# Black And White



## mountainlady56 (Feb 13, 2006)

Got this in e-mail, and thought I'd share!!
Darlene









Black and White 
(Under age 40? You won't understand.)

You could hardly see for all the snow, 
Spread the rabbit ears as far as they go. 
Pull a chair up to the TV set,

'Good Night, David. Good Night, Chet.'

My Mom used to cut chicken, chop eggs and spread mayo on the same 
cutting board with the same knife and no bleach, but we didn't seem to get 
food poisoning.

My Mom used to defrost hamburger on the counter AND I used to eat it 
raw sometimes, too. Our school sandwiches were wrapped in wax paper in a 
brown paper bag, not in icepack coolers, but I can't remember getting 
e.coli.

Almost all of us would have rather gone swimming in the lake instead 
of a pristine pool (talk about boring), no beach closures then.

The term cell phone would have conjured up a phone in a jail cell, 
and a pager was the school PA system.

We all took gym, not PE.. and risked permanent injury with a pair of 
high top Ked's (only worn in gym) 
instead of having cross-training athletic shoes with air cushion 
soles and built in light reflectors. I can't recall any injuries but they 
must have happened because they tell us how much safer we are now.

Flunking gym was not an option... even for stupid kids! I guess PE 
must be much harder than gym.

Speaking of school, we all said prayers and sang the national anthem, 
and staying in detention after school caught all sorts of negative 
attention.

We must have had horribly damaged psyches. What an archaic health 
system we had then. Remember school nurses? Ours wore a hat and 
everything.

I thought that I was supposed to accomplish something before I was 
allowed to be proud of myself.

I just can't recall how bored we were without computers, Play 
Station, Nintendo, X-box or 270 digital TV cable stations.

Oh yeah... and where was the Benadryl and sterilization kit when I 
got that bee sting? I could have been killed!

We pla yed 'king of the hill' on piles of gravel left on vacant 
construction sites, and when we got hurt, Mom pulled out the 48-cent 
bottle of Mercurochrome (kids liked it better because it didn't sting like 
iodine did) and then we got our butt spanked.

Now it's a trip to the emergency room, followed by a 10-day dose of a 
$49 bottle of antibiotics, and then Mom calls the attorney to sue the 
contractor for leaving a horribly vicious pile of gravel where it was such 
a threat.

We didn't act up at the neighbor's house either because if we did, we 
got our butt spanked there and then we got our butt spanked again when we 
got home.

I recall Donny Reynolds from next door coming over and doing his 
tricks on the front stoop, just before he fell off. Little did his Mom 
know that she could have owned our house. Instead, she picked him up and 
swatted him for being such a goof. It was a neighborhood run amuck.

To top it off, not a single person I knew had ever been told that 
they were from a dysfunctional family. How could we possibly have known 
that?

We needed to get into group therapy and anger management classes? We 
were obviously so duped by so many societal ills, that we didn't even 
notice that the entire country wasn't taking Prozac! How did we ever 
survive?

LOVE TO ALL OF US WHO SHARED THIS ERA, AND TO ALL WHO DIDN'T- SORRY 
FOR WHAT YOU MISSED. I WOULDN'T TRADE IT FOR ANYTHING


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## N7OQ (Jun 10, 2006)

Amen !

I loved the simpler times


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)




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## wtscl (May 22, 2007)

I'm a little under 40, but all of this hits home. What a messed up world we live in now. My son and I were just talking about when I started driving in the field behind my house at age 12 (which he is now). I wouldn't even think of letting him drive anywhere close to our house.

Great memories.
Thanks


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## battalionchief3 (Jun 27, 2006)

I even rode a bicycle without a helmet.....im lucky to be alive. That was great.


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## Paul and Amy (Jul 8, 2007)

Those were the times we got a whooping or your "Momma" gave you 'the look' or you got "wait till your father gets home" hey we weren't abused children. Nobody negotiated or gave choices or sent you to therapy or put you on medication to adjust your behaviors, you knew the rules inside and outside the home - we followed them. We had more freedoms, less fears, less stress and less pressure. People camped more, spent less time in hotels - trusted thy neighbors, were friendlier. There was unity in the family not society making the rules on running the family. There were metal dashboards in cars and we didn't have to wear seatbelts. Etc etc Those were the days!


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## Crawfish (Sep 14, 2005)

Darlene, are you that old?









Sure does bring back memories.

Leon


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## Lady Di (Oct 28, 2005)

People were actually RESPONSIBLE for their own actions.

How 'archaic' in todays world.


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## OregonCampin (Mar 9, 2007)

I am a little under the 40 mark, but most of these ring home for me too....

My favorite part of growing up??? Riding in the back of pickups with no canopy...just your hair blowing into the wind and nothing to hang on too.... could you imagine doing that now??


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## bill_pfaff (Mar 11, 2005)

I liked riding my bicycle behind the truck spraying DDT to kill the mosquitoes..

Hummmmmmmmmm maybe that's what's wrong with me.


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## Kamm (Apr 27, 2007)

It can still be that way. We don't have to have electonic games, the kids can still play outside. There are a lot of parents out there that are a bit too overprotective and our society is way too letigious. Unfortunatley we all do have to be more careful of the people that might be around our kids... thank goodness for camping. Kids seem to have more freedom in a campground with room to play, ride their bikes and be kids.

Luckily we live in a semi rural area where my kids can play in the bush behind our house and ride their 4 wheelers in the fields. My 11 year old son has even had the pleasure of dirving the car on our street once or twice.


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## BeachHut (Aug 1, 2007)

LabbyCampers said:


> We had more freedoms, less fears, less stress and less pressure. People camped more, spent less time in hotels - trusted thy neighbors, were friendlier. There was unity in the family not society making the rules on running the family.


I couldn't have said it better. Families need to be a unit and what better place to be one then in a relatively small space of an Outback. That was our reason for buying it....that and I couldn't sleep on an air mattress anymore









Gwen


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

BeachHut said:


> We had more freedoms, less fears, less stress and less pressure. People camped more, spent less time in hotels - trusted thy neighbors, were friendlier. There was unity in the family not society making the rules on running the family.


I couldn't have said it better. Families need to be a unit and what better place to be one then in a relatively small space of an Outback. That was our reason for buying it....that and I couldn't sleep on an air mattress anymore









Gwen
[/quote]
Exactly!








This is the beauty of camping. No TV (don't tell my son one could be installed







), no video games (don't really do those at home either though)... Just family time. If he scrapes his kness, I give him a kiss, spray on some Bactine, and once he calms down, point out that it was his actions that got his knee scraped.









Of course we have learned some things, and we do use seatbelts, child seats and bicycle helmets


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## Paul and Amy (Jul 8, 2007)

bill_pfaff said:


> I liked riding my bicycle behind the truck spraying DDT to kill the mosquitoes..
> 
> Hummmmmmmmmm maybe that's what's wrong with me.


I remember that, oh how cool I forgot that. I did too and only had a schwinn 3 speed yellow bike, that is all my familiy could afford without going into debt. hammmm


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## Carey (Mar 6, 2012)

bill_pfaff said:


> I liked riding my bicycle behind the truck spraying DDT to kill the mosquitoes..
> 
> Hummmmmmmmmm maybe that's what's wrong with me.


LOL Knowone even said a word I bet!

What a great article! I wanna go back... Someone figure out how we all can go back!

Carey


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## Carey (Mar 6, 2012)

LabbyCampers said:


> I liked riding my bicycle behind the truck spraying DDT to kill the mosquitoes..
> 
> Hummmmmmmmmm maybe that's what's wrong with me.


I remember that, oh how cool I forgot that. I did too and only had a schwinn 3 speed yellow bike, that is all my familiy could afford without going into debt. hammmm
[/quote]

Lucky you! my bananna seat schwinn only had one speed..

Carey


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## Paul and Amy (Jul 8, 2007)

Air conditioning was too expensive, we had wing windows, 8-track tapes,and vinyl was still in. How about the gas that we ran out of in the seventies; what a farce. There were real muscle cars, and tanks on the road. After a crash you could wipe the dust off and continue on. Computers used to take up three buildings, and now they take up your lap. Who ever heard of touch tone we had rotary phones? Outhouses were still used to crap in, they were not collectors items. I could continue, but I think that I have dated myself enough. Paul


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

LabbyCampers said:


> ...Computers used to take up three buildings, and now they take up your lap.


Hey wait, no Outbackers.com!







Maybe it wasn't so good


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## sia (Jul 7, 2007)

My dad didn't have to take on a second job to pay for gas money just to go camping. He would fill up the old chevy for $15 and ride for a week. The campstore only sold wood, ice, soda and 1 Cent candy. And you couldn't pay for any of it with a credit card. I can't remember my dog ever being on a leash and the campground. The sites were huge and we just told him to stay on it. It was nice then.


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## mountainlady56 (Feb 13, 2006)

Crawfish said:


> Darlene, are you that old?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Uh, YEAH!! I'm 51....got the grey hair to prove it (had grey since I was 28, actually)!!


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## mountainlady56 (Feb 13, 2006)

LabbyCampers said:


> Air conditioning was too expensive, we had wing windows, 8-track tapes,and vinyl was still in. How about the gas that we ran out of in the seventies; what a farce. There were real muscle cars, and tanks on the road. After a crash you could wipe the dust off and continue on.


You know, they're talking about global warming, but I remember when I was around 8 or 9 and playing outside in 100 degree heat. Mama was working and we stayed with grandma and grandpa, as well as my cousins.
I'm surprised at the responses from this. So glad to know I'm not the ONLY one that remembers the good old days and wishes things could go back to the "simpler times" as somebody said. A/C was expensive, and if you had a window unit, you only ran it in the very hottest part of the day. When it cooled off, in the evening, a/c off, windows up, and front and back door open. You MAY or may not lock the screen door.......that was optional. If the head of the bed was up in the corner of the room, you put your head at the foot of the bed so you could get the "cross-breeze". Is my age showing??








Glad everyone enjoyed this!!
Darlene


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## Sayonara (Jul 23, 2007)

I know one thing that hasnt changed....*FORD TRUCKS WERE THE BEST THEN TOO *!!!!














Ive only heard though, im really young....

im sorry... i had to infect this thread with a little brand loyallty. 
Im running away right now.....the others will be coming after me soon....


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## mountainlady56 (Feb 13, 2006)

dpthomasjr said:


> I know one thing that hasnt changed....*FORD TRUCKS WERE THE BEST THEN TOO *!!!!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Well, that's okay. I happen to know that a '69 Ford P/U, with 3-speed on the steering column, was a SWEET, dependable and fast-moving truck. Why? I drove one from age 16-age 19!! LOL
Darlene


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## 'Ohana (May 20, 2007)

I remember some time back my DD mentioned something about Old Day's. When I started talking about the being born in the mid 50's she politely said not that far back Dad !! tell me about the 80's









Ed


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## Paul and Amy (Jul 8, 2007)

Kamm said:


> Kids seem to have more freedom in a campground with room to play, ride their bikes and be kids.


*However, in the field I am in....please, oh please, be careful sending your children alone (or two) to public bathrooms or playgrounds (I even think camping as some are so open to public). That is one of the top places pedifiles stalk their victims. Always have the travel in groups*


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## Paul and Amy (Jul 8, 2007)

sgalady said:


> I know one thing that hasnt changed....*FORD TRUCKS WERE THE BEST THEN TOO *!!!!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Well, that's okay. I happen to know that a '69 Ford P/U, with 3-speed on the steering column, was a SWEET, dependable and fast-moving truck. Why? I drove one from age 16-age 19!! LOL
Darlene








[/quote]

did it have metal dashboard.


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## BigBadBrain (Aug 26, 2004)

Colorado~DirtBikers said:


> I liked riding my bicycle behind the truck spraying DDT to kill the mosquitoes..
> 
> Hummmmmmmmmm maybe that's what's wrong with me.


I remember that, oh how cool I forgot that. I did too and only had a schwinn 3 speed yellow bike, that is all my familiy could afford without going into debt. hammmm
[/quote]

Lucky you! my bananna seat schwinn only had one speed..

Carey
[/quote]

Only bike we could afford was a Stingray wannabe. I could do a wheelie sitting on my 'stingray' for over a full city block holding onto the front of the seat - no hands on the handlebars! Somehow I could never get the hang of my friend's unicycle though. Bike helmet? What's a bike helmet?

Oh, and my skateboard stopped dead if it hit a grain of sand! Broken arm and road-rash on the face for that one! My mom threw out my skateboard too - toys that resulted in emergency room visits were tossed out (except bikes thank goodness!)

My first car - 1962 Ford F-100 shortbed stepside! I wish I still had that truck (I've talked to my wife about getting one and restoring it - do you know how hard it is to find that truck?!)

Ah, the good old days!


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## mountainlady56 (Feb 13, 2006)

LabbyCampers said:


> Kids seem to have more freedom in a campground with room to play, ride their bikes and be kids.


*However, in the field I am in....please, oh please, be careful sending your children alone (or two) to public bathrooms or playgrounds (I even think camping as some are so open to public). That is one of the top places pedifiles stalk their victims. Always have the travel in groups*
[/quote]

HI!
You better ESPECIALLY watch kids on the computer, too!! I got my oldest son a computer on his 13th birthday, (10 years ago, tomorrow!) and I put it in his room. BIG MISTAKE!! I woke up to get a glass of water about 3 in the morning, and he was in a chat room. Of course, I almost had a hemorrhage, anyway, but I asked him who he was talking to (in private chat). The idiot that was talking to him had a nickname of "pedophile". Well, my son didn't realize what a pedophile WAS, but he dang well got educated in a heartbeat!! I took over typing and reported "pedophile". My son was telling him details about himself, where we lived, etc. I know we put off talking to our kids about this kind of stuff, but DON'T!! It's important that they know the terminology, etc. BTW, if you allow your kids access to Yahoo, you can set the password, and limit their conversations ONLY to persons you trust/their friends, etc. That's the only way I'd have it, these days.
As far as bathrooms, I imagine I have the only kids that went with me to the bathroom up until age 10 or older. Now, they have "family bathrooms" at alot of stores.........Target, Publix, etc.
Stepping off my soapbox!!








Darlene


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## mountainlady56 (Feb 13, 2006)

LabbyCampers said:


> I know one thing that hasnt changed....*FORD TRUCKS WERE THE BEST THEN TOO *!!!!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Well, that's okay. I happen to know that a '69 Ford P/U, with 3-speed on the steering column, was a SWEET, dependable and fast-moving truck. Why? I drove one from age 16-age 19!! LOL
Darlene








[/quote]

did it have metal dashboard.
[/quote]
I'm pretty sure it did, now that you mention it. It was white cab with blue body, long-bed, gulf-coast mirrors on it. Wish I had that thing, now!!








Darlene


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## Paul and Amy (Jul 8, 2007)

sgalady said:


> Kids seem to have more freedom in a campground with room to play, ride their bikes and be kids.


*However, in the field I am in....please, oh please, be careful sending your children alone (or two) to public bathrooms or playgrounds (I even think camping as some are so open to public). That is one of the top places pedifiles stalk their victims. Always have the travel in groups*
[/quote]

HI!
You better ESPECIALLY watch kids on the computer, too!! I got my oldest son a computer on his 13th birthday, (10 years ago, tomorrow!) and I put it in his room. BIG MISTAKE!! I woke up to get a glass of water about 3 in the morning, and he was in a chat room. Of course, I almost had a hemorrhage, anyway, but I asked him who he was talking to (in private chat). The idiot that was talking to him had a nickname of "pedophile". Well, my son didn't realize what a pedophile WAS, but he dang well got educated in a heartbeat!! I took over typing and reported "pedophile". My son was telling him details about himself, where we lived, etc. I know we put off talking to our kids about this kind of stuff, but DON'T!! It's important that they know the terminology, etc. BTW, if you allow your kids access to Yahoo, you can set the password, and limit their conversations ONLY to persons you trust/their friends, etc. That's the only way I'd have it, these days.

There is a great website for children with parents that have access to computers. You can spy on them read every word know who the are talking too and I believe it is free and the kids never know......hold on, let me call my friend, she is not home but left her message. Will post this in another spot/new post if no has. You know I protect children
As far as bathrooms, I imagine I have the only kids that went with me to the bathroom up until age 10 or older. Now, they have "family bathrooms" at alot of stores.........Target, Publix, etc.
Stepping off my soapbox!!








Darlene








[/quote]


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## mswalt (Sep 14, 2004)

Uh, I don't know any guy who became very hirsute, either.









Mark


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