1. Welcome to VegasMessageBoard
    It appears you are visiting our community as a guest.
    In order to view full-size images, participate in discussions, vote in polls, etc, you will need to Log in or Register.

The good old days - 3 TV channels, no cable or cell phones

Discussion in 'Non-Vegas Chat' started by vwhiten, Mar 3, 2016.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Valgal

    Valgal VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Aug 10, 2014
    Messages:
    5,302
    Location:
    South
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    20
    Anyone else grow up with just 3 tv stations, CBS, NBC, ABC of course there was PBS too. I remember being forced to watch Lawrence Welk and Hee Haw. And sneaking out of bed to watch Red Skelton and Johnny Carson. The remote control was me and my sister. My father could backhand us with a slap in the car from the front seat to the back. And if necessary he pulled over on the city highway and whooped my ass when I deserved it -- which was frequently -- I was a little biatch.

    Fireflys in jars, staying out playing kickball until the porch lights came on. Launching bottle rockets down the street. One time my friend and I were setting off bottle rockets and a cop car pulled around the corner. It exploded directly under his car -- Oh shit we said at the same time -- he confiscated all our July 4 fireworks. My uncle was a police detective -- and he always gave us all the fireworks they confiscated. So it didn't matter. I was just glad he took our fireworks -- if he insisted on telling our parents we both would have had an ass whooping. All I had to do was look at my father with the "look" and he gave me an ass whooping. I have tried to tell my son that he didn't even get 1/4 of the whoopings I got. But yes I whooped his ass. And he got away with much more than I ever did. -- Which is what is wrong with this country -- IMHO -- not enough butt whoopings and too much "time out" BS.

    I could walk 1/2 a mile to the "Ice House" and 35 cents would buy me a NeHi blue and a zero bar and I didn't have to worry about a pedophile trying to grab me. Now I don't let my 8 year old grandson out of my sight. -- Those were the good old days.
     
  2. vegaskid74

    vegaskid74 VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2009
    Messages:
    2,350
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    999
    Ahhhhhh, the memories! My dad didn't even pull over to whoop us in the car. We had a van with front captain's chairs, so there was space for us to stand between Mom and Dad while one or the other (or both) of them beat us as we hurtled down the highway at 75 mph. Dad didn't pull over for "minor" restroom needs either - that's what pop bottles were for. We kids were the remote control in our house too. In addition to that, we had to get up every ten or fifteen minutes and smack the top of the t.v. to stop the picture from flickering. Fireworks were a favorite in our neighborhood as well. I once got a poorly-aimed bottle rocket wedged under a neighbor's roof shingle, and it blew it clean off. They didn't say a word because their kids were jackasses too - one of them shot our screen door repeatedly with a BB gun. The funny thing is, Dad rarely had to discipline us after we were 7 or 8 years old. By then we knew what was what, and I strongly sensed that my dad would rather go to prison for killing me himself than see me go to prison for doing something stupid. We knew where the line was and just never crossed it. You're right, these days most parents have completely lost control. Because of broken marriages and homes, parents want and even need their kids to be their friends and like them, and the whole parent-child dynamic breaks down. Sad and painful to watch the decay in our nation and families in slow (but rapidly accelerating) motion.
     
  3. BlacklabberMike

    BlacklabberMike MIA

    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2014
    Messages:
    5,373
    Location:
    Where's Ware?
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    25
  4. Joe Strummer

    Joe Strummer VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2006
    Messages:
    5,109
    My father to an adult camp counselor :
    "Hey, Harry....you don't discipline my kid with a slap !....I'll hit my own kid !."
     
  5. NotFromConcentrate

    NotFromConcentrate It’s a Cassowary :)

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2015
    Messages:
    9,324
    Location:
    Digital Nomad from Southern Ontario
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    28
    To anyone who shares the sentiment that parents have basically lost control these days - do you sympathize with young people who don't want to have kids, given the current conditions of society?
     
    [TENTATIVE Late Jul/Early Aug] Vegas by way of Chicago/Elko/Reno!
  6. vegaskid74

    vegaskid74 VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2009
    Messages:
    2,350
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    999
    No, it's challenging but still possible to raise good kids even when very few of their friends and classmates have the same standards and rules we do. I'm slightly softer than my dad, but for the most part my kids are respectful, well-behaved, productive members of society.
     
  7. Breeze147

    Breeze147 Button Man

    Joined:
    Aug 15, 2013
    Messages:
    11,356
    Location:
    Southern Maryland by way of Philadelphia
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    25
    The entire family sitting around the tv to watch The Untouchables.

    Local NFL football was blacked out so we would gather around and watch the New York Giants games every Sunday.

    This was after church of course.

    Then it was Sunday dinner served at around 3:30, usually a roast or a ham or something like that. Think of the Reagans on Blue Bloods. It was exactly like that.

    Sometimes, if we were having Spaghetti and Meatballs (My Mom's secret sauce) or my Mom's Eggplant Parmigiana, we would go to the local Italian bakery to get rolls after church. The smell of that place was soooo beautiful.

    Playing Wiffle Ball in the backyard after watching the Phillies lose another, cursing every last one of them and everyone agreeing about how bad they stunk. Except for Richie Ashburn. Ashburn was god. So why did we watch them every Sunday? Because no matter how bad they stunk, they were OURS.

    The endless Wiffle Ball, touch football, and pimple ball tournaments with my friends. From early in the afternoon until Mom called you for supper. She would just step out the back door and yell your name and you would drop everything and go running home. After supper, we would go to the AA Field down the corner and watch the local semi-pro team play until it got too dark to see the ball.

    Sledding on the golf course after a snow. There was one hill we called Devil's Hill in which you had to negotiate a huge bump at top speed and then immediately cross a small wooden bridge. Many a kid missed the bridge and face-planted into the rocks in the creek below.

    The absolutely incredible courage it took to hold a girl's hand.

    Ahh, sweet innocence. I'm glad I have those memories.
     
  8. vegaskid74

    vegaskid74 VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2009
    Messages:
    2,350
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    999
    Great stuff! Funny, we had a sledding hill on our local golf course we called "suicide hill".
     
  9. Valgal

    Valgal VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Aug 10, 2014
    Messages:
    5,302
    Location:
    South
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    20
    My son got divorced last year. He is trying hard to find the next Mrs. He is one of those guys that doesn't do well alone. He was getting very close to one woman, and then he met her two boys. He broke up with her shortly after. He said she had absolutely no control over them and he was not signing up for that. A woman that I used to work with has a young son that everyone called Damien he has been kicked out of every school including private ones. Of course he is an angel and it is everyone else's fault. I Witnessed him once in a full blown out of control temper tantrum yelling and slapping his mom. She tried to reason with him and threatened to take away his electronics. Other coworkers have had them over. One guy told the mom if she couldn't control her child he was going to beat his ass. I fully expect him to be in the news in a few years as a serial killer. Jeffrey Dahmer came from a home where he was spoiled and never spanked.
     
  10. Valgal

    Valgal VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Aug 10, 2014
    Messages:
    5,302
    Location:
    South
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    20
    Slip and slide and Mr. Wiggle -- I am sure there is something else called Mr Wiggle these days and it is not a child's water toy. I cant even let my Grandson play in sprinkler during the summer. We have a water **** code enforcer. We are allowed to water once a week at certain times. I got a bang on the door and a warning violation because I was 15 minutes late shutting off the sprinkler.
     
  11. Breeze147

    Breeze147 Button Man

    Joined:
    Aug 15, 2013
    Messages:
    11,356
    Location:
    Southern Maryland by way of Philadelphia
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    25
    One of the cases I heard on Grand Jury was about a 15 year old who was discharging an assault rifle in a residential area. Turns out the Mom bought it for him after he pitched a fit and threatened her. The Deputies found a rather large cache of handguns and knives in the kid's bedroom, all purchased by the Mom. Since there were no charges against the Mom, all we could do was indict the kid for discharging the weapon in a residential area. First time offender, go off with a fine. Nothing happened to the Mom. I heard a rumor that they left the area shortly thereafter.
     
  12. NotFromConcentrate

    NotFromConcentrate It’s a Cassowary :)

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2015
    Messages:
    9,324
    Location:
    Digital Nomad from Southern Ontario
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    28
    Every time I hear of this sort of thing, I literally cannot wait to feel the snip of the vasectomy I'll be getting.
     
    [TENTATIVE Late Jul/Early Aug] Vegas by way of Chicago/Elko/Reno!
  13. mdee

    mdee VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Feb 22, 2010
    Messages:
    2,491
    Location:
    Orlando
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    41
    Our dog (a Boxer) was our Chaperone. He would walk us to school which seemed like it was a mile away. Then he would go check on my Grandmother who would feed him, then to my Uncle's house who I think
    was his original owner until he (the dog) decided to live with us. Then he would show back up at school to walk us home. The interesting thing is our neighbors also had a Boxer and they were both BFF's. That is
    until us Kids were in the yard playing... Then they would become Mortal Enemies! It took the Garden Hose and several Broom Sticks to break them up! Our dog got hit by a car and died. Sad I know but when the
    neighbors moved away their Boxer stayed behind to live with us. No moral to the story... Just a childhood memory.
     
  14. Joe Strummer

    Joe Strummer VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2006
    Messages:
    5,109
    We had a hill called "Dangerous Hill" --
    Practically, straight vertically down - at the bottom was
    an old dirt road going across the face of the hill -- that acted like a ski jump.
    Geezer !.......you got "AIR" every time !
    My two sisters went down together on one sled.
    One sister ended up under the sled, during the airborne part -
    the sled + other sister landed directly on top of her !
    No one was hurt ......I have no idea how ?
    Helmuts were for football.
    *
    In my house -
    You avoided walking past the black + white TV with rabbit ears --- no remote ---
    cos somebody would ALWAYS say ( from the couch ) "Change the channel --- switch the station !."
    You watched Mickey Mantle + NY Yankees in black + white TV.
    Walk into Yankee Stadium and see that MASSIVE field of green....blue stadium seats. ( actually pale green 1960's )
    What color !....you never saw on TV.
    *
    We had a car that you would turn off + walk to the front door, car keys in hand --
    and the car would still be coughing it's last gasps !
     
  15. rscpa

    rscpa Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Sep 21, 2011
    Messages:
    461
    Location:
    Texas
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    54
    Damn, this thread brings back memories! My dad would make us go pick out our own switch.... if he didn't like the one you picked out, holy hell! Than he would pick one for you. Do remember once outplaying him and stuffing a comic book down my jeans and he never found out. His dad tells him, you are wasting your time with a belt, here is my old razor strap... SOB could have killed him on the spot. That razor strap was the worst, YOWEE it hurt. I think if more kids felt the wrath of their parents, they would toe the line a little more.

    Side note, does anyone have to suppress the desire to trip kids running around the restaurant like it was a park? One of these days I think I will just do it, of course wait till I am older and blame on old age and than can just be oh, sorry, didn't see them....
     
  16. rscpa

    rscpa Low-Roller

    Joined:
    Sep 21, 2011
    Messages:
    461
    Location:
    Texas
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    54

    Isn't that the truth with the old cars!!
     
  17. makikiboy

    makikiboy VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2007
    Messages:
    6,752
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    35
    In a way. Times have changed a lot nowadays. We never had to worry about getting shot in schools, never had to worry about gang activities. it is not easy growing up now or raising kids now. you could get put in jail for spanking your kid, could even get sued by your kid or have your kid sue you to pay for his/her education.

    When we were younger we could work on purchasing our dream home (or condo) before age 30 or 35 (I bought my first condo at age 26 in the mid 80's, another one in the 90's) or renting a place for under $1000. Nowadays the kids can't do that, not with condos starting at $350k and up, rents for a studio or 1 bedroom in Honolulu going for at least $1500 a month and up. The kids nowadays need to find some bucks to even have a chance at getting a down payment to buy a place. This doesn't even include prequalifying for a mortgage and whether they can afford the mortgage.

    Purchasing your dream home or condo isn't the American dream anymore. Many kids can't even more out of their parents house because they can't afford to rent a place or pay their monthly expenses.
     
  18. ken2v

    ken2v This Space For Rent

    Joined:
    Sep 18, 2003
    Messages:
    29,787
    Location:
    A nice place
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    110
    Generational laments, it is the one commonality across generations.
     
  19. Electroguy563

    Electroguy563 Vegas Joker

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2011
    Messages:
    8,196
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    21
    "Spare the rod, spoil the child..."

    My parents beat the hell out of me. But I knew I deserved it. I love them dearly, and thank them for raising me.

    Parents nowadays only like to fuck. (Without condoms.) The fact that they're not ready for children doesn't even cross their minds.
     
  20. Bo333

    Bo333 VIP Whale

    Joined:
    Aug 20, 2010
    Messages:
    1,758
    Location:
    Austin, TX
    Trips to Las Vegas:
    130
    At 15 I used to ride my bike from Philly to the Jersey Shore (about 60 miles)....no helmets, no worries.
    Times have changed.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.