspective it's a little bit rude.

[Onic]

1990

I've had the privilege of living in the country for over half of my life. This allowed me to rip and run in the woods with my brothers and sister, play in imaginary worlds, experience weather without looking through a window, and get a feel for the world the way it was back in the days of Old Grey Raccoon and the others of his era. My neighbors across the road own a farm that has been standing there since the 1700's. I've worked over there for the past 8 years.

We did not own or really play video games until I was about 11 years old, and I know that it was a terrible day they entered our house, as I would eventually come to be one of the most obsessed players in the family. Thankfully, I can say that I no longer play video games or watch TV unless I'm participating with others, normally only twice a week. When I consider all of the other things I could have accomplished in the thousands of hours I've logged into video games, it makes me sick.

As far as the internet, I can't disagree with the opportunities it has provided me socially. Since I'm not open about being furry, this is really the only place I can escape to and talk to other furs. However, no one can say that the internet replaces the need for face-to-face friends. There is no comparison, and I'd rather spend quality time with friends than spend that time on the internet. The difficult thing is that many times both wants coincide, and the friends I want to spend time with are only available online.

SPark, I don't think it's so much rude as a wake up call. You said it yourself: You are what you are raised, and after that, what you choose to be.

Having said all that... THE EMP IS COMING! Back up your hard drives, furs, because the interwebs are going bye-bye!

[ScottyDM]

[shortwave]

[tobi3B]

Born 1980
Jumped out of trees. Drove with a bike into fences.
Go hunting with a bow and arrow. Yes good old times.
Had my share. Here is a good one we did a couple of times.
Got an old officechair or a armchair (something with wheels under it) out of the bulktrash and we live on top of a hill the street goes almost strait down.
So put the chair on top of the street and down we go. No brakes no nothing.
Then push the chair all the way up. and another try

[shortwave]

shoot me an my cousin's would have bottle rocket wars shoot one another with fireworks lol

[malus lupus]

even in the 90's, if you lived far enough out in the sticks it was like the 50's

only reason I obeyed my parents curfew was because the coyotes were bigger than me , and the shotgun dose no good if you cant see where your aiming

[Xaqtly]

I'm getting up there in years too now, and among other things I remember being able to trick or treat without my parents ushering me from house to house and nothing bad ever happened. It's kind of bothered me over the last decade (or more?) how trick or treating has become so "managed". I mean I get why, I just wish it weren't necessary.

[PrincessB]

Born in 83

Knew the whole 3 channels well, Dad was more into TV then the rest of the family (how he was raised)

Never fell out of a tree, never climbed out of a tree either, always climbed up then jumped down, never broke a bone.

I ate all the junk and wasn't fat till around 9 years old when the family genes kicked in and depression added to it.

Mom didn't smoke or drink while pregnant, Dad smoked though

Refused help in learning to ride a bike, insisted on teaching myself and there were no helmets around the house till I was in my teens.

The hose tasted better then the faucet, and I was still sharing food and drink long after everyone started freaking out about the idea (used to be sneaky so that my best friend and I could share ice cream at school)


There are some areas that new things have been good, other areas it wasn't so good. Even the internet we all know and love has cut down a TRUE communication, no one has time to be bothered to care about others.
The biggest killer has been various forms of political correctness. "I'm a bad parent if I let this happen to my kid!"
One that amuses me is when people hear that I started working outside the home since I was 5-6 years old, it is met with "no way, there are labor laws that make that impossible!" People are often so spoiled now days that they don't understand that 1) labor laws weren't always there 2) people ignore laws 3) when your family is poor you do what you can to help the family, no matter your age 4) in some previous generations it was very common for kids to go find some little jobs to do to earn money to help.


There is one missing from the list: We didn't go to the doctor for every little ache or sniffle, we sucked it up and kept playing (or working in the case of some of us) and our immune system was better for it.

[mwalimu]

I could add a few to this list. One friend of mine flew model airplanes that required this rather volatile glow fuel. The planes were tethered and could only fly in a circle about 15 feet from the person holding the strings - RC was still a pipe dream. My elementary school had 15-foot tall slides and 20-foot tall swingsets, on asphalt lots. We'd try to see who could jump the farthest out of the swing when the supervisor wasn't looking.

One obvious fact that is often overlooked in these "when I was a kid" lists is that those of us who share them and trade stories are the ones who lived. Sometimes children died or were killed doing the kinds of things discussed in these lists; it's only the ones who weren't killed who are still around to say, "when I was a kid we did such-and-such, and we turned out okay".

Nevertheless they do make some valid points. Children and teenagers need enough latitude to make mistakes and learn from them. They need to learn to deal with problems themselves. They need to learn to take responsibility. They need to learn that sometimes life disappoints and isn't fair.