So, this morning I was listening to the Craig Cornett radio show on The Bull (where, coincidentally, my Uncle Jimmy's band, Powderkeg, won the local band showdown AGAIN last night....will be in the finals tonight..VOTE, VOTE, VOTE!) and they were having a discussion about toys we had as kids and how different they are from toys of today-specifically they were discussing swingsets and bikes without helmets....
Anyone in my age group remembers the swingsets of our childhood. You know, those metal sets complete with a slide made of sheet metal? I think back on it and realize just how dangerous they had the potential to be. I mean, they were just out there on the grass, all shaky and stuff, could have toppled over at any minute. My sister and I used to swing until we practically flipped over the top, thinking nothing of it. The whole set would rust as it was metal and sat outside rain or shine (hello, tetanus, anyone?). We used to put our little plastic swimming pool under the slide, fill it with water and act like we had a waterslide-genius, huh? My sister and I also used to do flips over the top, pretending we were Mary Lou Retton, practicing for the '86 Olympics. Do you remember how hot that metal would get in the summer sun? I'm surprised we didn't end up with 3rd degree burns....
Speaking of dangerous-bikes with helmets? Unheard of back in our day. Helmets were for dorks or sissies. Period. I'm not even sure they sold them much in stores. Here's a safety lesson for ya-my siblings and I rode our bikes all the livelong day......ON GRAVEL. How do ya like me now, Consumer Product Safety Commission? We'd be speeding down the gravel road, hit a big rock and BAM topple head over feet over the handlebar, onto the rocks below. Sure, you'd get some scrapes and bumps (maybe a concussion or two), but you stood up, dusted yourself off, and continued to ride. That's how we rolled in the 1980's. And we turned out ok.......didn't we???
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9 comments:
we use to rub wax paper on the metal slide so we could slide faster!! oh, and the chain links on the swings ..they were not covered by a plastic sheath, soo-- many a finger would get stuck as we tried to jump off the swing while it was high in the air.. yep-- you inherited your stuff from the baumgartner gene pool.. the deep end of it...no seatbelts either..we stood on the seats and held on!!
It's true Aunt Mary, however, my siblings and I did NOT chase the bug spray truck like you Baumgartner kids did....explains a lot..... :)I'm thinking actually the gene pool may be a bit shallow...
We didn't have a swingset at our house growing up, but Grandma and Grandpa Canada did. It wasn't made of sheet metal though, it was more of a homemade job (as things at Grandpa's tended to be) with a piece of wood with holes cut in it for the chain to go through. As my sister can attest to wooden swings can be painful . . . especially when you are trying to get a turn on the swing and your big brother launchs the wooden swing back at you in protest. Not to worry though, Grandma patched up the gouge with a bandaid (doctors were for when you were REALLY injured).
i was going to say shallow pool but i did not want you to think we were shallow people...:}
What, why, Hottie Brother Canada wouldn't do such a thing, would he? I can't believe it....and yes, bandaids and Bactine fix everything...good to know you had the same perils in the land of Canada as we did here in the states... :)
Yeah Mary -- the good old days. I remember standing in the car. I also remember piling into the back of the old station wagon. -- again no safety belts. Yep -- Britney Spears has nothing on our Mama! :)
Grandma Canada didn't do Bactine, she always went with salt.
so are you saying Britney would have been a GOOD mom if she'd had her kids 50 years ago? Interesting....
ooooooo salt...yikes...Canada, you are one tough mo fo! :)
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