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| The Gang !! |
We didn't have seat belts, so every ride had us bouncing around. The boys sat in the far back of the station wagon (every family seemed to have a station wagon ) seeing everything as we passed it. The first time out of the back when we were allowed to be with the regular people was eye-opening.
Car AC did not exist so the rides were brutal during the summer especially in the far back.
Sunscreen
existed, but nobody really used it. We’d get sunburned, then head
back out into the sun.
There
wasn’t antibacterial soap either—we played in the dirt all day
and cleaned up at the end.
We
didn’t worry about things like EEE or Lyme disease, even though we
spent a lot of time in the woods.
Video
games weren’t a thing, so you only stayed inside if you were sick.
If we stayed in for any other reason, Mom put us to work, so we
rarely stayed inside.
Helmets
were rare, and if you wore one, people thought something was wrong
with you. Once, I convinced my brother Andy to wear one for a bike
stunt ramp I set up, planning to sell tickets, but Mom shut it down
fast. I missed out on a fortune and he missed out on either fame or
hospitalization. UPDATE - This was in the time of Evil Knievel so we
wanted to go big. The plan was for my brother to go to the top of the
street we lived on ( A very long street ), pedal his bike as fast as
he could, turn into my neighbor's yard which was 7 houses from the
end of the street, ride up the ramp, be airborne for an undetermined
amount of time and land in the yard in an undetermined location. The
danger involved is what probably made my mother cancel the promotion.
In my defense I did get my brother to agree to wear a helmet.
We
never got rides to school—we walked, no matter the weather. Once
during a big snowstorm, we thought school would be canceled, but my
dad insisted it wasn’t. He wouldn't even let us listen to the radio
to find out. So, we walked through the storm, only to find an empty
schoolyard and had to walk back.
Growing
up, we were forced to attend church every week, even though our
parents only went sometimes on Easter and\or Christmas. Sometimes
they’d quiz us on the sermon.
Parents
didn't tell us what the curfew was, we knew to come home when the
streetlights came on.
TV
for kids was only on until noon on weekends, and there wasn’t much
during the week.
Parents
didn’t schedule anything for us—we played games like Hide and
Seek, Red Rover and Red Light\Green Light then when we got older we
played sports all day.
We
drank water from garden hoses or water foundations at the parks -
There wasn't Gatorade or any energy drinks.
We
didn’t worry about safety because we were always in groups with
siblings and neighbors.
We
went trick-or-treating without adults, and the streets were packed.
We never worried about tampered candy, but we’d skip the apples and
popcorn, focusing on the candy. Our parents didn’t mind us eating a
lot of it, as long as we brushed our teeth well before bed.
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