[z-man280]

.....when we were a nation of reckless abandonment?


I see all the safety features and labels on everything, it makes me think back.

I was 10 yrs old, and we had just got mom a new car- a 1980 Plymouth Horizon TC3. With a hitch on the back, and our pop up camper, off we went. 6 of us! My mom and dad up front, two sisters and grandma in back, and me in the HATCH! All the way around the north side of Lake Superior at that! Probably close to 800 miles, i rode all of it with no seatbelt, hell, no SEAT!

We used to jump our BMX bikes with no helmets, knee pads, ect., bows & arrows didnt shoot foam, seatbelts??? um, ok.

Car seats- you didnt put them in a car, the car already had seats! Grow into em, boy!


So many things now to protect our kids now, and us for that matter. Looking back, it's a miracle we are even alive!

Let me know what you remember!

[MrB1973]

Ya know what's funnier? Studies have proven that kids who wear bike helmets get injured worse, and more frequently, becuase the helmet makes them feel invulnerable, so they try/do even more crazy stuff on their bikes. Back in the day, we knew the limits...cross them and you fall on your melon and get hurt...these days kids will jump off a ten foot roof and say "hey, I was wearin a helmet man"....crazy.

[NotWalkinBlind]

I remember being 3-4 years old riding on the rear package shelf lying down in the old man's Packard... at night with the windows open... drifting in and out of sleep half the night... from Alexandria, VA to visit the grandparents in SC.

In hot weather, we took that trip at night because that car used to vaporlock real bad in the daytime.

Imagine this car in a pale aqua blue:

[fz1]

Lets see...
Mattel greenie stickup cap guns that would shoot a small plastic bullit out the gun barrel maybe 2 inches. RECALLED!!!

Sonic blaster bazooka that was also recalled. Showing my age again. LOL

At what point do we stop letting the big brother protect us from ourselves??
What happned to taking responsibility for your action? Most americans have lost the true meaning of being free and continue to let the goverment run and control their lives. Most just do not see the final outcome to this is the loss of individual freedoms when the gov. has control of most of everyday things in our lives.
But as long as the people continue to let things go as they have been they will follow blindly like lost sheep. When they do not remember what it was like to be really free they will not know what they are missing.

[TheLaxPlayer]

Being one of the younger members here, warning labels and the like have been around my entire life...I just choose to ignore most of them

I like my guns, I like my mountain bike, and I like my race car.

[NotWalkinBlind]

Originally Posted by fz1

At what point do we stop letting the big brother protect us from ourselves??

What happned to taking responsibility for your action?

The responsibility thing is exactly why there are seatbelt laws, child restraint system laws, motorcycle helmet laws (in some states) and why some toys like Lawn Darts are no longer for sale.

I'm in favor of all those laws, etc.

It would be fine *IF* people *WOULD* take responsibility for their actions, but most won't.

For example...

You let your 6 yr. old kid go to another kid's birthday party and the dumba$$ parents break out the lawn darts. Some kid lets one go a little late and it goes straight up... then comes straight down and hits your kid on the top of the head and goes through his skull and into his brain.

Another set of dumba$$ parents are out on the interstate and they and their kids aren't buckled up. They get in a wreck and they're all severely injured and have to have operations and expensive therapy for months afterwards. And they don't have medical insurance, so the government pays for it all. That means your and my taxes go up.

Or let's say they do have insurance. It ends up making everyone else who is insured with that company have to pay higher rates.

All because they wanted their "freedom."

Same thing with a motorcycle rider who doesn't have any medical insurance, but wants the "freedom" to not wear a helmet.

It would be fine if he was willing to sign a form saying that if he gets in a wreck, the ambulance driver can see that he doesn't have insurance by some bracelet he is wearing.

And just leave him there in the road.

I know that sounds extreme, but do you get the picture?

[MT2 owns you]

Originally Posted by TheLaxPlayer

Being one of the younger members here, warning labels and the like have been around my entire life...I just choose to ignore most of them

I like my guns, I like my mountain bike, and I like my race car.

same.

no helmet for me! im fine with seat belts though.

[TxFilmMkr]

We had a old Buick that had a 60/40 bench seat across the front with the arm rest. I used to ride on my knees on that arm rest, shoulder height with my parents at 5 years old. If we'd gotten in any kind of front end collision I would have been a projectile!

[st_dragn_wagen]

the ultimate. riding in the back of the truck! no seatbelts, no seats, hit the breaks or turn hard enough and you would go flying! it was awesome!

never wearing seat belts. and is it just me or does anybody else feel funny not wearing one now? like OMG, im breaking the rules! im going to get in so much trouble! crap crap crap. i usually ditch the thing once i turn into my neighborhood. but out on a main streets it almost feels like im going to be killed and written a ticket. and the more "click it or ticket" commercials i see on TV the worse it gets. bastards using there voodoo to keep me paranoid and in there control. conspiracy!

riding my bike with no helmet. i think that law came into effect when i was 11. actually quite riding because of those damn things. every time i would wear the damn helmet i would hit my head! leave the helmet at home and ride the same way, nothing! wouldn't even crash.

motorcycle riders never wearing helmets. well except for the wussy's

one of my HO car tracks doesn't so much as have a "caution, risk of electric shock" warning on it!
don't think my train has one on it ether.

how about playing in the ball pit at chuck e cheese, according to stories you see on TV those things are pretty much just dirty plastic ball filled dumpster's. places are starting to take them out

how about laying in the street looking through the holes in the manhole cover on the hunt for ninja turtles? or was that just me and my friends? our parents were like, "don't lay in the street" and that was the end of it. i see parents now freaking out cause there kid looked both ways and took a step off the curb to retrieve a ball

[MT2 owns you]

Originally Posted by st_dragn_wagen

never wearing seat belts. and is it just me or does anybody else feel funny not wearing one now? like OMG, im breaking the rules! im going to get in so much trouble! crap crap crap. i usually ditch the thing once i turn into my neighborhood. but out on a main streets it almost feels like im going to be killed and written a ticket. and the more "click it or ticket" commercials i see on TV the worse it gets. bastards using there voodoo to keep me paranoid and in there control. conspiracy!

I wear a seatbelt because I'd prefer to live in the event of a crash. They're not just some stupid invention.

motorcycle riders never wearing helmets. well except for the wussy's

no, motorcycle riders never wear helmets except for those with any kind of sense. you'd be retarded not to wear a helmet on a motorcycle. thats really not arguable.

how about playing in the ball pit at chuck e cheese, according to stories you see on TV those things are pretty much just dirty plastic ball filled dumpster's. places are starting to take them out

that is ridiculous. who cares if theyre dirty.

[SerpentKing101]

I remember when magnifying glasses didnt have a hole bored through the middle.

I used to have a Super Soaker CPS2500.

I've played with mercury.

Anyone remember dirt clod wars?

[MT2 owns you]

Originally Posted by SerpentKing101

I remember when magnifying glasses didnt have a hole bored through the middle.

Please tell me you're joking, and that they don't actually do this.

[etc1006]

Originally Posted by MT2 owns you

Please tell me you're joking, and that they don't actually do this.

Ditto, I guess that means you have to goto the dollar stores and get them. Along with the toys with the lead on them. Just don't lick it!
I've handled raw asbestos in Elem. school during science class. Along with lead and mercury... We used to poke our pencils into the asbestos insulation on the hot water pipes going to the radiators.

[st_dragn_wagen]

Originally Posted by MT2 owns you

that is ridiculous. who cares if theyre dirty.

that's what im sayin'. but something like 10,000,000 kids a year play in those things and something like 100 catch a cold so stupid overprotective parents are freaking out.
just a matter of time before the ball pits are replaced a foam rubber cave and you have to wear a helmet and a bubble wrap suit to enter

[NotWalkinBlind]

Originally Posted by st_dragn_wagen

that's what im sayin'. but something like 10,000,000 kids a year play in those things and something like 100 catch a cold so stupid overprotective parents are freaking out.

It's not "catching a cold" that has some parents concerned about the ball pit.

It's the parents who let their kids play in there when there's spicy mustard leaking out of their shorts.

I'm sure you know what I'm talkin' about.

[chewie]

We need a adult ball pen

And as long as its grey pupon its fine with me

[tec_41]

Originally Posted by NotWalkinBlind

It's not "catching a cold" that has some parents concerned about the ball pit.

It's the parents who let their kids play in there when there's spicy mustard leaking out of their shorts.

I'm sure you know what I'm talkin' about.

Ok yeah that's pretty sick

[st_dragn_wagen]

yeah, idk whats up with parents today. bunch of spaced out oblivious idiots that lack common sense

[SerpentKing101]

Originally Posted by MT2 owns you

Please tell me you're joking, and that they don't actually do this.

granted, there are some hole-free glasses out there, and creative people can find something similar in disposable cameras...

but yes, Ive seen some with holes in the middle. Not just eyeglass repair kits, either.

[c2s]

Originally Posted by st_dragn_wagen

the ultimate. riding in the back of the truck! no seatbelts, no seats, hit the breaks or turn hard enough and you would go flying! it was awesome!

Riding on the tailgate. Shouldn't everyone know at least a dozen kids they grew up with it stuff was so dangerous back then. For being so bad not many people seem to get really hurt.

[NotWalkinBlind]

Originally Posted by SerpentKing101

Anyone remember dirt clod wars?

I definitely did that.

A couple of other kinds of wars.

1) Roman Candle wars. I never did this, but a college bud told me that he and his friends used to get in his front yard, which had about 40 pine trees scattered across it and run around shooting Roman Candles at each other.

2) Way down in the woods behind my house, we used to divide up into teams/platoons, get about 20 feet away from each other, cut saplings off about 4-6 feet up from the ground, put empty food cans on top, pull the saplings back and shoot the cans at each other. BWANGGGG!

[TxFilmMkr]

We had dirt clod wars, roman candle wars, and bottle rocket wars. I'm talking about the small bottle rockets too, not these big ones. You used to could get them about the size of a Black Cat on a small stick the size of a punk.

The best though was slug wars. We'd make a ton of slugs which were just rolled up strips of paper folded over. Then we'd shoot them at each other with rubber bands. Another favorite past time was shooting Strike Anywhere matches out of our BB guns at each other. We'd bounce them off the concrete so they'd light up before hitting your friend in the face. Hours of fun!

I remember when I was about 8-10 riding with my cousin in his dad's truck in the back, but not just in the bed but on the tool box standing up leaning on the cab! Jeez, I'd never let my kids do that now. It's weird because my dad and I were just talking about this stuff over Thanksgiving. He said when he was a kid (he was born in 1944), they used to ride ON THE CAB leaning back on the pipe rack that my grandpa had on the truck. He said their feet would dangle in front of the windshield.

[z-man280]

I can't begin to imagine the miles I logged in the box of a truck.

[Surfer_Girl]

i remember no helmet laws, no seatbelt laws, before the logo on the box was a warning label. i remember watching cartoons as a kid that are now banned for being considered raciest/politically incorrect.

[streetracer]

Something that needs to be posted here.
In case you needed further proof that the human race is doomed through stupidity, here are some actual label instructions on consumer goods.

On a Sears hairdryer -- Do not use while sleeping. (Darn, and that's the only time I have to work on my hair).

On a bag of Fritos -- You could be a winner! No purchase necessary. Details inside. (the shoplifter special)?

On a bar of Dial soap -- "Directions: Use like regular soap." (and that would be how???.....)

On some Swanson frozen dinners -- "Serving suggestion: Defrost." (but, it's "just" a suggestion).

On Tesco's Tiramisu dessert (printed on bottom) -- "Do not turn upside down." (well...duh, a bit late, huh)!

On Marks & Spencer Bread Pudding - "Product will be hot after heating." (...and you thought????....)

On packaging for a Rowenta iron -- "Do not iron clothes on body." (but wouldn't this save me more time)?

On Boot's Children Cough Medicine -- "Do not drive a car or operate machinery after taking this medication." (We could do a lot to reduce the rate of construction accidents if we could just get those 5-year-olds with head-colds off those forklifts.)

On Nytol Sleep Aid -- "Warning: May cause drowsiness..." (and...I'm taking this because???....)

On most brands of Christmas lights -- "For indoor or outdoor use only." (as opposed to...what)?

On a Japanese food processor -- "Not to be used for the other use." (now, somebody out there, help me on this. I'm a bit curious.)

On Sainsbury's peanuts -- "Warning: contains nuts." (talk about a news flash)

On an American Airlines packet of nuts -- "Instructions: Open packet, eat nuts." (Step 3: maybe, uh...fly Delta?)

On a child's Superman costume -- "Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly." (I don't blame the company. I blame the parents for this one.)

On a Swedish chainsaw -- "Do not attempt to stop chain with your hands or genitals." (Oh..My..Gosh...was there a lot of this happening somewhere?)
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