Readers & Writers discussion

Remember when parents actually disciplined their children? like when you got in big trouble and your parent got out the belt, paddle or switch. They would say "This is going to hurt them more than you." Bullcrap, in your young mind you were thinking well give me the weapon and you bend over!

I remember, I also remember I got my last one at 14. Mom didn’t like what I was doing and thought I was being disrespectful.

I agree, something needs to change.

Agreed! My partner and I are alwayssss saying remember this? 🤣 we grew up in diff states but similar age - pretty much same memories. Yes Ruth there was the I'll give you something to cry about! Haha. Or the- Don't make me turn this car around! Wait til your dad gets home! None were a real threat.. but the other day in walmart I saw a kid haul off and smack his mom! Something has to change, no respect at all.

Agreed! That kinda reminds me of the montisorri private kids schools... i think they started in the 70s.. my neighbor is so thrilled her oldest got "accepted." I'm sorta glad they are moving! 🤭 What I'm noticing is all these help books and therapy etc for this generation of "anxious " kids. We were taught to be respectful but apparently made our kids anxious! Sheesh!

Ruth wrote: "In today’s world, gentle parenting is the term. Has anyone seen or read this? They believe if a kid falls down, it teaches them to try to not fall. No parent intervention needed. If a tv show is to..."

Definitely right. I worked in a school and a child once said to me
"my mother says I dont have to listen to you, youre not my mother"
No respect, taught that way.

Idiots breed more idiots!

Another example... still in walmart lol. A lady was across the aisle and it was mothers day. Her phone kept ringing. She finally got loud and said: do u really have to keep bugging me every 2 min? Then proceeded to explain how to load the soap into clotheswasher. She just shook her head. I asked- what age? She says 15 yr old girl! Her younger sisters can do it! i jokingly said.. yeah on mothers day too! But i was itching to say my 3 boys could do that age 8 lolol I m afraid for the future. 🤣 garage door!!

Remember when Afternoon Delight meant something different than an afternoon nap. And yes I’m only speaking for myself!

Robert wrote: "Remember when Afternoon Delight meant something different than an afternoon nap. And yes I’m only speaking for myself!"

Oh, those were the days ❤️

Our whole neighborhood sets their clocks by hubbys naptime... 🤦‍♀️. He started in kindergarten age 4 on those little mats... and still takes one daily!

I was relating some of the things said on here to him because we r always saying "remember when..." So I'm thinking of making a printed list of some of them & tacking to the wall!! Cos they make me laugh so hard! Most of them my folks used to say and now its us 🥴 sheesh

Remember when everyone one called gas stations filling stations? They even pumped your gas, checked your oil and cleaned your windshield. My wife who is thirteen years younger always laugh when I call them filling stations!

LOLOL yesss!! And- I remember gas wars! There was one corner in Wichita when i was tiny that had a station on all 4 and they would lower by 1 cent at a time! The lowest i can recall is 25 cents!

Both my older bros and friends all had first jobs checking oil, washing windows, FillItUpSir? LOLOL

Robert wrote: "Remember when parents actually disciplined their children? like when you got in big trouble and your parent got out the belt, paddle or switch. They would say "This is going to hurt them more than ..."

This still happens, rest assured 😂

My mom was very short and didn't have much of a reach to swat us.
She kept a stick next to the fridge that was the bow with a missing string from my brothers bow and arrow set.

When we and my brother were kids and got into a brawl, my mother would send plenty of warnings. When she had enough, we would hear her taking out the stick next to the fridge. It was always stuck among folded paper shopping bags.

She would wield that stick like a viking princess swinging a sword.

Let me tell you that brawl would stop! We would vanish like smoke!

Robert wrote: "Remember when everyone one called gas stations filling stations? They even pumped your gas, checked your oil and cleaned your windshield. My wife who is thirteen years younger always laugh when I c..."

There is a scene in the movie Back to the Future where when Michael Fox goes back in time he sees a 'filling station' do this and looks totally amazed. That brought a lot of laughs at the theatre, especially from those of us who remember those days!

Remember the rabbit test? If you don' here is what it was.
It was a historical method of pregnancy where a woman's urine was injected into a rabbit, and the rabbit's ovaries were later examined to determine if a woman was pregnant.
The test was used in the late 20's through the early 60's. Hence the phrase the "rabbit died." The rabbit always died regardless because it had to be dissected for the test.

Who remembers going outside to pick a switch to get spanked with? Of course, the first time, you don't realize that the smallest one hurts the worst! LOL. And don't get caught putting toilet paper or extra underwear on. Lol Because then comes the 2nd spanking, bare bottom!

If they started that back up for cans & empty water bottles, we wouldn't have to worry about recycling as much any more. Oh, add cardboard boxes to that list!
It would give kids a way to earn money, and hopefully their parents would go with them if they go looking outside of their home. It would also be an income for homeless people.

Sorry, I'll get off my soap box. Lol

I remember in the little town I lived in, going door to door selling newspapers, without my parents, once I got used to what I was supposed to do.

We almost all had bicycles in my little village - sometimes passed down from kid to kid, of course. But who in the world wore a helmet???

Aye Ruth!
Everything was bottled in glass!
Sterilizing glass baby bottles every morning, shampoo, milk, mayo.
Now Im hearing our bloodstreams and oceans are running with micro-plastics.
Good-grief.

Im kinda cringing here... I remember all these things as well- and having this exact conversation with my hubby abt starting the pay per bottle thing etc! But true there is very little glass and tonssss of plastic. Cringing is while I stand here drinking outta my big plastic coffeejug thing everyday 🫠 microplastics yikes!

This is probably the wrong thread but-- of course most of us have switched to sweats (or pjs like Ruth) 😅 but I recently started ordering some great retro t-shirts and a cpl funny book ones also. I wish I knew how to attach pics, you'd all get a good laugh I think!🤭

My youngest daughter didn’t know what 45 records were either, and she’s 48!

Ruth wrote: "Damn. How old are we. I guess I can’t remember my age. Seems like yesterday I was playing records."

Were they 45s or LPs....kids today are spoiled. I had to go to record stores...they have music at their fingertips.

I had a little record player for children's records when I was Bout 6 or 7. They were small but I think they were a 78 speed.

I remember screwing in the little needles into the player arm. They would get dull after a while.

E wrote: "I had a little record player for children's records when I was Bout 6 or 7. They were small but I think they were a 78 speed.

I remember screwing in the little needles into the player arm. They wo..."

Wow kids today have no idea what we went through to listen to music. Yes, had one also. Buying records was an excitement for me. Now kids just download whatever they want. I think kids would be lost if sent back to the 50s or 60s. lol

A couple of years ago someone forwarded the link to a video to my husband's e-mail that showed three young people - late teens probably - trying to figure out how a rotary telephone worked.
It was hysterical! After about two minutes they Almost had it - but then, no.

I saw that Ruth! Hilarious. In the big picture, it really wasn't so long ago.

Kinda scary.

Remember when the whole family gathered for Sunday dinner in the dining room and it was always roast beef. No cellphones, no tv's, no video games (Cellphones & video games were not around). Family just talked and if you didn't eat or back-talked you were sent to your room. Oh, and no dessert until you finished everything on your plate.

I was 😅 about the cellphones.. remembering when there was only 1 phone usually in the kitchen attached to the wall with a long cord. But your mom was always on it anyway. Some ppl had to share a "party" line!
And whenever it was a LONG DISTANCE call.. oh wow.. everyone hushhhh while they yell like it helps them hear.
I've told my kids this and they just roll their eyes.. 🤦‍♀️

Haha. It was truly another time. We sometimes have a laugh and when its long distance we mock our folks yelling: hushhhh everyone it's " long distance!!!" Like its from the moon I guess🤦‍♀️

Ruth wrote: "I was on a party line when I was first married. And it was 1984…but I lived way out in the country. The old lady across the road would listen to all our phone calls. Lol."

My Dad - usually a very patient and mild mannered guy - got so angry about trying to reach my mom during the day (to say he would be late letting home, or ask after one of us who had the measles or something) and not being able to because 2 ladies on our party line were always talking, he spent money he really didn't have and bullied the local phone company into giving us a private line.

Ruth, that’s hilarious about the private phone line…. I don’t even want to tell you about my family’s phone story!

Okay..my parents had a non private phone line. I would’ve been about 20 years old, and I was dating my soon to be daughter’s father who is out of the picture now for quite a while. They lived in upstate New York at the time , and he was a black man.
Everything turned out fine though. My daughter turned out to be a wonderful woman, and my parents moved to Florida!

When we first moved to our present location 25 years ago everyone had land line phones. I had just bought a police scanner so I could listen to police and fire dispatches. By accident on a certain frequency we started picking up all the telephone conversations in a four block area. Boy did we hear some interesting gossip. Even though we felt bad about invading peoples private lives, it was addictive and provided hours of entertainment. Finally everyone got cellular phones that couldn’t pickup the calls. The fun was over and the scanner is gathering dust!

Agnes wrote: "E wrote: "I had a little record player for children's records when I was Bout 6 or 7. They were small but I think they were a 78 speed.

I remember screwing in the little needles into the player ar..."

Records are coming back now but they are like $35.

My wife laughs at me when I say I’m going to light the oven. Growing up we had a gas cook stove and the pilot light never worked so we lit the stove with a match. Old sayings never die!

I saw a video where a dad asked his two kids maybe about ten, ask them what they thought the phone jack in the wall was. No clue, but they had some interesting guesses. I almost dropped my glass, laughing so hard!

Robert, a boyfriend laughed at me when I said I couldn't crank the car.

Speaking of Remember When, I remember when you could disagree with someone's politics without killing them and being applauded for it. The good old days.

Amen!

I remember when you could smoke in High School. Not in class, but they had smoking areas outside.

I taught for 30 years. My daughter is now a teacher. She was in total shock yesterday when my husband and I were telling her how school used to be. We had boys in high school that had to wear wigs because the school had a dress code that didn’t allow boys hair to be past their ears. So they had to get a haircut or pin their hair up and put on a wig. The boys actually chose a wig hahaha. When I started teaching, women teachers had to wear dresses with nylons hose. You weren’t allowed to be bare legged. Neither f those standards would fly in today’s world.

Wigs! 🤣🤣🤣

When I was in HS, ROTC was a popular sign up for a lot of young guys.
They would do military marches out on the football field with plugged rifles.

I loved to watch the synchronized rifle maneuvers, known as the "manual of arms,"
I could not even lift one of those, let alone spin it to my shoulder.
🫡
"That's the fact,Jack!" movie 1981 Stripes.

When I was a little kid, my dad had one of those 50 Ford "turtlebacks" dark olive green. He always changed the oil and did any repairs himself.

Cars had no power steering. I can remember him straining and cursing in his second language while trying to park this big tank in a small space.

Very few women wanted to drive these "tanks" until power steering came to be.

I recently decided to buy an old truck but I wanted AC and power steering. Got an 89 GMC in good shape and I love it.

Remember when you could let your children go trick or treating by themselves without worry. Now children are accompanied by adults or followed by car. Some just have Halloween parties instead of letting their children trick or treat. Pedi files, perverts and gangs have taken away of what use to be a fun holiday for kids. What a pity!

I have to agree with you there. I always loved to dress up & go trick or treating when I was a kid. As for older cars, at least you could fix almost anything yourself. Now everything is so computerized you have to take a car in to get a light fixed for about $400. It's crazy. Talk about getting ripped off.

We used to dress up and run the streets. We trick or treated so far from home! Not an adult in sight!