Summer - sad but true

[David Stallard]

Came across THIS in the Mail on line - sad but true.

.DAVID.

[hhcanon]

Re: Summer - sad but true

Dont get me going!! Im the original grumpy old man. I worked in the city during this and handed in my notice. The open sewer of the Thames was 3 feet from my window and that was it... I was off. Never looked back.

[Hereford_EOS]

Re: Summer - sad but true

As a child I was always out playing with friends from morning until evening with just a quick break for dinner and tea.
We didn't have skate-board parks and other facilities regarded as necessary nowadays.
Computers? Amstrad or Commodore playing Ping Pong, great fun.

[MX5]

Re: Summer - sad but true

Well as we are being nostalgic (I'm another Grumpy ...)

Congratulations to all those born in 1930's 1940's, 50's, 60's ...

First, we survived being born to mothers who drank while they carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, raw egg products, loads of bacon and processed meat, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer..

Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets or shoes, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle...

Take away food was limited to fish and chips, no pizza shops, McDonalds , KFC, Subway or anything else.

Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn't open on the weekends, somehow we didn't starve to death!

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner store and buy Toffees, Gobstoppers, Bubble Gum and some bangers to blow up frogs with. We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soft drinks with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because.......

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of old prams and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. We built tree houses and cubbies and played in river beds with matchbox cars.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo Wii , X-boxes, no video games at all, no 999 channels on SKY , no video/dvd films, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no Lawsuits from these accidents.

Only girls had pierced ears!

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns at Easter time...

We were given air guns and catapults for our 10th birthdays.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!

Mum didn't have to go to work to help dad make ends meet!

FOOTBALL and CRICKET had tryouts and not everyone made the team.. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! Getting into the team was based on MERIT

Our teachers used to hit us with straps and sand shoes and bully's always ruled the playground at school.

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

Our parents didn't invent stupid names for their kids like 'Kiora' and 'Blade' and 'Ridge' and 'Vanilla'

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL !

[hhcanon]

Re: Summer - sad but true

Absolutely spot on MX. In fact I did some worse things, which Im rather ashamed about now.
You should see some of the fragile little specimens who come thru the hospital doors. It makes me wonder how they will ever get on in life and survive. I have to restrain myself from giving them a good slap.

[S_J_P]

Re: Summer - sad but true

Here here!

[Bill53]

Re: Summer - sad but true

Well put MX, I remember them well.

Bill.

[Nathaniel]

Re: Summer - sad but true

Yes, I remember the summer and drought of 1976 when "water diviners" with their "sticks" were brought in from the East & were busy beating the hell out of the earth in Hyde Park and elsewhere, to bring about RAIN. Lo and behold, rain did come very soon after that performance. You have forgotten that bit MX5 to an otherwise very well written post.

[pelliott1954]

Re: Summer - sad but true

Great Post MX, had me laughing out loud, all so very true.

Regards Paul

[Hereford_EOS]

Re: Summer - sad but true

Nice post MX5
Brought back many memories, the go-carts from old pram wheels and taking the empty bottles back to get the deposit for sweets (I often found empty bottles).

Wow! We were deprived in those days .....

[briansquibb]

Re: Summer - sad but true

They said much the same in 1921 when it was hopper and trier than 1976. Don't bet against 2013 have the driest and warmest summers - but that will depend on where you live.

In 1976 we went to Cornell for a 2 week holiday where it rained every day - but in Kent it stayed dry

[MX5]

Re: Summer - sad but true

In 1976 we went to Cornell for a 2 week holiday where it rained every day - but in Kent it stayed dry

If I recall my strange but true meteorological facts correctly ... part of Kent is technically a desert.

[DigitalSam]

Re: Summer - sad but true

'I used to be with it. Then they changed what it was. Now what I'm with isn't it. And what's it seems weird and scary to me. It'll happen to you!' - Grandpa Simpson

[AlexR!]

Re: Summer - sad but true

If I recall my strange but true meteorological facts correctly ... part of Kent is technically a desert.

I've never known whether Dungeness being a desert is actually true or just one of those urban myths a la Seaman Staines. I've had a quick google around, and cannot find a definitive source anywhere. For example, Wikipedia (and yes I know all about how trustworthy/authoritative that is) states that the Met Office has classified it as such, but doesn't give a reference for this statement.

[Oggie]

Re: Summer - sad but true

Ah - summer of '76. One of the best times of my life. I had just finished my A levels and lived in a tent at Mother Ivey's Bay on the North Cornwall coast for most of the summer.

Happy days.