Firecrackers were available, and parents allowed us to play with them. It was tolerated.
Mommy didn’t hold my hand walk me to the bus stop each and every day. And she didn’t fretfully wait with me until the bus picked me up. After the first two days of kindergarten, I was left to walk those two blocks…alone.
Bicycle helmets? WHAT bicycle helmets?
Teachers were allowed to TOUCH you. By that, I mean, they might have patted you on the shoulder or something. Today they’d be arrested for that.
If we misbehaved, teachers would also threaten to send us to the Principal, where you could get THE STRAP.
If you were stupid in school, you got bad marks. Or they’d threaten to fail you.
Lucky Charms only had four different kinds of marshmallow, dammit. And the marshmallows ran out long before the cereal did.
If your sports team sucked, you lost all the time. Nobody tried to salvage your self-esteem by putting limits on how many points the other team was allowed to beat you by. Life was cruel.
That bastard Disney showed us Old Yeller getting shot on TV.
I also didn’t have safe, preachy cartoons like the Urinestain Berenstain Bears to teach me Politcally-Correct moral values, like cleaning up after yourself or doing your homework. Instead, I was forced to watch cartoon animals try to inflict massive head trauma, or blow each other up with dynamite.
The Fisher-Price Little People were everywhere. They were thumb-sized. Good Lord…I could have choked.
Breakfast cereals gave out small prizes like plastic cars, whistle or puzzles. Good Lord…I could have choked.
Toy guns looked like the real thing, thus glorifying firearms and violence. It’s a wonder more of us don’t have a criminal records today.
Candy was not guaranteed to be “peanut-free”.
Our family vacations didn’t involve Disney Land or getting on a plane somewhere. All we did was lame-ass car-camping, or visit my Uncle’s cottage. Looking back, I should have reported my parents to Child Protective Services for that.
We were allowed to eat chocolate and bubble-cigarettes, that were sold in packages that looked the real thing. I’ve never smoked in my life. But still…I easily COULD have.
I rode my bike, climbed trees and hiked in the woods…UNSUPERVISED.
In December, they actually encouraged us to use (gasp!) the Dreaded “C-Word”. We had Christmas trees and Christmas pageants.
Nobody made “play-dates” with me. I had to find my own friends. Not only that, but my play-time was unscheduled, unsupervised, and spontaneous. I feel deprived.