Life How classic was your childhood? - Page 9

**Rain Man** · 09:28 PM

Prison Bitch's fishing thread got me wondering. How classic was your childhood? Take the enclosed poll to find out, and then let us know how many you checked off the list.

Rules: Count only things that you did BEFORE the age of 13.

Disclaimer: I'm a guy so I don't know what girls did before the age of 13. However, I suspect there's significant overlap so hopefully this list is reasonable for people of all chromosomes.

You can summarize your childhood score here:

45 or higher - Your childhood was so American that it was actually Australian.
40 to 44 - Your childhood was classic American and not a pansy soft American. You're an American who eats steak.
35 to 39 - Your childhood was classic American, but probably from one of the coastal states
30 to 34 - Your childhood might be classic American, but more likely it was Canadian.
25 to 29 - Your childhood was more European than American, but one of the tougher central Europe states like Germany or Slovakia. Or maybe Iceland.
20 to 24 - Your childhood was probably English.
15 to 19 - Your childhood was probably French.
10 to 14 - Your childhood was probably Japanese or some other place that's fundamentally different.
9 or lower - Your childhood was probably in one of those bubbles due to an immune system failure.

**Bwana** · 02-15-2017, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tooge

Throwing snowballs at passing cars was always fun. Especially if we got chased.

Yeah we did that too along with throwing tomatoes. We would lob tomatoes across and big ditch at cars on the other side. One day four of us were partaking in that activity and smacked a passing truck. The guy somehow got the jump on us by sneaking down a grass alley. I shit you not, this guy looked like Dan Haggerty (Grizzly Adams) full beard and he was huge. He came running at another buddy of mine and I with kind of a bear hug thing going, growling. I ducked and he got my buddy. He told me to "stop or your friend is going to get his ass kicked." I thought the guy was going to kill us.

He loaded us up into his truck with his girlfriend and asked us where we lived. We ended up going to my folks place and he made us wash his truck. The guy turned out to be a nice guy and he was laughing about it by the time we were done. That was the last I chucked tomatoes at cars.

Explaining to my Mom why we were washing some guys truck in her driveway was also a character building experience.

Rooster · 02-15-2017, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bwana

Yeah we did that too along with throwing tomatoes. We would lob tomatoes across and big ditch at cars on the other side. One day four of us were partaking in that activity and smacked a passing truck. The guy somehow got the jump on us by sneaking down a grass alley. I shit you not, this guy looked like Dan Haggerty (Grizzly Adams) full beard and he was huge. He came running at another buddy of mine and I with kind of a bear hug thing going, growling. I ducked and he got my buddy. He told me to "stop or your friend is going to get his ass kicked." I thought the guy was going to kill us.

He loaded us up into his truck with his girlfriend and asked us were we lived. We ended up going to my folks place and he made us wash his truck. The guy turned out to be a nice guy and he was laughing about it by the time we were done. That was the last I chucked tomatoes at cars.

Explaining to my Mom why we were washing some guys truck in her driveway was also a character building experience.

That's a great story.

**The Franchise** · 02-15-2017, 09:52 AM

40. Barely made it.

**ChiTown** · 02-15-2017, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bwana

Yeah we did that too along with throwing tomatoes. We would lob tomatoes across and big ditch at cars on the other side. One day four of us were partaking in that activity and smacked a passing truck. The guy somehow got the jump on us by sneaking down a grass alley. I shit you not, this guy looked like Dan Haggerty (Grizzly Adams) full beard and he was huge. He came running at another buddy of mine and I with kind of a bear hug thing going, growling. I ducked and he got my buddy. He told me to "stop or your friend is going to get his ass kicked." I thought the guy was going to kill us.

He loaded us up into his truck with his girlfriend and asked us where we lived. We ended up going to my folks place and he made us wash his truck. The guy turned out to be a nice guy and he was laughing about it by the time we were done. That was the last I chucked tomatoes at cars.

Explaining to my Mom why we were washing some guys truck in her driveway was also a character building experience.

LOL at the Dan Haggerty reference - I figured everyone looks like DH in your neck of the woods.

tooge · 02-15-2017, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bwana

Yeah we did that too along with throwing tomatoes. We would lob tomatoes across and big ditch at cars on the other side. One day four of us were partaking in that activity and smacked a passing truck. The guy somehow got the jump on us by sneaking down a grass alley. I shit you not, this guy looked like Dan Haggerty (Grizzly Adams) full beard and he was huge. He came running at another buddy of mine and I with kind of a bear hug thing going, growling. I ducked and he got my buddy. He told me to "stop or your friend is going to get his ass kicked." I thought the guy was going to kill us.

He loaded us up into his truck with his girlfriend and asked us were we lived. We ended up going to my folks place and he made us wash his truck. The guy turned out to be a nice guy and he was laughing about it by the time we were done. That was the last I chucked tomatoes at cars.

Explaining to my Mom why we were washing some guys truck in her driveway was also a character building experience.

thats awesome. We had a similar story with snowballs. Saw a VW bug coming that we knew were a couple high school kids we knew. Nailed the car with snowballs. They were obviously smarter than us, kept going, then turned off the road after we couldn't see them, snuck up on us, caught two of the four of us (not me, I hid under a neighbors deck) and threw them down and rubbed their faces in the wet snow.

tooge · 02-15-2017, 10:01 AM

put baseball cards in their spokes to make engine noise on the bike

strapped a fishing pole to the bike and rode to a local pond to fish

used roller skates with metal wheels

Damn, childhood was awesome. I feel pretty sorry for any kid that didn't do at least 30 things on that first list, and a bunch of the stuff that we've posted since.

**ChiTown** · 02-15-2017, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tooge

put baseball cards in their spokes to make engine noise on the bike

strapped a fishing pole to the bike and rode to a local pond to fish

used roller skates with metal wheels

Damn, childhood was awesome. I feel pretty sorry for any kid that didn't do at least 30 things on that first list, and a bunch of the stuff that we've posted since.

LOL - totally forgot about doing that. Also, did you have a power generated light that went on only when the tires were rolling? Yeah, that's right, kids used to ride their bikes even after the sun went down.....

**Dartgod** · 02-15-2017, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChiTown

LOL - totally forgot about doing that. Also, did you have a power generated light that went on only when the tires were rolling? Yeah, that's right, kids used to ride their bikes even after the sun went down.....

I remember when I got a speedometer for my bike. I was riding it down a hill on our street, trying to see how fast I could get it up to. Totally focused on the speedo, I did not see the parked car that I slammed in to. Bent the shit out of my front tire and ended up with a little road rash was all.

**Bwana** · 02-15-2017, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rooster

That's a great story.

That same buddy and I (lets just call him crazy Mike) would go to the golf club in our neighborhood and dig through the bushes and scrub brush for lost golf balls in the summer to sell to the pro for a little extra money.

For some reason the pro didn't want one of the golf balls we found so Mike kept it. We were walking along the same street with the ditch and along comes a car. For some reason crazy Mike decides to lob the golf ball across the big ditch at the car. As fate would it, it was a cop car. This was back when cop cars had the cherry on top rather than a light bar.

The ball drills the cherry on top and broke it. The cop slams on the breaks, runs to the side of the ditch and told us, you punks stay right there! Much to my horror, crazy Mike starts taunting the cop. "Hey you fat pig, why don't you swim your fat ass across the ditch and come and get us!" then starts walking around like a chicken squawking. I'm thinking oh shit! The cop yells back, "I will catch you and you little mother ****ers are going to jail after I beat the hell out of you!"

We ran into Crazy Mikes house and hid in the basement. There was just enough of a crack in between the curtains where we could see the cop driving by. This cop drove around the neighborhood for over three hours looking for us. I waited until it was dark and snuck back to my house through alleys and back yards.

kepp · 02-15-2017, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bwana

Yeah we did that too along with throwing tomatoes. We would lob tomatoes across and big ditch at cars on the other side. One day four of us were partaking in that activity and smacked a passing truck. The guy somehow got the jump on us by sneaking down a grass alley. I shit you not, this guy looked like Dan Haggerty (Grizzly Adams) full beard and he was huge. He came running at another buddy of mine and I with kind of a bear hug thing going, growling. I ducked and he got my buddy. He told me to "stop or your friend is going to get his ass kicked." I thought the guy was going to kill us.

He loaded us up into his truck with his girlfriend and asked us where we lived. We ended up going to my folks place and he made us wash his truck. The guy turned out to be a nice guy and he was laughing about it by the time we were done. That was the last I chucked tomatoes at cars.

Explaining to my Mom why we were washing some guys truck in her driveway was also a character building experience.

Nice. My best friend and I were in 8th grade when we decided (after school) to throw snowballs at the principal as he drove past in his Blazer. What we didn't see at the time what that his window was about 1/4 rolled down. So my friend launched a snowball at his truck and I swear it flew in slow motion...you know how you see that something is going to happen but there's nothing you can do about it and you watch this slow motion train wreck. The snowball flies directly through the window and smashes his face. Oh. Crap.

My friend eventually fessed up to it (but didn't rat me out) and he had to work in the principal's office for the rest of the year for one hour a day. That actually worked out OK though because he would fake that people had fevers (yes, they let him act as the school nurse basically) and sent home his friends.

**Bwana** · 02-15-2017, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kepp

Nice. My best friend and I were in 8th grade when we decided (after school) to throw snowballs at the principal as he drove past in his Blazer. What we didn't see at the time what that his window was about 1/4 rolled down. So my friend launched a snowball at his truck and I swear it flew in slow motion...you know how you see that something is going to happen but there's nothing you can do about it and you watch this slow motion train wreck. The snowball flies directly through the window and smashes his face. Oh. Crap.

My friend eventually fessed up to it (but didn't rat me out) and he had to work in the principal's office for the rest of the year for one hour a day. That actually worked out OK though because he would fake that people had fevers (yes, they let him act as the school nurse basically) and sent home his friends.

**ChiTown** · 02-15-2017, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dartgod

I remember when I got a speedometer for my bike. I was riding it down a hill on our street, trying to see how fast I could get it up to. Totally focused on the speedo, I did not see the parked car that I slammed in to. Bent the shit out of my front tire and ended up with a little road rash was all.

Sorry, I wouldn't laugh so hard had I not done something similar. Those bike speedometer's were awesome

Frazod · 02-15-2017, 10:31 AM

I was riding shotgun with my best friend and shooting bottle rockets out of the car window one summer day, when we ended up behind a kid neither of us liked. I fired off a bottle rocket at him, and in an amazingly lucky shot it went right up his tail pipe before exploding. As soon as I let it loose, my friend turned onto a side street, so he clearly never saw it coming. We drove back around in a couple of minutes and the guy had pulled over, had his hood up and was on the ground under the car trying to figure out what happened. Holy shit, that was epic.

DJ's left nut · 02-15-2017, 10:39 AM

Damn - 40.

I had to bend the age range to 14 on a couple of them to get that far, though; I figure that's fair as it's right before you start high school. Otherwise more in the 37 range

**Bwana** · 02-15-2017, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frazod

I was riding shotgun with my best friend and shooting bottle rockets out of the car window one summer day, when we ended up behind a kid neither of us liked. I fired off a bottle rocket at him, and in an amazingly lucky shot it went right up his tail pipe before exploding. As soon as I let it loose, my friend turned onto a side street, so he clearly never saw it coming. We drove back around in a couple of minutes and the guy had pulled over, had his hood up and was on the ground under the car trying to figure out what happened. Holy shit, that was epic.

Nice we did the same thing, along with that we made a mobil plexiglas launching pad and shot off Whistling Jupiter's on the fly from a car.

Looking back it's a wonder any of us are still alive. I think I raised every kind of hell there was when I was a kid/teen. No wonder my kids can't get anything past me.

View Poll Results: Which of the following classic childhood things did you do before the age of 13?
Bought an item from a comic book ad	76	45.51%
Built a sand castle or other sand structure on a beach	128	76.65%
Built a snowman	162	97.01%
Camped in your backyard	133	79.64%
Carried a lunch box to school	148	88.62%
Eaten food cooked over a campfire	156	93.41%
Explored an abandoned house or hobo camp with your friends	113	67.66%
Fired a bb gun	150	89.82%
Got into a bottle rocket fight	108	64.67%
Got into a physical fight on a school playground	128	76.65%
Had a bike wreck	153	91.62%
Had a crush on a babysitter	70	41.92%
Had a line in a school play	106	63.47%
Had an entry in a Science Fair	77	46.11%
Had sex with a hot teacher	3	1.80%
Had your own treehouse	68	40.72%
Joined the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts or equivalent	114	68.26%
Jumped off a diving board, high dive, cliff or rope swing into water	146	87.43%
Went to Disneyland/Disneyworld/Epcot	75	44.91%
Collected some type of sports cards or collector cards	129	77.25%
Kissed a person (on the lips) of whatever sex you now like	117	70.06%
Lit sparklers and carried them around	153	91.62%
Looked at pornography	133	79.64%
Mowed a non-relative’s lawn for money (or shoveled a non-relative’s walk for money)	107	64.07%
Operated a lemonade stand	64	38.32%
Owned a science kit of some sort (chemistry, electricity, etc.)	99	59.28%
Owned an optical science tool - telescope or microscope	95	56.89%
Owned Legos, Lincoln Logs, or an erector set	155	92.81%
Participated in a spelling bee	103	61.68%
Played doctor with a person of whatever sex you now like	83	49.70%
Played in a youth sports league	153	91.62%
Ran away from home and stayed away at least four hours	52	31.14%
Rode a dirt bike (as the driver, not passenger)	78	46.71%
Rode a school bus	136	81.44%
Rode your bike to a store to buy stuff	138	82.63%
Served as an altar boy/girl or equivalent in a religious group	50	29.94%
Sold something (candy, cookies, light bulbs, etc.) as a youth fundraiser	138	82.63%
Spent 1+ weeks at a relative’s house without your parents for no particular reason	92	55.09%
Swam in a river or creek	141	84.43%
Took dance lessons	20	11.98%
Took piano lessons	33	19.76%
Took swimming lessons	120	71.86%
Visited a water park	103	61.68%
Walked to/from school on your own	121	72.46%
Went fishing with a grandparent	102	61.08%
Went on a road trip in a station wagon or minivan	113	67.66%
Went to a sleepover (or hosted one)	158	94.61%
Went to an overnight summer camp	107	64.07%
Went to boarding school	5	2.99%
I did none of these things	2	1.20%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 167. You may not vote on this poll

02-14-2017, 09:02 PM
Rain Man NFL's #1 Ermines Fan Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: My house Casino cash: $2828491 VARSITY	How classic was your childhood? Prison Bitch's fishing thread got me wondering. How classic was your childhood? Take the enclosed poll to find out, and then let us know how many you checked off the list. Rules: Count only things that you did BEFORE the age of 13. Disclaimer: I'm a guy so I don't know what girls did before the age of 13. However, I suspect there's significant overlap so hopefully this list is reasonable for people of all chromosomes. You can summarize your childhood score here: 45 or higher - Your childhood was so American that it was actually Australian. 40 to 44 - Your childhood was classic American and not a pansy soft American. You're an American who eats steak. 35 to 39 - Your childhood was classic American, but probably from one of the coastal states 30 to 34 - Your childhood might be classic American, but more likely it was Canadian. 25 to 29 - Your childhood was more European than American, but one of the tougher central Europe states like Germany or Slovakia. Or maybe Iceland. 20 to 24 - Your childhood was probably English. 15 to 19 - Your childhood was probably French. 10 to 14 - Your childhood was probably Japanese or some other place that's fundamentally different. 9 or lower - Your childhood was probably in one of those bubbles due to an immune system failure. Last edited by Rain Man; 02-14-2017 at 09:28 PM..
Posts: 141,828

02-15-2017, 09:52 AM	#123
The Franchise Most Valuable Villain Join Date: Dec 2006 Casino cash: $2635047	40. Barely made it.
Posts: 92,309

02-15-2017, 10:01 AM	#126
tooge MVP Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Liberty, MO Casino cash: $3544112	put baseball cards in their spokes to make engine noise on the bike strapped a fishing pole to the bike and rode to a local pond to fish used roller skates with metal wheels Damn, childhood was awesome. I feel pretty sorry for any kid that didn't do at least 30 things on that first list, and a bunch of the stuff that we've posted since.
Posts: 15,257

02-15-2017, 10:31 AM	#133
Frazod WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS Join Date: Aug 2000 Casino cash: $2635085	I was riding shotgun with my best friend and shooting bottle rockets out of the car window one summer day, when we ended up behind a kid neither of us liked. I fired off a bottle rocket at him, and in an amazingly lucky shot it went right up his tail pipe before exploding. As soon as I let it loose, my friend turned onto a side street, so he clearly never saw it coming. We drove back around in a couple of minutes and the guy had pulled over, had his hood up and was on the ground under the car trying to figure out what happened. Holy shit, that was epic.
Posts: 119,567

02-15-2017, 10:39 AM	#134
DJ's left nut Sauntering Vaguely Downwards Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Columbia, Mo Casino cash: $2519099	Damn - 40. I had to bend the age range to 14 on a couple of them to get that far, though; I figure that's fair as it's right before you start high school. Otherwise more in the 37 range __________________ "If there's a god, he's laughing at us.....and our football team..." "When you look at something through rose colored glasses, all the red flags just look like flags."
Posts: 60,938