For those of us a bit long in the tooth...

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Many will have no idea what this means. A privileged few in my age group will understand. It's a little lengthy but worth your time. Not written by me, I don't have the talent.

When I was growing up I never once questioned my parents' income, it was never a discussion. We didn't eat a lot of fast food because it was considered a treat, not a food group. We drank Kool-Aid made from water that came from our kitchen sink with real sugar. We ate bologna sandwiches, or even tuna (which was in a can not a pouch), PB&J & grilled cheese sandwiches, hot dogs, but mostly homemade meals consisting of meat, potatoes, and vegetables.
We grew up during a time when we mowed lawns, pulled weeds, babysat, helped neighbors with chores to be able to earn our own money. We by no means were given everything we wanted.
We went outside a lot to play, ride bikes, run with friends, play hide and seek, or went swimming. We rarely just sat inside. We drank tap water from the water hose outside, bottled water was unheard of. If we had a coke, it was in a glass bottle, and we didn’t break the bottle when finished. We saved it and cashed it back in at the store for a refund.
We watched TV shows like Sky King, Leave It To Beaver, Gilligan's Island, Happy Days, Bewitched, Father Knows Best, Looney Tunes, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Disney on Sunday night, McHales Navy, Andy Griffith, and I Love Lucy. Mom and dad decided everything we watched or didn’t watch. After school, we came home and did homework and chores, before going outside or having friends over. We would ride our bikes for hours. We had to tell our parents where we were going, who we were going with, and be home when it got dark.
You LEARNED from your parents instead of disrespecting them, and treating them as if they knew absolutely nothing. What they said was LAW, and you did not question it, and you had better know it!
We watched what we said around our elders because we knew if we DISRESPECTED any grown-up we would get our behinds whipped, it wasn't called abuse, it was called discipline! We held doors, carried groceries, and gave up our seat for an older person without being asked. You didn't hear curse words on the radio in songs or TV, and if you cursed and got caught you had a bar of soap stuck in your mouth.
“Please, Thank you, yes please, no thank you, yes ma'am, no ma'am yes sir, and no sir were part of our daily vocabulary!
The world we live in now is just so full of crooked people, hate and disrespect for others
Re-post if you're thankful for your childhood. I will never forget where I came from and only wish children now days had half the chance at the fun and respect for real life we grew up with! And we were never bored!
The world would be so much better if kids were raised the way my generation was!!!
 
Many will have no idea what this means. A privileged few in my age group will understand. It's a little lengthy but worth your time. Not written by me, I don't have the talent.

When I was growing up I never once questioned my parents' income, it was never a discussion. We didn't eat a lot of fast food because it was considered a treat, not a food group. We drank Kool-Aid made from water that came from our kitchen sink with real sugar. We ate bologna sandwiches, or even tuna (which was in a can not a pouch), PB&J & grilled cheese sandwiches, hot dogs, but mostly homemade meals consisting of meat, potatoes, and vegetables.
We grew up during a time when we mowed lawns, pulled weeds, babysat, helped neighbors with chores to be able to earn our own money. We by no means were given everything we wanted.
We went outside a lot to play, ride bikes, run with friends, play hide and seek, or went swimming. We rarely just sat inside. We drank tap water from the water hose outside, bottled water was unheard of. If we had a coke, it was in a glass bottle, and we didn’t break the bottle when finished. We saved it and cashed it back in at the store for a refund.
We watched TV shows like Sky King, Leave It To Beaver, Gilligan's Island, Happy Days, Bewitched, Father Knows Best, Looney Tunes, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Disney on Sunday night, McHales Navy, Andy Griffith, and I Love Lucy. Mom and dad decided everything we watched or didn’t watch. After school, we came home and did homework and chores, before going outside or having friends over. We would ride our bikes for hours. We had to tell our parents where we were going, who we were going with, and be home when it got dark.
You LEARNED from your parents instead of disrespecting them, and treating them as if they knew absolutely nothing. What they said was LAW, and you did not question it, and you had better know it!
We watched what we said around our elders because we knew if we DISRESPECTED any grown-up we would get our behinds whipped, it wasn't called abuse, it was called discipline! We held doors, carried groceries, and gave up our seat for an older person without being asked. You didn't hear curse words on the radio in songs or TV, and if you cursed and got caught you had a bar of soap stuck in your mouth.
“Please, Thank you, yes please, no thank you, yes ma'am, no ma'am yes sir, and no sir were part of our daily vocabulary!
The world we live in now is just so full of crooked people, hate and disrespect for others
Re-post if you're thankful for your childhood. I will never forget where I came from and only wish children now days had half the chance at the fun and respect for real life we grew up with! And we were never bored!
The world would be so much better if kids were raised the way my generation was!!!
Wait - did you leave out you took off school clothes after school before you worked or played outside … 👀
 
I experienced most of what you did, but I also feel for the more recent generations for the simple reason that for the last 15 years approximately there is always someone with a phone that can capture evidence of something these kids do that might have a comedic / idiotic / rude / illegal / racist / mean perspective to the action. Say nothing about how what they see and record might be viewed from an angle that distorts the actual event to make it look bad.

There is a benefit to some of this video capture, but my generation was protected from our natural stupidity by it being only something that would have to be remembered by witnesses not recorded.
 
Saying ma’am is an insult in modern times.
I'm not changing.

I say ma'am, sir. I hold the door open for ladies. I open the car door for my wife, and or friends. If i wear a hat, i take it off before coming to the table. I offer my seat on a tram/shuttle if needed to a lady, and if she declines, i remain standing, leaving her the option.
 
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Wait - did you leave out you took off school clothes after school before you worked or played outside … 👀

We did. Pretty much had to because by the time the street lights came on, we were some dirty little dudes.

Edit - I'm still a dirty dude, just not so little....HAHAHA!
 
We watched TV shows like Sky King, Leave It To Beaver, Gilligan's Island, Happy Days, Bewitched, Father Knows Best, Looney Tunes, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Disney on Sunday night, McHales Navy, Andy Griffith, and I Love Lucy. Mom and dad decided everything we watched or didn’t watch.
Those were "second generation" TV shows. We watched Captain Video and His Video Rangers" on the Dumont network and Winky Dink and You, a fascinating children's program that encouraged drawing on the TV screen. It was the central gimmick of the show, praised by Bill Gates as "the first interactive TV show". A "magic drawing screen"—a piece of vinyl plastic that stuck to the television screen via static electricity, was placed on the TV screen. A kit containing the screen and various Winky Dink crayons could be purchased for 50 cents.

At a climactic scene in every Winky Dink short film, Winky would arrive on a scene that contained a connect-the-dots picture that could be navigated only with the help of viewers. Winky Dink then would prompt the children at home to complete the picture, and the finished result would help him continue the story. Examples included drawing a bridge to cross a river, using an axe to chop down a tree, or creating a cage to trap a dangerous lion.

On Saturday mornings I'd watch "Victory at Sea" a show made up of newsreal clips and actual military footage which depicted how the Allies (mostly the US) fought the enemy in the Pacific Theater.

There was Howdy Doody, a show with marionettes depicting the resident of the fictional town of Doodyville along with the human talent that rounded out the show. Clarabell the Clown was played by Bob Keeshan who went on to play Captain Kangaroo, William Shatner played Ranger Bob, Dayton Allen, later of The Steve Allen Show and a very funny comedian, played Phineas T. Bluster. The show first aired in 1947, and lasted more than a decade.
 
I can really relate to the OP. We played cowboys and Indians with home made wooden pistols, rifles and bow and arrows. We watched Roy Rodgers, Gene Autry and the Lone Ranger. Some of us brought rifles or shotguns to school for show and tell. Nobody shot up a school.
 
Other than the TV shows, what's changed?


images
 
I can really relate to the OP. We played cowboys and Indians with home made wooden pistols, rifles and bow and arrows. We watched Roy Rodgers, Gene Autry and the Lone Ranger. Some of us brought rifles or shotguns to school for show and tell. Nobody shot up a school.
You've overlooked one of the original cowboy heroes, Hopalong Cassidy, whose history went back to around 1905, and which went off the air in 1952, just about the time Roy Rogers started appearing o the small screen ... there was an overlapping period of several months.

And, speaking of the Lone Ranger, here's one of the greatest talk show stories of all time told by Jay Thomas on Letterman.

 
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—a piece of vinyl plastic that stuck to the television screen via static electricity, was placed on the TV screen

Not related to the show you mentioned, but we had a plastic sheet that Dad got at the G C Murphy store. It was transparent blue on the top section, light orange in the middle, and green on the bottom. Changed our black and white TV into "color". 📺
 
I can really relate to the OP. We played cowboys and Indians with home made wooden pistols, rifles and bow and arrows. We watched Roy Rodgers, Gene Autry and the Lone Ranger. Some of us brought rifles or shotguns to school for show and tell. Nobody shot up a school.


We used to get giant rubber bands from some store I can’t remember. A nice straight stick and a clothespin as the trigger with a tiny nail up front.

During the summer when we wore shorts and t shirts those rubber bands would sting.


Then we graduated to cap guns. I had the revolver type where you opened the side and inserted a whole roll of caps.
 
We used to get giant rubber bands from some store I can’t remember. A nice straight stick and a clothespin as the trigger with a tiny nail up front.

During the summer when we wore shorts and t shirts those rubber bands would sting.


Then we graduated to cap guns. I had the revolver type where you opened the side and inserted a whole roll of caps.
Some of the kids in my schools made zip guns.
 
I can really relate to the OP. We played cowboys and Indians with home made wooden pistols, rifles and bow and arrows. We watched Roy Rodgers, Gene Autry and the Lone Ranger. Some of us brought rifles or shotguns to school for show and tell. Nobody shot up a school.

That all sounds pretty familiar. Along with playing cowboys and Indians, we did a lot of civil war "reenactments." I proudly had a Fanner 50 cap revolver and a cap musket. An uncle with some money once gave me a shockingly high quality 3/4 scale cap gun revolver that I think was a Remington model 1858. Not made of pot metal and more than a little realistic looking. The much more powerful 2 inch bulldog firecrackers of the early 60's were often involved.
 
On Saturday mornings I'd watch "Victory at Sea" a show made up of newsreal clips and actual military footage which depicted how the Allies (mostly the US) fought the enemy in the Pacific Theater.
My father was aboard the USS Franklin during WWll. It was one of my favorite shows. I still watch it today on YouTube. I served aboard the USS Essex in later years.
 
I recently watched a youtube video, from a 7-11 at 2am, in the 1980's, and it really hit home. Specifically, how different things are today. I travel a lot, and are often in and out of these places late at night. Near Daytona, FL at a racetrack brand station recently, a group of young thugs piled in. Started knocking the foods off the shelves and creating mayhem. It seemed to me that both employees were very tolerant, or even involved. I was out the door post haste, hand on gun.

 
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