Remember life back when...

[SteveGangi]

Maybe it's nostalgia, maybe folks had no responsibilities or bills as kids and were sheltered more, maybe they bought into bullshit. Who knows.

Speaking for ME, in many ways I'm better off and happier now. Remember I came from a "place" where nothing was ever good enough and the answer to everything was yelling and hitting (punching with closed fists).

My grades ranged in the low to high 90%. Not good enough. It was always "try harder" no matter what. Fucking school didn't help. "He gets nineties but could get HIGHER nineties". Yeah, thanks for nothing and fuck you for another beating.

So for ME the good old days didn't exist. NOW I've made my own way, MY way. I'm retired now. I no longer have to explain, justify, mollify, or "play nice". As a crusty stubborn bastard, I'm fully entitled and willing to end anyone who would dare lay hands on me. I don't have to "respect my elders" and put up with their crap - I can tell them to fuck right off now.

But I can see other people pining for the old time for pining or the fjords or something.

See, it used to be a regular blue collar guy could work and with 8 hours a day and OCCASIONAL overtime could feed his family, get a car, buy a house, and some day retire. These days? No way. Life now is set up like a world wide "company store". Set up to get you broke and in debt, and keep you there.

So for other people those were the good old days. For ME, THESE are the good old days.

 

[TheX]

I had an amazing childhood. We didn't have much, but my parents did everything they could to keep us happy.

 

[I Break Things]

I'm only 26, so I can't comment on the "good old days" personally, but... I would have preferred being born in a different decade. I know technology, and my use of it, has wasted a lot of my time. My social skills are pretty poor because all my interactions are online, which probably contributes to my psychiatric disorders to some extent.

I wish I could have had wild teenage years with real friends doing real things. Instead, we were all just on Xbox. Looking back, there are a lot of things I would have done differently.

At least, I had a decent upbringing and morals instilled in me, so I'm thankful for that. I know how to be courteous and polite, hold the door for people, say "please," "thank you," "sir" or "ma'am."

I'm honestly concerned for the future when I look at my peers. I might be fucked up. I might be a fuck up. At least I understand that there's this thing called a brain inside my skull and that it serves a purpose though.

 

[SteveGangi]

I don't worry about the "young and coming" generations. Most are decent good folks. It's just that, as it always was, you never hear from or about them. We only hear about the assholes all the time.

 

[Chango Malo]

same as it ever was.

 

[I Break Things]

same as it ever was.

View attachment 576718

Hey, that's a little bit better than spending 13 hours thumbing through Instagram models...

 

[Soul Tramp]

X, I completely agree with you. Life was simpler. The family influences were FAR stronger than any external influences. There was extreme discipline at home and discipline at school. With no internet and little to no TV, my world view was formed by reading. I won't go on with the endless litany of old-man nostalgic memories.

With my parents in the Philippines.

 

[JTM45]

I believe we had it made back then and I find myself thinking about how awesome life was in the 60s and 70s more and more, technology for life saving procedures is amazing and even to a certain degree meds.

There’s no down time, it’s all go go go , internet before bed, internet when we wake, email and texts all day long! I’ll be 67 in 10 more years but I’m not so sure I’ll make it at the pace I’m living, it’s moving way too fast for me and I don’t want to do any more than I already am, I’m giving 50 to 60 hours a week on the norm and often 70.

I think my life has gotten worse as a result of modern times and I want to go backwards


circa 65 I’m the little fat one

 

[redcoats1976]

awesome pic of midway...remember the movie "castaway"? i would have probably stayed on the island,put a blond wig on the volleyball and called it wilhelmina,and called it a day.

 

[slug]

I think a lot of it has to do with the increasing disconnect for many people with the outdoors and nature.

Look at that great picture of X and his Dad. Outside. Active. Tactile. Scenic. Natural. Healthy. Why wouldn’t you hanker for more of that?

Parents with children need to put down the technology and get outside more, and take their children with them. I mean you can’t blame children for being slaves to social media if they are merely mirroring their parents’ behaviour.

So FFS, put down the screen and head outside! And IMHO, “outside Ed” is now a legitimate learning and development need for most children that it should be prioritised in schools everywhere.

cheers.

Tactility matters.

 

[Fillmore]

Then not now.

Turn off the news.

Use your smartphone as a phone not a life source.

Don't believe anything you hear or read.....think for yourself!

You get one shot at life, don't let anyone ruin it for you.....play your Les Paul enjoy.

 

[DavGrape]

I called a squirrel down the street a dick.
I think I'm part of the problem, not the solution.

 

[I Break Things]

I called a squirrel down the street a dick.
I think I'm part of the problem, not the solution.

Nah. My grandpa hated the things with a passion. He ate too many during The Great Depression.

 

[edro]

I had an amazing childhood. We didn't have much, but my parents did everything they could to keep us happy.

Same here... We didn't have squat....but were happy. I had the best toys in the world... Sticks, trees, woods, creeks, etc... I'd head for the woods even as a little crumbsnatcher....about every day..... Got my ass beat about every day too.... Before I started school, I had to stay with granny as it took both parents working making very little to get by.... Granny would start watching soap operas and I was out the door climbing a pasture gate and headed to the woods.... I learned to entertain myself (shut it, Vic) and by the time I was five, I had tromped all over that area of woods...played in the creek....ate wild plumbs until I was about sick.... All by myself... I'd watch all kinds of birds and critters... I'd come back home looking like a mud truck had run over me, get my ass beat, go take a shower and eat supper.... Next day, same deal... In Scouts, I'd sleep anywhere out on the reservation during summer camp. I didn't much care where... Got my ass in a crack for roaming around the rez at night on little trails and such I knew about...

Today's kids don't want to leave the house to go check the mailbox... Entire world out there they are missing....

 

[redcoats1976]

lived in the country with lots of woods and two reservoirs nearby,had a few friends in the neighborhood.we used to shoot each other with BB guns,fish,swim and hike and pee in the reservoirs.my dad would take my brothers and i fishing during trout season and play baeball and basketball with us after work.life was a lot better for our generation than todays kids.

 

[PeteK]

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind. There is no play in them, for this comes after work. But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things..

That's an oooold ass quote from Henry David Thoreau. Far older than anyone in this thread. Maybe times weren't always so happy in the past

 

[SixAngryStrings]

I get on MLP the most, as far as social media goes, because I like yuckin’ up with you guys.. as far as Instagram or FB.. I think they are both lame, and overused.. with the exception that I have a group of close friends on IG, including one of my brothers, and we get to laugh and share stupid shit with each other, mockingly, but it keeps us connected.

But girls man, girls.. one of my exes was not too bright.. smoked pot ALL day, and lived on Instagram, and she watched Bravo (major red flag), and also tried to run me over with her car when I broke up with her.. (ok, maybe that’s a little TMI). Anywho, my current SO is the smartest person I know, and she is on IG ALL the time as well.. kinda bugs the shit out of me, but, I love her, so..hey..

Personally, Like, whenever I have to sit and wait for awhile, like say, waiting to get a haircut or something.. I look around, and everyone is on their fucking phones.. and I think to myself, jeez, it must really suck to be that damn bored in life.. and I’ll just sit there and think to myself.. ADHD is a helluva drug!

But, on a serious PSA note.. Don’t give your kids or your grandkids smartphones or tablets..
It will make them uncouth, not curious, non creative, and basically, retarded.

 

[MikeyTheCat]

Pretty much all of my old days were good old days. Parents that loved me, friends that stood by each other (and if you didn't you'd hear about it), things to do and for some reason time, lots of time.

As a young adult a Friday would start with a phone call, two guys discussing if there was something to do. Once that was settled you'd pick a place to meet and each make a few more calls. Sometimes everyone showed up, sometimes only a few, sometimes nobody, sometimes just that one guy or girl who you really didn't like but hung out with anyway that day and learned something about them, and sometimes others had been doing the same and wanted to know if we wanted to join them. So you go to your meeting spot, tell others what the other group of friends was doing and see if anyone wanted to go over there. Sometimes it was yes, sometimes no, sometimes a few might peel off and do something else and meet up later. Social circles were big, real world big.

I miss those days.

 

[Tim Fezziwig]

Man will never be happy,ignorance is not bliss OK I loved being a kid in the 70's hot hippie gals muscle cars,sports stars bleeding ,ROCK.....I was a childe even then I saw THE DECLINE..


I will enjoy every minute up until death,I will be ready ,I enjoy being able to post POETRY live,get instant feedback,free rassling vids,ENDLESS gear to buy,I'm actually "happier" now as a 55 year old "washup" then I was when I had the world ahead of me.......bring on THE APOCALYPSE....I enjoy Postmodern life....so silly.....so much delusion...the GRAND FARCE....great time to be a trickster..

 

[MikeyTheCat]

I think about how my dad was retired by my current age, and I'm so glad I get to see him all the time.
My oldest is thinking marriage while him and his girlfriend watch the sunset on the San Diego beach their apartment looks over. About the same age I did.
My youngest is trying to get his career off the ground while trying to discover what that may be. At his age I was still trying to make it as a musician, at least he has a good degree from a good school.

But the days do fly by now, glad I have my beautiful wife to speed along with me to where we're going.