Grandparents, Uncles and Aunts... have times really changed so much?

[ultrarunner]

All the things we used to do when we were kids for pocket money, mowing lawns, shoveling snow, delivering newspapers, etc. Kids today, can't do. There is too much concern about law suits if the kid gets hurt. Ran into that when my sons were in high school, thet are 37 and 33 now. This didn't just happen in the last few years.

I agree with all that has been said by everyone. Looking back at all the things I did with today's mindset, I don't see how I survived. But, I like to think that I am a better man because of the way I grew up.

You reminded me about a few things from High School back in the 70's... and how things have changed... especially when it comes to money and the costly way things are done now.

Every year coach would have at least two work Saturdays getting the playing field ready...

Part of getting it ready was to trim and thin out the huge pines encroaching the field. I would bring my trusty Craftsman Saw as would a couple of other students... one had a big loggers Husky... we'd spend the day up in the trees with ropes and ladders trimming and cutting under coaches strict supervision. No one could make a cut without coaches approval. Before the start of each day we get a safety lecture that would end with, "Nobody gets hurts"... and nobody ever did.

We also didn't have a working team bus for 2 of my 4 years... so students and parents had to drive... My boss would let me borrow his Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser Wagon with 3 rows of seats... still remember the time I got to drive the cheer leaders...

Seems like everything revolves around money today or getting someone else to pay for things... Every year I receive a letter and a call from the high school alumni office asking for donations... last year's letter mentioned $4000 is needed to trim-back the ball field trees that had not been trimmed for several years due to budget cut backs?

Another item was donations to off-set the high cost of student transportation due to rising fuel and insurance costs... the high school has new buses, but may not have the money to operate them...

 

[ultrarunner]

In 1950 there were only 151 million people in the U.S. Today, there are over 300 million people in the U.S. That's double the population... AND.... double the troublemakers. So, I have to be twice as cautious with my kids as my parents were with me....

There. I hope that explains everything to everyone.

No doubt population has doubled... but not letting kids go for a Hay Ride or swing from a rope swing across a creek wouldn't be necessarily related to a increase in troublemakers.

 

[Taylortractornut]

My kids will be tough letting them roam around my Junkyard lol. And ahnd for getting to them tough to reach spots. On the super clean part my wife is a clean freak Ill get lung cancer from all the disinfaectant she sprays lol. kids are supposed to ingest dirt mud and crud lol. I still do when we have steam cleaning day at work.
I got a call from the Middle scool wanting donations to help the school do the same thing with the trees and brush on the field. My older brothers excavation and clearing serive and my equipment, and a tree serviced offered to go in and do it all in about a day for free. But they already had a buddy they want to use. We politley turned them down.

 

[MossRoad]

No doubt population has doubled... but not letting kids go for a Hay Ride or swing from a rope swing across a creek wouldn't be necessarily related to a increase in troublemakers.

Yeah. I know. I did it when I was a kid. And it was fun. And a friend and I also pulled three kids out of the lake that were on their way to certain death, and we helped recover a few that weren't so lucky. Let's face it, we all probably know someone that did something stupid and died. Heck, I did tons of stupid stuff and lived. As a parent, I just have to do what I think is best for my children. And sometimes that means not letting them do things that I did because I know better now.

But I do miss a lot of those things....

 

[Bird]

And sometimes that means not letting them do things that I did because I know better now.

I suspect that most of us are afraid our kids and grandkids might do the same things we did.

 

[LBrown59]

Norris, that sounds like the story Justin Wilson, the Cajun, used to tell about a Cajun asking about a flight at the airport that got to its desination one minute later than the departure time.

And besides the things the kids used to do, can you imagine anyone taking a job like my granddad had? As I said, there were 8 trains a day through Ardmore back then, 7 days a week, and at all hours of the day and night. He set his alarm clock and got up twice during the night to go meet the train. He took that job in 1943 and in 1950, he bought a new truck and he and my grandmother went to California on a vacation trip. The local newspaper ran a story about him because he had never missed a single train, had never taken off sick, had never even taken a day off in 7 years, and after that one vacation, I don't guess he ever took another one, and he could never understand anyone "retiring". When trains quit hauling the mail, he hauled the mail between the post office and the bus depot, and he only quit when the job played out when trains no longer hauled the mail and neither did Greyhound or Continental Trailways.

1943 is the year my dad finished building a new house and we moved out of the log cabin into it that same year when I was only 3 years old.
20 years later I met my wife and 1 year later 1964 we married and I moved out of my home of 24 years.

 

[Ken_CT]

What happened to the other thread about times and kids changing? It was here this afternoon and now it's gone. I quoted Ronald Reagan, was that considered political? I did a search for my own post and the search came up empty.

 

[EddieWalker]

Ken,

I was just looking for it to. I was pretty annoyed at the context of the post and might have gone a little too far in my reply. Sorry if it was because of me that it was deleted.

Eddie

 

[Bird]

Nope, Ken & Eddie, neither of you had anything to do with it being removed.

 

[chetlenox]

It was me. I rather un-tactfully tried to make three points:

1) It's my opinion that kids today aren't nearly as bad as they are typically portrayed in these types of threads.
2) Most kids I know (including my own) don't fit the stereotypes.
3) Folks that find themselves consistently critical of the younger generation(s) should stop and ask themselves why they do it.

I honestly never meant to be some sort of champion of the younger generation or something. I'm just a guy with an observation. I had a good exchange of messages with one of the moderators about it after my post was deleted. It was useful.

Sorry if anybody was insulted.

Chet.