Thread: I double-dog-dare-ya!

DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN...?

All the girls had ugly gym uniforms?

It took five minutes for the TV warm up?

Nearly everyone's Mom was at home when the kids got home from school?

Nobody owned a purebred dog?

When a quarter was a decent allowance?

You'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny?

Your Mom wore nylons that came in two pieces?

All your male teachers wore neckties and female teachers had
their hair done every day and wore high heels?

You got your windshield cleaned, oil checked, and gas pumped,
without asking, all for free, every time?
And you didn't pay for air? And, you got trading stamps to boot?

Laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes or towels hidden inside the box?

It was considered a great privilege to be taken out to dinner
at a real restaurant with your parents?

They threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed. . and they did?

When a 57 Chevy was everyone's dream car...to cruise,
peel out, lay rubber or watch submarine races, and people went steady?

No one ever asked where the car keys were
because they were always in the car,
in the ignition, and the doors were never locked?

Lying on your back in the grass with your friends
and saying things like, "That cloud looks like a ."

and playing baseball with no adults to help kids with the rules of the
game?

Stuff from the store came without safety caps and hermetic seals
because no one had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger?

And with all our progress, don't you just wish, just once,
you could slip back in time and savor the slower pace,
and share it with the children of today?

When being sent to the principal's office was nothing
compared to the fate that awaited the student at home?
Basically we were in fear for our lives,
but it wasn't because of drive-by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc.

Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat!
But we survived because their love was greater than the threat.

Send this on to someone who can still remember
Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, Laurel and Hardy,
Howdy Dowdy and the Peanut Gallery,
the Lone Ranger, The Shadow Knows,
Nellie Bell, Roy and Dale, Trigger and Buttermilk.

As well as summers filled with bike rides, baseball games,
Hula Hoops, bowling and visits to the pool,
and eating Kool-Aid powder with sugar.
Didn't that feel good, just to go back and say, "Yeah, I remember that"?

I am sharing this with you today
because it ended with a double dog dare to pass it on.
To remember what a double dog dare is, read on.
And remember that the perfect age is somewhere between
old enough to know better and too young to care.

How many of these do you remember?

Candy cigarettes
Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water inside
Soda pop machines that dispensed glass bottles
Coffee shops with tableside jukeboxes
Blackjack, Clove and Teaberry chewing gum
Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers
Newsreels before the movie
P.F. Fliers

Telephone numbers with a word prefix...(Raymond 4-601).
Party lines

Peashooters
Howdy Dowdy
45 RPM records
Green Stamps
Hi-Fi's

Metal ice cubes trays with levers
Mimeograph paper
Beanie and Cecil
Roller-skate keys
Cork pop guns
Drive ins
Studebakers
Washtub wringers
The Fuller Brush Man
Reel-To-Reel tape recorders
Tinkertoys
Erector Sets
The Fort Apache Play Set
Lincoln Logs
15 cent McDonald hamburgers

5 cent packs of baseball cards -
with that awful pink slab of bubble gum
Penny candy
35 cent a gallon gasoline
Jiffy Pop popcorn
Do you remember a time when...

Decisions were made by going "eeny-meeny-miney-moe"?
Mistakes were corrected by simply exclaiming, "Do Over!"?
"Race issue" meant arguing about who ran the fastest?
Catching the fireflies could happily occupy an entire evening?
It wasn't odd to have two or three "Best Friends"?

The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was "cooties"?
Having a weapon in school meant being caught with a slingshot?
A foot of snow was a dream come true?

Saturday morning cartoons weren't 30-minute commercials for action figures?
"Oly-oly-oxen-free" made perfect sense?
Spinning around, getting dizzy, and falling down was cause for giggles?

The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team?
War was a card game?
Baseball cards in the spokes transformed any bike into a motorcycle?
Taking drugs meant orange-flavored chewable aspirin?
Water balloons were the ultimate weapon?

If you can remember most or all of these, then you have lived!!!!!!!

Pass this on to anyone who may need a break from
their "grown-up" life . . .I double-dog-dare-ya!

And for the English people out there just think Hovis Tv Ads!

Ah kate it does make you think of better times, one that was missed of:

Kids being able to kick a ball around in the street without being run over by some spoiler enhanced moron mobile!

Yes Nick - the good ole days...with the world in such a way, I like to think about these things!...smiles

When I was six I always used to have my trusty ***** Army pen knife for *****ing sticks and opening cans. Back then we all had them and no one used to bat an eyelid. Now my lad is six and I've given him his first ***** army knife, trouble is it's now illeagal for him to carry it and if he were caught with it in the street, Dad would get a visit from the boys in blue and probably put under the supervision of social services. Where is the innocence?

Is it just me or is really quite here today kate?

Seems quiet..give it time!..lol just about the time I finish up, everyone is coming on!..lol..time difference I guess...
I understand more than you know about the changing world. I have two boys that are now 26 and 21(ish)..and I would never have a child today! ever!
I was at the begining of the craziness - and the first call I recieved from the elementary school principle - well I blew!..lol..She said I needed to come in and have a talk..I told her that all was well on my end so she needed to come to me with her issues!..lol..she did..and I told her in no uncertain terms that I was not getting involved with the insanity that was just begining..and If just once I heard that they wont "allow" ME to spank my child then I was taking them both out and doing THIER job myself!...Well we got along just famously after that and we both enjoyed our coffee and cake and had a wonderful chat!..lol...Today however Id be locked up and my children a ward of the state!...

Good morning Kate,

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Brought back a lot of good memories of simpler times.

Have a good day.

Man- do I miss those candy cigaretts that when you blew into them the candy powder blew out making it appear that you were actually smoking. Or the older ones that had the red tip to simulate that it was actually lit!

Funny!

Cheers,

Andy

Oh yea Andy! and they tasted simply awful!...the only thing 'cool' about it was it was a cig..lol....they were definately not made for taste!...lol

Haha! Teachers can be a bit cloud cuckoo land sometimes!
I'm pointing my lad in the direction of the Scouts, army cadets and the like, a bit of roughing up.

im amazed at how similar your way of life and the same sort of things you said are very relavent to me in england mmmm at first i couldnt remeber where you were from i thought you were in england wow weird considering we seem so differant these days mm makes you think doesnt it how your culture has progresed to the way ours, has thanks for the great memories kate cheers

kate-

Yes they were awful!!!! Hehe! But you were sure cool. Especially when I rolled the carton up in my t-shirt sleeve like my pop.


Andy

No Allstar Im in America. and a very rural area! And I too forget that Im 'sitting' with people sooooo far away!...lol..funny stuff the internet! kinda makes ya feel like you really could go get them a coffee!..lol
and yes andy, we all did that!...well I didnt roll them in my shirt..lol..but I did see the guys doing that..lol...
yes Nick - parents jobs are much harder today than it used to be...and I dont honestly see what is changing for the better!...maybe I need "time out"...lol......

I remember these, my son is now 35 and he went military. He is a good boy with a wife and his own small company.

When popping tar bubbles on hot days was a cool way to pass time and knock-a-door-run was an innocent game that didn't leave folk quivering behind their doors. Also, when 'playing out' meant taking off, after breakfast, for a fun-packed day of adventure and not getting home until tea-time! We used to walk for miles and miles - exploring our surroundings!

I had to be home before the street lights came on.

Originally Posted by SChajin

I had to be home before the street lights came on.

LMAO Yes, Sharon! That was one of out 'rules' too and when we did get home we'd drink gallons of water - from the tap (faucet to you guys)! LOL A real treat was diluted fruit cordial poured into old cups and frozen to make home-made jubblees. LOL

I remember drinking from the hose outside. It tasted like plastic and we didn't care.

lmao i remember................no doesnt matter better not lol my neighbours mite be reading this

Originally Posted by SChajin

I remember drinking from the hose outside. It tasted like plastic and we didn't care.

Oh yea, Ive done that and wow what a treat as we were so thirsty from playing hard that we didnt care of the taste!....lol...but dont let your parents catch ya!.....lol
And yes be out all day and nobody was concerned...it was after dark, and I also recall what that meant...lol...I told my mom that dark was different for her because she was inside a lit house and being outside being accustom to the day/night change that for me it was still light!...she bought it! hahaha!

The most trouble I got into was for throwing rocks and getting stuck in trees. I never put out any eyes though. I have both of mine as well

haha - that reminds me I got stuck in a tree and my mom wouldn't help me down! seriously! she left me there all afternoon! She thought two things..Id get hungry and find a way down and also if I ever climbed a tree away from the house and her ........what would I do? So she figured it was best to let me figure out how to get out of my own prediciments!...lol

I had a broken arm and was in a cast (not from falling from a tree) fell off the rocking chair, I was pretending it was a horse. Anyway, I climed up my dads cherry tree and got my cast stuck, so you know how much trouble I was in after the Fire department came and cut me out. The cherry tree was a big no no

HAHAHA!...what a story!....your family must still talk about that today!...as I know there are many similar one of my own that mine dont let me forget!...lol

Originally Posted by allstarfaces

lmao i remember................no doesnt matter better not lol my neighbours mite be reading this

Like your Amanda appreciation link..........should get you more visitors........

Originally Posted by davidundalicia

Like your Amanda appreciation link..........should get you more visitors........

Ha! cool...i just saw that...cant get the sounds to play tho(dial up issues)...photos are cool tho!...

Like Dave, it's a trip down Memory Lane....funny thing is I can remember so very much from thse times, so clear and vibrant......

Kinda makes me feel old now, and discontent with how today's society behaves. It is so unecessary for so many to act so poorly to each other all the time!

PS: I liked the wax lips better than the candy cigs, and hated the candy necklaces...didn't like a rainbow neckline!....and I was addicted to Pixie Stix! I even had a Texaco firehat with one of those loud speakers built in. Remember when a gallon of gas passed the price of a pack of cigs for the first time? ($0.65 in 1978, back when I had hair and graduated HS) Remember also when families would walk to Sunday church together, and people used to dress up to fly on an airplane? Or when going out to dinner meant using proper manners rather than running wild like today? And "old school" referred to a set of ethics, not a run-down building in the neighborhood......

Originally Posted by Vasili

Like Dave, it's a trip down Memory Lane....funny thing is I can remember so very much from thse times, so clear and vibrant......

Kinda makes me feel old now, and discontent with how today's society behaves. It is so unecessary for so many to act so poorly to each other all the time!

I know what you mean. I would never on purpose hurt another and then there are those that plot to do so...its very sad...
But there are many good people with good intentions and those are the ones I chose to be around!
For me I like to remember how things were when life was for me a fantastic time!

You know, Kate? I couldn't stop thinking about that going out to dinner thing...I just realized that I have actually cut back on going out (something I truly enjoyed for a long time) simply because I can't stand the screaming, wild kids, and feeling as if I shouldn't have to try to avoid seeing the disgusting manners of those eating around me!!

I used to get a kick out of some people acting like the cat's meow when they were brutish pigs and completely ignorant of class whatsoever (both guys AND gals)! Now, it actually has become a reason I don't venture forth as often as I would prefer....how sad!

The world seems to change so fast..

I wonder.. In 2036.. What will people be saying about our time..?!!

"I remember back in 2000 when the world used to be much nicer.. War was only between countries, not entire planets like today, and even in war, they only used clean weapons like Nuclear and Atomic Bombs, Non of this ****** Laser or Hemospheric Destruction.. And everyone had free oxygen.. Back then we didn't even have to pay Air Tax or Surcharge to swim in the sea.. You could buy a brand new car for under $100,000.. Uh huh, you heard that right, you could get yourself a nice car with that much.. And the houses were real houses, you could fit a whole King Size Bed in one room back then.. well, you wont know what a king size bed coz they don't make them now, but those beds were big.. Yes it's true that we had to wait 45 seconds to defrost a steak in the microwave, or wait for 10 seconds before the hot water travels to the tap.. an yes it is true, we had to make sandwiches.. but they tasted better than the meal tablets we have now.. all in all.. life was much better.."


I just wonder..

My 11 year old son came home from school distraught today. His friend, a year older, hung himself yesterday after a row with his Dad. What do I say to my boy? What can I say? The lad went on the school bus with my son, and the kids are leaving a vacant seat for him.

The world doesn't seem very kind to the young at the moment. Maybe it was a lot less stressful in the past.

What makes a 12 year old do something like that?

Sorry to add a downer, but it's not much of a laugh in this house tonight.

Im so sorry Trish - We have had the similair here. and thats about all one can say is what would make a 12yr old so sad....

Incredibly sad!

What little time parents have to actually participate with children nowadays should never be filled with doubt, anger, fear, or distrust.....

Unfortunately, the turmoil of being an adolescent has never been tamed by a proven solution yet, and adding the increased pressures of a society increasingly founded on instant gratification and personal pleasure certainly make the high hopes and expectations parents present to their children seem more like demands and mandates. The tendency for children (and they are children still, learning, copying, striving..) to over-compensate with dramatic actions only shows how far we have strayed from the foundations of human relationships - communication.

**Having a "row" with his father is probably the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak, but is also more like the tip on an iceberg I imagine....there's more to the story, and what was being written at home...

hm, great starting post ceratinly warmed everybody up! haha, yea i can remember those days, when computers were the last things on my mind, now i just have to watch my son do the same things i did when i was young. No i can see what actually went wrong when i broke my arm climbing a tree 9my son did the same thing).

Oh Trish,

I'm so sorry to hear this awful news, it will be so hard for your child to understand what and why someone would do this, there must be a little more then a row going on here. I can't speak to my own grandson about the loss of his mother and brother due to the ex-husband. (He forbids) Just let your son know how much he is loved and that you will always be there for him no matter what.

Originally Posted by SChajin

Just let your son know how much he is loved and that you will always be there for him no matter what.

Communicate! Communicate openly, and nurture the protected zone around your family, an invisible union that is forever strong, even stronger than time itself! Your son will see your consistent committment to this by your actions, and begin to understand that there are some extremely important things that you just can't put your finger on, but are worth giving your all for anyway.....(perseverance, and enduring tribulations it by sharing it with trusted ones)

Aw, Trish, that is heartbreakingly sad. I'm so sorry and can't even imagine what your boy must be thinking. All you can do is love him, be there for him and help him understand the grieving process that he will undoubtedly go through.

Originally Posted by SChajin

Oh Trish,

I'm so sorry to hear this awful news, it will be so hard for your child to understand what and why someone would do this, there must be a little more then a row going on here. I can't speak to my own grandson about the loss of his mother and brother due to the ex-husband. (He forbids) Just let your son know how much he is loved and that you will always be there for him no matter what.

I agree with Sharon, I had many a row and beatings when I was eleven but I never once thought to do what this little boy is supposed to have done.

What a world we live in where children are put in these positions.
They did not ask to come into this world but they have to take so much
pain and anguish......Trish just love your boy and dont even try to understand that other little boy.
Time solves everthing so love, love and love your son while you can.....

Thank you all for these comments, and you are all so right. My son just needed to feel loved last night, and just sitting with my husband and I seemed to be enough. We talked when he wanted to, and he stayed up late just to be with us.

At only 11 what was upset him was the same as what was upsetting the adults - a total lack of understanding of why it had happened (and yes, there are rumours at school that there must be more to it), and a sense of futility of a wasted life.

It was an opportunity for us to all agree that things are never, ever as bad as they might seem in the heat of the moment.

Sorry again for hi-jacking this light hearted thread!

hehe kassi i love your storrys but if i have to aswer for those questions then i think i will say NO :P hehe

You dont have any stories? common' double-dog-dare-ya!.....:))

hehe... :( nop maybe i should try to write something... idea is good :o maybe my biography thanks for idea :P