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ian@huth
26-10-2004, 20:46
An email doing the rounds makes you wonder if us oldies should still be around. Makes you think about how life today is so different to what it was in our youth. Apologies if it has all been said before.

Do you feel old? According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 50's 60's and 70's probably shouldn't have survived, because our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint which was promptly chewed and licked. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or latches on doors or cabinets and it was fine to play with pans. When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip-flops and fluorescentspokey dokey's' on our wheels. We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle and it Tasted the same. We ate chips, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy juice with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing. We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and no-one actually died from this. We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then went Top speed down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into stinging nettles a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We would leave home in the morning and could play all day, as long as we were back before it got dark. No one was able to reach us and no one minded. We did not have Play stations or X-Boxes, no video games at all. No 99 channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no DVDs, no Internet chat rooms. We had friends - we went outside and found them. We played elastics and rounders, and sometimes that ball really hurt! We fell out of trees, got cut, and broke bones but there were no law suits. We had full on fist fights but no prosecution followed from other parents. We played chap-the-door-run-away and were actually afraid of the owners catching us. We walked to friends' homes. We also, believe it or not, WALKED to school; we didn't rely on Mummy or daddy to drive us to school, which was just round the corner. We made up games with sticks and tennis balls. We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of...They actually sided with the law. This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all. And you're one of them. Congratulations! Pass this on to others who have had the luck to grow as real kids, before lawyers and government regulated our lives, for our own good. For those of you who aren't old enough, thought you might like to Read about us. This my friends, is surprisingly frightening......and it might put a smile on your face: The majority of students in universities today were born in1986........They are called youth. They have never heard of We are the World, We are the children, and The Uptown Girl they know is by Westlife not Billy Joel. They have never heard of Rick Astley, Bananarama, Nena Cherry or Belinda Carlisle. For them, there has always been only one Germany and one Vietnam. AIDS has existed since they were born. CD's have existed since they were born. Michael Jackson has always been white. To them John Travolta has always been round in shape and they can't Imagine how this fat guy could be a god of dance. They believe that Charlie's Angels and Mission Impossible are Films from last year. They can never imagine life before computers. They'll never have pretended to be the A Team, RedHand Gang or the Famous Five. They'll never have applied to be on Jim'll Fix It or Why Don't You. They can't believe a black and white television ever existed. And They will never understand how we could leave the house without a mobile phone.

Russ
26-10-2004, 20:47
Oooohh youngsters today!!!

marina
26-10-2004, 21:00
Not at all.....

I just look it a lot of the time ;)

And thanks to kronas for reminding me whenever he can that i AM older than him........ but then i'd rather have beauty and intelligence over youth every time..... especially if Kronas is the youth in question ;) :p:

paul11974
26-10-2004, 21:15
hold on .me milk is boiling over and i need my horlicks

kronas
26-10-2004, 21:17
And thanks to kronas for reminding me whenever he can that i AM older than him........ but then i'd rather have beauty and intelligence over youth every time..... especially if Kronas is the youth in question ;) :p:

nah, you know im joking, i feel old, i feel like i have seen it all, nothing gets me excited anymore, so yes life is boring at the moment :(

but im still young(ish) age figure wise.

still love ya, even if you dont call or text :mad: ;)

punky
26-10-2004, 22:31
All that shows you what a ridiculous over-ageration most PCness is.

cookie_365
26-10-2004, 23:28
They have never heard of We are the World, We are the children, and The Uptown Girl they know is by Westlife not Billy Joel. They have never heard of Rick Astley, Bananarama, Nena Cherry or Belinda Carlisle.
Lucky things !

Maggy
26-10-2004, 23:30
Bah!

I'm teaching children who were born in 1992.Now that is depressing as I began teaching in 1974. :(

However I still think I was born at the right time and in the most exciting century of them all. :D

kronas
26-10-2004, 23:36
old fogey ;)

ian@huth
26-10-2004, 23:41
The one thing about being an old fogey is that you can appreciate more the advancements made in the past half century or so.

kronas
26-10-2004, 23:42
The one thing about being an old fogey is that you can appreciate more the advancements made in the past half century or so.


i would agree with that, then watch how civilisation goes downhill :rolleyes:

Graham
27-10-2004, 03:25
Yes, when I was young people knew how to use paragraphs...!!!

<Grumpy old man in training!>

MovedGoalPosts
27-10-2004, 03:34
Do I feel old? Well yes, given that my body seems to be trying to reject me at the mo. But then I if I admitted to that, I might have to submit myself for a driving test http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/showthread.php?t=19273 :disturbd:

Maggy
27-10-2004, 11:38
old fogey ;)

Young fogey!!! :p:

orangebird
27-10-2004, 11:50
Even though I nodded my head through all of that, I don't feel old - I feel incredibly lucky to have had such a varied and happy childhood. :):) :tu:

Nugget
27-10-2004, 11:56
Well, having just found out that I've got 11 years on the majority of people at university, I'm curious as to how old people think old actually is now. Both of my parents are in their sixties now, but I don't consider them particularly old - what's the changing point between middle-aged and old then?

etccarmageddon
27-10-2004, 12:24
...no personal computers...

we did have crappy games consoles to play stuff like crappy tennis on our TV!

which progressed into the Atari thing and games like missile command.

basa
27-10-2004, 12:32
Even though I nodded my head through all of that, I don't feel old - I feel incredibly lucky to have had such a varied and happy childhood. :):) :tu:

I second that OB :clap: but would only add how upsetting it is that I cannot bring myself to allow my own two young daughters the same freedoms I had as a kid :(

orangebird
27-10-2004, 12:32
I had an Amstrad 128 ( I think that's what it was??) and loaded games by cassette...took ages. Frank Bruno boxing was the best... :D:D

ian@huth
27-10-2004, 12:32
we did have crappy games consoles to play stuff like crappy tennis on our TV!

which progressed into the Atari thing and games like missile command.

LOL, still have one of the original tennis consoles in the loft. We used to have a similar game running during open days in the early 60's on the biggest computer at the National Physical Laboratory together with a very simple driving game.

orangebird
27-10-2004, 12:37
I second that OB :clap: but would only add how upsetting it is that I cannot bring myself to allow my own two young daughters the same freedoms I had as a kid :(

I must be awful to have children now and not be able to give them the freedom you had yourself. My brother, all the kids in my neighbourhood and I would go tearing off over the plains on our bmxs, disappear for the whole day, and it was never a worry, as long as we were back before it got dark. I'm not sure if I had children whether I would let them do that now.. :erm:

SMHarman
27-10-2004, 13:46
<snip>Both of my parents are in their sixties now, but I don't consider them particularly old - what's the changing point between middle-aged and old then?
I was thinking the same thing this morning, I guess brought on by John Peels death, realising that he is only 3 years older than my father. You kinda hope they will be around longer than that (despite their annoyances).

etccarmageddon
27-10-2004, 13:54
I must be awful to have children now and not be able to give them the freedom you had yourself. My brother, all the kids in my neighbourhood and I would go tearing off over the plains on our bmxs, disappear for the whole day, and it was never a worry, as long as we were back before it got dark. I'm not sure if I had children whether I would let them do that now.. :erm:

back then the same risks existed but these days they are more known due to the media and availability of information. kids are safer these days because they have mobile phones and their parents are more aware of the dangers that exist and therefore can make their kids more street wise.


I've looked for some stats and this is the best I've found:-

http://www.police999.com/stats/figures10.html

It looks like during the 1970's around 10 kids were murdered but around 3 times that figure in the period from 1987 to 1997!

basa
27-10-2004, 15:49
back then the same risks existed but these days they are more known due to the media and availability of information. kids are safer these days because they have mobile phones and their parents are more aware of the dangers that exist and therefore can make their kids more street wise.


I've looked for some stats and this is the best I've found:-

http://www.police999.com/stats/figures10.html

It looks like during the 1970's around 10 kids were murdered but around 3 times that figure in the period from 1987 to 1997!

I sort of don't get your reasoning ?? First you say kids are safer nowadays but then demostrate how 3 times more kids have been murder in the 10 years up to '97 than in the '70's ?? :erm:

etccarmageddon
27-10-2004, 16:32
I found those stats 20mins after I wrote that first bit!

BBKing
27-10-2004, 20:57
Not sure about those stats - they lump infanticide in with murder and manslaughter and have a category called 'Child Destruction' without any obvious explanation of what it means (it's not an official crime as far as I know) or even what ages it refers to.

Anyway murder has never been the main cause of death among children - road accidents are far more deadly, and those have fallen partly because of traffic segregation, pedestrianisation and traffic calming but also because children don't go out as much.

In any case, I'm going to let mine out when he's old enough - he's already (at 13 months) walking down the road hand in hand with us to the shops - never too early to learn a bit of road sense.

paul11974
27-10-2004, 21:47
my right testicle is bigger than my left one ......does this count ?

Maggy
27-10-2004, 21:49
my right testicle is bigger than my left one ......does this count ?

Que? :confused:

budwieser
28-10-2004, 20:25
my right testicle is bigger than my left one ......does this count ?
Only on a Tuesday mate.:D

Chimaera
28-10-2004, 20:44
my right testicle is bigger than my left one ......does this count ?
Was that one for the non sequitur thread? ;)

budwieser
28-10-2004, 22:11
On Halloween, I`m 43 . I still feel like an 18 year old, Does anyone know where i can get one? :naughty: Lol!:D

yesman
12-05-2006, 01:17
Some of you will relate to this For those of us that can remember, it should produce a smile and possibly some forgotten memories .

According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were
kids in the 60's, 70's and early 80's probably shouldn't have
survived because first, we survived being born to mothers who smoked
and/or drank while they carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing and didn't get tested for
diabetes, our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured
lead-based paint which was promptly chewed and licked.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or latches on doors or
cabinets and it was fine to play with pans. When we rode our bikes,
we wore no helmets, just flip-flops and fluorescent 'spokey dokey's'
on our wheels. As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts
or airbags - riding in the passenger seat was a treat. We drank water
from the garden hose and not from a bottle and it tasted the same.

We ate chips, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy juice with
sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always
outside playing.

We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and no
one actually died from this. We would spend hours building go-carts
out of scraps and then went top speed down the hill, only to find out
we forgot the brakes.

After running into stinging nettles a few times, we learned to solve
the problem by simply not doing it again. We would leave home in the
morning and could play all day, as long as we were back before it got
dark. No one was able to reach us and no one minded.

We did not have Playstations or X-Boxes, no video games at all. No 99
channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile
phones, no personal computers, no DVDs, no Internet chat rooms.

We had friends - we went outside and found them.
We played elastics and rounder's, and sometimes that ball really
hurt! We fell out of trees, got cut, and broke bones but there were
no lawsuits.
We had full on fist fights but no prosecution followed from other
parents. We played knock-down-ginger and were actually afraid of the
owners catching us. We walked to friends' homes. We also,
believe it or not, WALKED to school; we didn't rely on mummy or daddy
to drive us to school, which was just round the corner.

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls.
We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood. The
idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard
of...They actually sided with the law. This generation has produced
some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever.
The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned
how to deal with it all.

And you're one of them. Congratulations!

Pass this on to others who have had the luck to grow as real kids,
before lawyers and governments regulated our lives, for our own
'good'.
For those of you who aren't old enough, thought you might like to
read about this which, my friends, is surprisingly
frightening......and it
might put a smile on your face: The majority of students in
universities today were born in 1986........They are called youth.

They have never heard of We are the World, We are the children and
the Uptown Girl they know is by Westlife not Billy Joel. They have
| never heard of Rick Astley, Bananarama, Nena Cherry or Belinda
Carlisle (possibly not a bad thing of course....) For them, there has
always been only one Germany and one Vietnam.

AIDS has existed since they were born. CD's have existed since they
were born. Michael Jackson has always been white. To them John
Travolta has always been round in shape and they can't imagine how this fat guy could be a god of dance. They believe that Charlie's Angels and
Mission Impossible are films from last year. They can never imagine
life before computers.

They'll never have pretended to be the A Team, Red Hand Gang or the
Famous Five. They'll never have applied to be on Jim'll Fix It or Why

Don't You. They can't believe a black and white television ever
existed. And they will never understand how we could leave the house
without
a mobile phone.

Now let's check if we're getting old...

1. You understand what was written above and you smiled.

2. You need to sleep more, usually until the afternoon, after a night
out.

3. Your friends are getting married/already married.

4. You are always surprised to see small children playing comfortably
with computers.

5. When you see teenagers with mobile phones, you shake your head.

6. You remember watching Dirty Den in EastEnders the first time
around.

7. You meet your friends from time to time, talking about the good
old days, repeating again all the funny things you have experienced
together.

8. Having read this mail, you are thinking of forwarding it to some
other friends because you think they will like it too... Yes, you're
getting OLD

Maybe this should be in the humour section.......:)

Paul
12-05-2006, 04:08
http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/showthread.php?t=19323 ;)

Halcyon
12-05-2006, 11:01
Ah yes, some good memories......sometimes I wish the wirld was like that again, yet on some other aspects, not at all.
There certainly were some good times and it does make you think how we did have fun and did get on with life perfectly well before all this technology came flooding in on us.

Nidge
12-05-2006, 12:37
The thing about it though is it's all true, kids nowdays are nothing like what they were when I was out there playing.

Druchii
12-05-2006, 18:37
It's still possible to do most of the things you got upto... Just, today it's alot more forwned upon. I'm always hering how my grandad, or mum were off round so and so's and borrowed an apple or two form their back yard... OR some similar story. Today we'd probably be jumped on and beaten by the homeowner.

ZrByte
13-05-2006, 01:34
The thing about it though is it's all true, kids nowdays are nothing like what they were when I was out there playing.

I think My generation probably had it best, People who grew up in the mid-late 80's pretty much had the best of both worlds. We had consoles and to a lesser extent PC's. Yet we only really used to use them during the winter, or we would use them later at night when it was too late to be going far.
We had TV and watched it a lot yet still managed to get in 10hours worth of bike riding per day. We do know what a cassette is, and what an LP is, I have owned 2 black and white TV's in my lifetime. And I have done most of the other stuff listed, Including prettending to be the A-Team (I was B.A. :D , I pitty The fool!!! We also used to play knightrider). And yet, all that said I am only 22, hardly what you would call old right?