Blame Merlina, She Brought Up the Past (957 hits)
Category: GeneralRating: 1.77 on 53 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by ahumblefool (View user info) at 2007-04-03 12:45:04 EDT
Merlina wrote an article about video games from yesteryear that really got me thinking. I am not that old, well, old by many of the standards of the uberites here, but really, 38 is not old. I find myself thinking back sometimes to my childhood and remembering the freedom we had to explore our world. We had woods about a block behind us and the kids in the neighborhood would congregate there and play hide and seek, war and other games. Our brains were tuned to the imaginative and we were able to make an entire day out of Jimmy's idea to pretend we were in the Jurassic period and being hunted by T-Rex.
I look back upon my childhood with fond memories of days sitting around the swimming pool, and I mean all day, from open to close. Fishing with friends in the local stream while drinking cold Coca Cola from a glass bottle (by the way, Coca Cola from a bottle is ten times better than in a can), eating sandwiches our moms made and talking about the pretty girl in row three of our fourth grade class. And it was not dirty talk, it was talk about stealing a kiss or getting a much won smile from her, it really was innocent. We were in a time and place that no one could steal from us. Yes there were bullies in school, but the worse you feared was a wedgie or a knock in the mouth after school, and it always seemed me and my buddies could get ourselves out of a jam quickly with talking or when needed running.
It was a time when a kid could pull practical jokes on friends and hell even the bully and know they were relatively safe from harsh retribution.
I have children of my own now, and I wonder what happened to their sense of wonder and imagination. You try and spur it on, get them outside to play. But I find that many families now no longer allow their children to go outside and play. Play dates are scheduled, and I need to go meet the families before my son or daughter can play with their child. When I was a child, we were all over the neighborhood. We were a community. We had lunch at Billy's and dinner at Brians. You heard your mom yell to come home and dusk and you ran on home. And I look at that now and realize that hell, all that is gone. Where did it all go, and I have come to realize over the last ten years that fear has drained the neighborhood. And that fear has been spun by the news.
Oh yes, as parents you receive a daily dose of toxin. Child abduction, child rape, murder, disfigurement, captivity, Amber Alerts, "Top Story, are pedophiles your neighbor." And the sheltering begins in earnest. Now the world is full of people out to get you and your child. We watch and wonder, "Will our child be next, will they go pet the puppy dog at the park and be hauled away." I am not stupid, it has always been around us, but my parents would say, be careful and watch out for your friends. We were a team. We protected each other.
Now our children are afraid of going to school, guns and knifes instead of words and fists. Hell, I know we had kids that carried switch blades, but they were few and far between. And the truth is, it is the same today. Not everyone is carrying, but the news sure wants you to feel that way.
I do not wish to place the blame on the media, they are my kids, and I take full responsibility for them. I push them to spend time just using their imaginations and being creative. I am just saying it was different, it was different for my parents, and I am sure it will be different for my children's children. I just do not know if I like how different it is becoming.
User Reviews
Submitted by particle_man58 (user info) at 2007-04-04 11:11:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Where are we going, and why are we in a hand basket?
Submitted by Susie_Derkins (user info) at 2007-04-04 10:58:48 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Couch cushion forts were awesome! My cousin's basement had an L shaped couch so we each had our own "room" and the centre was the kitchen. Large cardboard boxes made excellent additions for guests. We had a huge weeping willow tree in the yard of our old house in the suburbs of Chicago. That tree was many things: a rocket ship, a detective agency, a castle...anything my sister, friends or I could come up with.
Out in the front yard there was a long droopy evergreen shrub that would touch the ground when covered in snow and made a tunnel. It made a great snow fortress. There was a neighbourhood pool and pond for fishing (skating in the winter). You couldn't get us back in the house easily no matter what season it was.
TV was something that was only on Saturday mornings whilst eating cereal or after school waiting for my parents to come home, we didn't have video games until the Nintendo came out. And even then, the novelty wore off shortly and we were back outside. The willow tree offered more exciting possibilities than the Super Mario Brothers ever could.
Submitted by Flying_buttmonkey (user info) at 2007-04-04 07:26:34 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by thorpe (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:04:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Merlina (user info) at 2007-04-04 03:00:57 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
My mother created Jenny the Fairy who used to leave me notes at the bottom of the old apple tree in our garden back home in Ireland... it was just magical.
I'm glad I was brought up in that era.
--------------------------
I created 'Sparky the Robot' where I told my mum I had built a laboratory downstairs, went off, returned five minutes later wearing a bicycle helmet with pipecleaners stuck on it like I'd seen on Bananas in Pyjamas, and claimed I was 'Sparky the Robot', that Thorpe had built in his laboratory downstairs. She then proceeded to put me to work around the household, which apparently I didn't mind because I thought she was taken in by the whole trick.
You know, when I look back on my childhood it's just basically one big history of being exploited all the time like that.
--------
My parents told me that the first sweets out of every packet were poisoned, and only adults could withstand the toxins. Therefore if I didn't give them the first sweets I would die instantly.
I was about ten before I figured that one out, the bastards.
Submitted by orph (user info) at 2007-04-04 03:54:31 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I'm being staliked on the internet by a -2 bombing faggot paul_anthony (alias lukecart)
Submitted by joedaddy (user info) at 2007-04-04 03:02:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
i am amazed at the amount of cars that are parked around todays high-schools
Submitted by pandora (user info) at 2007-04-04 00:37:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
I liked all the replies, they made me nostalgic.
I think for the most part, children haven't changed that much. I still see a lot of innocence and wonder in them. Unfortunately, many people are brain-washed by the media to fear everything, and they contaminate their children with this pervasive wariness that steals their innocence just as sure as any predator.
You can be careful in your life, and still be joyous and free. There is a balance. Be skeptical of the TV news; they have an agenda, and it is not to keep you informed.
Submitted by lungfish (user info) at 2007-04-04 00:23:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I'm 39, and know what you're saying.
We try as best we can to make our child's life a wonderland...and I think we largely succeed. It's sad to say, but we have her in a private school because we fear the public schools. I never thought I would do that...wishing to avoid the whole elitist thing -- something I've railed against in my own life. Sounds pathetic.
I could be a hypocrite. Of course, she'll have to confront hard reality one day, but now is the time for carefree childhood. She deserves that. All kids deserve it. Fewer and fewer get it. (She's six.)
Or maybe it's just media hype.
Whatever. My back hurts.
Submitted by Franger (user info) at 2007-04-03 23:47:27 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
+1 cause I agree with the overall statement and also +1 for this:
Coca Cola from a bottle is ten times better than in a can
Submitted by Orgasmatron (user info) at 2007-04-03 23:44:27 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Bubba2341 (user info) at 2007-04-03 23:11:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Zebra (user info) at 2007-04-03 12:49:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Very nice.
*****
People, slam the fuck out of this ASSHOLE who is too scared to post under his own name.
---
I'd be interested in seeing what Zebra has to post, if only to return the favor for the critical eye.
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2007-04-03 23:35:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
My childhood ends in less than a year.
Submitted by Bubba2341 (user info) at 2007-04-03 23:11:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Zebra (user info) at 2007-04-03 12:49:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Very nice.
*****
right. very nice. should be at least a +2, shouldn't it, folks?
Isn't Zebra really a fuckstick?? We know he is. He sucks.
Blow me Zeeb. Asshole.
People, slam the fuck out of this ASSHOLE who is too scared to post under his own name.
Zebra, get a life, you CHICKENSHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Submitted by Bubba2341 (user info) at 2007-04-03 21:31:33 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Sacrilicious (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:07:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Thorpe, you just made me laugh out loud.
I didn't even get INTO inside games.
My friends were mostly boys, and one of my best had a 'secret laboratory.' It should have been called a shop, because we'd basically just hammer plywood together and claim to be building things.
Another friend had a typewriter, so we had our own little detective service, too. I was the secretary.
******************
And now you is de sexretary.... :)
Submitted by Bubba2341 (user info) at 2007-04-03 21:21:16 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Yeah, you are definitely old. My oldest child (daughter) will be 39 in June...
I think (hope) life is not that much different than it was 30 years ago, just more
in everyone's face due to the increase in media concentration. The real difference, as you said, is that fights are no longer waged with fists, but with more deadly weapons.
The sense of "wonder and imagination" has been destroyed by the advent of excessive technology. High tech has its own luster, but often stifles the imagination.
Yes, Coke is MUCH better from a bottle.
Fool, you are a great writer, and the first thing of yours I ever read was the one about the dog during the first Ubermas comp. It was fucking awesome. Take care.
Submitted by BLITZKREIG_BOB (user info) at 2007-04-03 21:02:59 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I could go about this forever, but I'll spare you all the boredom.
I like this post.
Submitted by whiskey_jack (user info) at 2007-04-03 17:54:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
38 is totally old. You're almost as old as my dad ya geezer.
Submitted by i_can_get_you_a_toe (user info) at 2007-04-03 17:16:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
was meant to be a +2
Submitted by i_can_get_you_a_toe (user info) at 2007-04-03 17:15:48 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
My country sucks, they are trying to bring in a law that will make it illegal for parents to smack thier own children.
Submitted by ahumblefool (user info) at 2007-04-03 14:42:02 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by CaptainThorns (user info) at 2007-04-03 14:40:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Couldn't agree more with you on this topic. Now I *really* wish we would have been able to meet up for a beer in Seattle a few months back. Hmmmmmm....lemme see what I can get work to send me out there for this summer.
_________________________________
Come on over! Drinks on me.
Submitted by CaptainThorns (user info) at 2007-04-03 14:40:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Couldn't agree more with you on this topic. Now I *really* wish we would have been able to meet up for a beer in Seattle a few months back. Hmmmmmm....lemme see what I can get work to send me out there for this summer.
Submitted by Coleslaw_Murphy (user info) at 2007-04-03 14:18:17 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I Believe That Children Are Our Future... Problems.
Not enough do you find a kid that was raised right. They're either too spoiled (rich careless parents), or too ghetto (poor careless parents).
The kids from Generation Me think they DESERVE to make 200K+/year, for god's sake.
Submitted by ahumblefool (user info) at 2007-04-03 14:00:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Sacrilicious (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:07:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Thorpe, you just made me laugh out loud.
I didn't even get INTO inside games.
My friends were mostly boys, and one of my best had a 'secret laboratory.' It should have been called a shop, because we'd basically just hammer plywood together and claim to be building things.
Another friend had a typewriter, so we had our own little detective service, too. I was the secretary.
_____________________________________
Hilarious!
Submitted by Orgasmatron (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:49:31 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by ahumblefool (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:31:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Orgasmatron (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:12:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Please tell me your kids build couch cushion forts, AHF.
The mansions I'd construct with furniture, blankets and pillows were epic. Absolutely epic.
_________________________
All the damn time. And usually after I clean the house.
---
Then you have raised proper children. Congratulations, you beat the game.
Submitted by Merlina (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:36:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
http://www.ubersite.com/m/73665
This was one of my old posts on the same subject
Submitted by creep_firebombing (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:35:36 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Werd.
Submitted by Merlina (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:33:20 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by thorpe (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:30:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Damn, Ubersite is alive right now. I'm used to leaving comments when they stay on the MRR for two hours, then waking up and finding all these brand new shiny posts and comments. 3:30 AM here is obviously the time to get online.
~~~~
Its 6pm here in London!
Submitted by ahumblefool (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:33:14 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by professorfuckface (user info) at 2007-04-03 12:53:49 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Now our children are afraid of going to school, guns and knifes instead of words and fists.
----
cough up for private schools you cheap cunt
_______________________________
lol
Submitted by ahumblefool (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:31:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Orgasmatron (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:12:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Please tell me your kids build couch cushion forts, AHF.
The mansions I'd construct with furniture, blankets and pillows were epic. Absolutely epic.
_________________________
All the damn time. And usually after I clean the house.
Submitted by thorpe (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:30:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Damn, Ubersite is alive right now. I'm used to leaving comments when they stay on the MRR for two hours, then waking up and finding all these brand new shiny posts and comments. 3:30 AM here is obviously the time to get online.
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:23:38 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Sacrilicious (user info) at 2007-04-03 09:59:30 PDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I feel an eventual nostalgic post coming on.
I grew up in a neighborhood with kids in almost every house..and yeah, we spent hours every week with other families. There were shady elements, too, but my parents were strict without instilling fear in me.
Playing games in the street, hanging down at the crick (yes, CRICK) and watching the boys brag about the crayfish they caught..watching the big kids play football while we girls cheered them on before running off to play Charlie's Angels..good times, good times.
-----
yeah, that was back when there used to be open space to play in.
Nowadays, everything is paved over in order to make way for a Starbucks, a dry-cleaner, and McDonalds - might as well stay inside and play on the Internet :(
Submitted by Orgasmatron (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:21:31 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I remember when we moved to Virginia my dad had come out a few days early to settle the house and get things started at his new job, so when we got up here the house already had some stuff in it. None of the movers had arrived, so the upstairs was completely empty except for one thing - an assembled GI Joe aircraft carrier with a few men on it and a F-14 sitting on the runway.
Keep in mind, at this point in my life this thing was larger than I was. It blew my fucking mind.
Now kids want cell phones and birth control pills.
Submitted by Tracer0351 (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:19:38 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Psssh.
This is child's play (pun intended).
When *I* was a kid it was all about seeing how much weed you could smoke without passing out or how many broads you could bang without developing an open sore somewhere because of it.
Submitted by inion_de_trua (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:16:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
or just actual pads.
it'd be more appropriate being yours wouldn't it?
Submitted by Orgasmatron (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:14:59 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Noonie - I think feety could rock one out with pads of Post-It notes right now, actually.
Submitted by inion_de_trua (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:14:23 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
next bandwagon post should be about couch cushion forts. we should all go home and build them, take pictures and post them for apw.
Submitted by The_Drake (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:13:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
It also has to do a lot with where you live. My family lived on the border of Mexico when we were younger. Down in Laredo, TX. It is a seedy town, at best.
My sister, back in '89 was in the playgound and it was fenced off...but there was a spot towards the end of the playground with a dug-out part where you could get underneath it. She was playing around that area and some border jumper grabbed her leg from under that spot and tried to pull her under the fence. The teachers heard her scream and chased the guy off...I don't know if he was caught or not, but it's still scary to think about what could have happenned.
The town I live in now, however, is all but devoid of crime. They actually report bad checks in the newspaper because this place has nothing happen. Ever. it's a nice feeling coming from a bad place to a place with relitave tranquility.
Submitted by Orgasmatron (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:12:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Please tell me your kids build couch cushion forts, AHF.
The mansions I'd construct with furniture, blankets and pillows were epic. Absolutely epic.
Submitted by Merlina (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:10:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Other memory: getting my first pairs of roller skates (yes, not blades).
Merlina: Yay *whoops*
Mother: Be careful now!
Door slams
Five minutes later Merlinas walks back in the door frowning holding a bleeding elbow with bottom lip sticking out.
Mother: That was quick, honey..
Submitted by inion_de_trua (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:09:01 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by no1hasdis (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:00:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Well written. And sadly true. Although this made me laugh:
Submitted by professorfuckface (user info) at 2007-04-03 12:53:49 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Now our children are afraid of going to school, guns and knifes instead of words and fists.
----
cough up for private schools you cheap cunt
------
true, i only ever got words and fists there.
Submitted by Sacrilicious (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:07:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Thorpe, you just made me laugh out loud.
I didn't even get INTO inside games.
My friends were mostly boys, and one of my best had a 'secret laboratory.' It should have been called a shop, because we'd basically just hammer plywood together and claim to be building things.
Another friend had a typewriter, so we had our own little detective service, too. I was the secretary.
Submitted by inion_de_trua (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:06:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
i feel that the children i haven't even had yet are screwed because of all that crap.
i remember when i was about 8 or 9 me and my cousin walked down to the end of the block to play at the playground that also happened to be at my elementary school. it was broad daylight, a nice saturday or something in a residential area in a pretty large town. while we were still on the sidewalk in front of the school my dad drove by and so we went up to his car, he asked what we were doing and blah blah blah checking up on us and then continued on his way home or whereever. as soon as he pulled away another car pulled up. we didn't approach this one but they did ask us if we knew the guy in the previous car. we told him we did. he actually asked us if we were sure.
i didn't think it was that weird. i thought it was nice at the time that some random stranger was worried about two girls walking around on their own. but now i'm thinking, it was my dad. did this man write down his license plate number? did he follow my dad for a little while after he pulled away from us? would he have if we'd gotten into his car? it makes me wonder how far this stranger would've gone to see we were safe and how much of it would be over reaction.
that was about 15 years ago and i still remember stranger danger from dare. when did teaching your kids about that become not enough? yes some people will literally snatch them off the side of the road but for the most part why isn't teaching your children common sense enough any more? the crime rates can't be that much higher if you adjust for population growth.
i personally want my kids to go out and play. we weren't raised on tv. we went outside and rode our bikes and played kickball and soccer on pavement. i don't want to have playdates for my children. i want to be able to say hey go out in the yard and play and not worry.
it's hard to draw lines now.
Submitted by thorpe (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:04:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Merlina (user info) at 2007-04-04 03:00:57 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
My mother created Jenny the Fairy who used to leave me notes at the bottom of the old apple tree in our garden back home in Ireland... it was just magical.
I'm glad I was brought up in that era.
--------------------------
I created 'Sparky the Robot' where I told my mum I had built a laboratory downstairs, went off, returned five minutes later wearing a bicycle helmet with pipecleaners stuck on it like I'd seen on Bananas in Pyjamas, and claimed I was 'Sparky the Robot', that Thorpe had built in his laboratory downstairs. She then proceeded to put me to work around the household, which apparently I didn't mind because I thought she was taken in by the whole trick.
You know, when I look back on my childhood it's just basically one big history of being exploited all the time like that.
Submitted by Orgasmatron (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:01:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Good to see you posting again, even if it's only in passing.
It's a rare treat.
Submitted by Orgasmatron (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:01:16 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
All the girls I liked in 3rd grade got Baroness valentines, and the ones I was indifferent towards either received no valentine at all or they got Destro. Destro was a sure sign that I didn't think you were keen and didn't want to hold your hand.
That silver-domed chucklehead.
I know people whose kids won't tolerate having a story read to them. They've no patience for books because they don't move and don't come on little silver discs. It breaks my heart every time.
Feed a kid fresh air, some scraped knees and a healthy dose of imagination and they'll go far.
Now I want to build a treehouse.
Submitted by Merlina (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:00:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
My mother created Jenny the Fairy who used to leave me notes at the bottom of the old apple tree in our garden back home in Ireland... it was just magical.
I'm glad I was brought up in that era.
Submitted by no1hasdis (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:00:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Well written. And sadly true. Although this made me laugh:
Submitted by professorfuckface (user info) at 2007-04-03 12:53:49 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Now our children are afraid of going to school, guns and knifes instead of words and fists.
----
cough up for private schools you cheap cunt
Submitted by Hilarity_Ensues (user info) at 2007-04-03 13:00:01 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This is too true. I'm not sure I like how different it's becoming either.
Submitted by Sacrilicious (user info) at 2007-04-03 12:59:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I feel an eventual nostalgic post coming on.
I grew up in a neighborhood with kids in almost every house..and yeah, we spent hours every week with other families. There were shady elements, too, but my parents were strict without instilling fear in me.
Playing games in the street, hanging down at the crick (yes, CRICK) and watching the boys brag about the crayfish they caught..watching the big kids play football while we girls cheered them on before running off to play Charlie's Angels..good times, good times.
Submitted by hot_pocket (user info) at 2007-04-03 12:56:16 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
only 22 but i remember times in what feels like '88 experiencing all the same nostalgia and then growing up in the '90s and seeing it all begin to decay into the ugly skeleton our societies and neighborhoods are become now.
Submitted by professorfuckface (user info) at 2007-04-03 12:53:49 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Now our children are afraid of going to school, guns and knifes instead of words and fists.
----
cough up for private schools you cheap cunt
Submitted by The_Drake (user info) at 2007-04-03 12:53:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Not that old but I can appreciate some of the things you are saying definately.
Submitted by Zebra (user info) at 2007-04-03 12:49:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Very nice.
Submitted by ahumblefool (user info) at 2007-04-03 12:48:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by thorpe (user info) at 2007-04-03 12:47:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
http://www.ubersite.com/u/thorpe/l/sherlockholmesclub
Go read these. I am nostalgic for my carefree childhood already and I am but 19.
________________________________
Have read them in the past, love em.
Submitted by thorpe (user info) at 2007-04-03 12:47:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
http://www.ubersite.com/u/thorpe/l/sherlockholmesclub
Go read these. I am nostalgic for my carefree childhood already and I am but 19.