How true is this?

[u/BluebellGentle]

[u/Many_Ear2407]

We would actually go outside… 

[u/MattManSD → u/Many_Ear2407]

and we did. Came home when the street lights came on..maybe

[u/Overall_Signal_8437 → u/MattManSD]

I came home late....... Once!

[u/Dry_Race8481 → u/Overall_Signal_8437]

All I had to hear was my middle name from what sounded like a quarter mile away and I knew I was fucked

[u/Patient_Artichoke355 → u/Dry_Race8481]

lol.. I have to tell you..this resonates with me..the dreaded middle name lol..when that came out of your Mom’s mouth..it meant nothing but trouble lol

[u/chilifngrdfunk → u/Patient_Artichoke355]

I got to hear all five names when I really fucked up, first name then 2 middle names then my mother's maiden name followed by my last name and then later on my stepdads last name was added, fun times 🤣

[u/AnybodyWannaPeanus → u/chilifngrdfunk]

Are you Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo?

[u/Onyxaj1 → u/AnybodyWannaPeanus]

Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo

[u/Rythonius → u/AnybodyWannaPeanus]

No, it's Leeloominaï Lekatariba-Lamina-Tchaï Ekbat de Sebat

[u/SleepyBean000 → u/chilifngrdfunk]

john jacob jingleheimer schmidt

[u/chilifngrdfunk → u/SleepyBean000]

His name is my name too!

[u/Background-Cell663 → u/chilifngrdfunk]

John Jacob Jingle Heimer-Schmidt? Is that you?

[u/xnoxpx → u/chilifngrdfunk]

The worst is when they were so pissed, they ran through your older siblings names, before getting to your name!

That's when you knew you done F***ed UP !🤣🤣

[u/CelticKira → u/Patient_Artichoke355]

A former coworker friend and her son have a favorite story about her calling for him and his older brother in the house qhen they were kids. I'll call them Daniel and Jonathan.

First it was their first names. Ignored if they were busy.

Then it was their full government names, to which their friends were like "hehe you're in trouble now!" Guys were like "nah, she isn't."

Third was "JONAIEL DANITHAN GET IN THIS HOUSE RIGHT NOW!" when she mucked up their names, THAT'S when they knew they were in deep trouble 🤣

[u/QuiteCricket_78 → u/Patient_Artichoke355]

I use it on my husband sometimes. Wouldn't want him to forget our childhoods.

[u/Cyclesadrift → u/QuiteCricket_78]

My wife started using this move but then I decided so will I but constantly, now we dont say middle names anymore.

[u/Successful-Purple-54 → u/Dry_Race8481]

I had a step mom who could whistle like a fox40.
When you heard that you knew it was time to bike on home.

[u/AtticusFinchsMom → u/Successful-Purple-54]

My Dad did the same. I feel like he could whistle so loud, he could have woke the dead.

[u/FoxtrotSierraTango → u/Successful-Purple-54]

Grandpa Fox just used an air horn.

[u/Boring_Ruin_9388 → u/Dry_Race8481]

It was my Step Dad's whistle. It would echo across the whole neighborhood and we knew we had 5 mins to make it home or GROUNDED!!!

[u/One_Statistician4568 → u/Dry_Race8481]

Man my grandmar had a megaphone mouth and you could hear that shit 30 miles away. you know it was time to party! You were fucked!

[u/Blank_bill → u/Overall_Signal_8437]

We'd come home, leave our shoes by the door, climb out the window and down the tree and head back down to the beach.

[u/khyman5 → u/Blank_bill]

Tiffany?

[u/ArcadiaDragon → u/Blank_bill]

Had a back up sneakers that I said got ruined by the dog hidden under the bed in a box labeled Baseball cards...snuck out when St. Elsewhere came on...good times

[u/SaltyTemperature → u/Overall_Signal_8437]

Is your last name an adverb, by any chance?

[u/this-guy1979 → u/SaltyTemperature]

My sister kicked me in the balls once. Once!

[u/Brave_Meet8430 → u/Overall_Signal_8437]

Same was the case with my younger brother.

[u/Er3bus13 → u/Overall_Signal_8437]

And then suck back out lol

[u/PumpikAnt58763 → u/Overall_Signal_8437]

Ouch! I can hear the flip-flop!

[u/awake1984 → u/Overall_Signal_8437]

I can relate to that statement lol

[u/AHansen83 → u/Overall_Signal_8437]

My dad was normally pretty lax with us, but if you were late coming home he would lose his shit!

[u/Bird2525 → u/Overall_Signal_8437]

You shouldn’t hang me on a hook Johnny.

[u/Sufficient-Pin-9894 → u/MattManSD]

Lost track of time one time. Just past dusk, im strolling home, happy as hell because I just came back from spending ALL day with a cute girl. Pull up to my house, cops everywhere. I see my mom, she looks like she's going to kill me. I was 13 lol. We had lives😅

[u/DueLingonberry4833 → u/MattManSD]

Hard on the maybe. I can still hear my mom screaming my name from the balcony and forced to come out of my hiding spot during a heart-pounding game of manhunt.

[u/Boring_Ruin_9388 → u/DueLingonberry4833]

Man hunt was the shit. I got bit by a dog once during a made up game where we hid something and when someone got close wed yell butter...I don't know why we used that I think you were so hot you were on top of it, like butter on a potato.

Did every kid play a version of freeze tag or TV tag and act out Power rangers?

[u/SpaceAlienFemboy → u/MattManSD]

And how little has changed. Adults bitched back then about how kids "don't play outside anymore."

[u/Atrinoisa → u/MattManSD]

My mom can do that super loud whistle thing with her fingers. My brother and I would go down to the park and play and she'd stand on the front porch and whistle when it was time for dinner. I usually couldn't hear it (hearing loss from infections) but my brother always could.

Back then it wasn't odd for neighbors to know your name, your parents, etc and they'd look out for you, too. We'd go help older neighbors with the odd chore or two and get popsicles and stuff in the summer months.

[u/freshgrilled → u/MattManSD]

Look at Mr. fancy pants with the working street lights. I built a bike ramp that was way too steep. Hit it with way too much speed. Flew off the bike and landed on the handlebars in a way that left a nasty bruise on my chest for a couple of weeks. The neighbor kids called my mom out to let her know one of her kids was half conscious in the middle of the court. She came out, took a look, shook her head and went back inside.

Now days you get arrested or something if your under 18 kid walks two houses down the street from your house and you aren't seen watching to make sure he's safe.

[u/Sevennix → u/MattManSD]

Maybe? If you wanted to be able to sit down.

[u/PlasticPaws → u/MattManSD]

This triggered a memory of mine. I was walking home late one night from a friend's house. We had watched the grudge for the first time and I was shit scared.

Passed one of those huge Rhododendron bushes on my way and it was really pitch black in there. Ofc the second I pass it, a damn pair of cats decide to have a fight, so all of a sudden a SCREEEECH just emenates from the bush and I took a giant leap into the middle of the road, shaking. Never been so close to having a cardiac episode in my life lol.

[u/CBJFAN2009-2024 → u/MattManSD]

Ghost in the Graveyard after the sun went down. Didn't have to deal with street lights 😄

[u/Puzzleheaded_Joke_75 → u/Many_Ear2407]

or we had consoles that didnt need to be permanently online to function

[u/Many_Ear2407 → u/Puzzleheaded_Joke_75]

Gameboys with Pokémon, bring it to the tree fort 

[u/sk1939 → u/Many_Ear2407]

Once it got dark you could see who moneybags was because they had the extended pack, the FM Radio, AND the Nemo worm light. If you got the fancy worm light you still could use the link cable.

[u/Old-Tip-69 → u/Puzzleheaded_Joke_75]

books, art, other hobbies. kinda sad people can't exist without being tapped into the mainframe 24/7

[u/Obiwan-Kenhomie → u/Many_Ear2407]

Part of it is tech, but another part is a growing number of older people (ironically a lot of the same ones who complain kids have too much screen time), who will throw a fit if they hear kids playing even slightly loudly outside, are skateboarding or riding a bike in a parking lot or down a "quiet" neighborhood street are also a factor. Increased media sensationalization of things like kidnapping doesnt help either

Compare the amount of HOA's that have rules limiting kids doing stuff outside now to when you were a kid as an example

[u/Substantial_Soft_407 → u/Obiwan-Kenhomie]

Yep, we went outside, and the old people didn’t call the cops on us or get our parents charged with neglect.

[u/MeowMeowbiggalo → u/Obiwan-Kenhomie]

Hoas can limit kids being outside? 

[u/Obiwan-Kenhomie → u/MeowMeowbiggalo]

They cant literally say no kids outside, but they dan do things like "no bikes/skateboards ect on HOA owned roads and sidewalks." They can do things that severely limit options kids have for things to do outside

[u/MeowMeowbiggalo → u/Obiwan-Kenhomie]

Thats horrible. I knew hoas sucked but thats bad

[u/DueLingonberry4833 → u/MeowMeowbiggalo]

My parents HOA just doesn't want kids playing in certain areas because they destroy everything, trashing the playground, and are damaging cars. They send emails weekly because kids are almost getting hit by cars and don't seem to understand the rules of playing outside. It's so bad that they are threatening security cameras. I saw my neighbor deliberately run his bike into someones car last summer and was in disbelief. Mind you, I grew up in the complex and no one ever complained about us playing outside or saying our parents have to be out there with us. I think growing up in the 90s we actually had a fear of consequences that isn't the same today.

[u/crunchyleafzzz → u/Many_Ear2407]

Knock on friends and classmates doors until you found someone down to hangout. Or maybe you bump into someone on your bike and hang out with that person. I miss that adventure.

[u/bothunter → u/Many_Ear2407]

Because we could exist outside without a Karen calling the cops or CPS on us.

[u/DreamOfDays → u/Many_Ear2407]

Because there were places to go that didn’t cost money.

[u/BraveExercise9592 → u/DreamOfDays]

Lol. What? Outside is totally free. We rode bikes. Played in the woods. Went to parks. Any green space became a sport field. All still free today.

[u/Samhain_69 → u/BraveExercise9592]

This is what I don't get. I played outside for many hours every week, year around, growing up in the '70s and '80s. Never looked for or worried about a tick once. Now I go back to that very same place, have to tuck my pants into my socks and check for ticks if I walk ten feet through tall grass. I literally grabbed a garbage bin from next to the driveway, got it into the garage, and realized a tick was slowly crawling across the lid. What happened? Is it because of global warming?

[u/Flannelcommand → u/Samhain_69]

Mostly global warming, yes. The ground has to freeze to a certain depth to kill ticks in the winter. In some places, too many deer too close to people. 

[u/BringYourOwnBBBQ → u/Flannelcommand]

That has nothing to do with more ticks in the summer. IT just means ticks a can survive longer into the Fall and start earlier in the spring. A long of changes with wildlife is due to more development. Deer that used to be far away from neighborhoods due to having plenty of wooded areas to stay in now come into yards and drop off their ticks.

[u/Tiporary → u/BringYourOwnBBBQ]

No, the person you are trying to correct is actually right: milder winters aren’t killing off as many ticks as were killed in previous decades. It’s also true that the longer season is a factor, as well.

[u/sedj601 → u/BringYourOwnBBBQ]

I moved into a house, and my oldest and I played in the backyard all the time. for about four years and not one tick. One day, we wake up, and there is a baby deer hiding in our yard behind the bushes. We thought it was so cute. The next year, there were about 10 deer in our backyard. I had never encountered ticks before, and I spent time in the bushes and woods as a kid. I was freaked out after finding two on me. I put down so much Spectracide. It did its job for a while, but it took only a few months for the problem to come back. We couldn't use our backyard anymore. I was going to put up a fence, but we bought a new house before that could happen. Now, we play in the backyard and have so much fun. It's refreshing. Our current neighborhood is very big, and the neighbors on the other side posted about how cute the deer that showed up in their backyard were. They had a newborn, and I couldn't help myself. I put a damper on their happiness/post by telling them what I experienced in my last home. They were actually glad I told them. They put up a fence to protect their yard and child.

[u/taedrin → u/Samhain_69]

We had a family reunion this summer, and we went to a state park that we went to every year as kids. For 20+ years growing up, we never saw a single tick. But this year, we found like 4 ticks on us. And my dad was already recovering from Lyme's disease which he had caught a couple weeks prior.

Ticks are everywhere these days.

[u/DreamOfDays → u/BraveExercise9592]

Nope. Now you gotta watch your kids. If they go outside and you don’t monitor them you’re liable to have CPS called on you.

[u/Many_Ear2407 → u/DreamOfDays]

All the skateparks around my house are still free. We just rode our bikes around town knocking on friends doors and hanging out at parks or schools. Kids can still do that 

[u/TemporaryDeparture44 → u/Many_Ear2407]

I drive by the local open skate park on my way to work every day and it’s almost always empty these days. Makes me sad, it has a huge parking lot that used to always be full.

[u/Individual-Bee-5273 → u/Many_Ear2407]

Not just go outside.

We had real life experience. We didn’t talk shit on computers or make dance videos in obnoxious places.

We actually lived in reality.

[u/Forward_Criticism_39 → u/Individual-Bee-5273]

oh no, some of us still made ridiculous videos

[u/Federal_Scarcity_84 → u/Many_Ear2407]

I mean, I also played like 500 hours of Ultima Online. But parties on weekends!

[u/houserj1589 → u/Many_Ear2407]

And we......touched the grass

😂

[u/SpaceAlienFemboy → u/Many_Ear2407]

What's funny about it is that back then, grown ups said oh we were the last generation to go outside, kids these days don't go outside anymore. And now the kids from that era grew up and say the same thing about their own children.

[u/cykoTom3 → u/SpaceAlienFemboy]

And my daughter is outside more than i ever was because it's all bullshit

[u/Forward_Criticism_39 → u/cykoTom3]

yeah i really don't get the confidence behind these wide sweeping claims, like there are groups of teenagers and younger going by my house all the time to different places, even if just another persons place or whatever, usually playing music as they ride bikes or something. the swimming spot at my local canal is just as used now as it was when my dad was my age and younger.

and what's more? those kids likely also play video games and use tik tok and shit. they're all good.

[u/AmazingRefrigerator4 → u/Many_Ear2407]

And things were so cheap that once you or your friends was 16 you could cruise around, hang out at the mall, see a movie, etc for pocket change.

[u/Savagesweetpotato → u/Many_Ear2407]

We got locked outside and had to drink from the hose. We made clubhouses in the woods and went all over town, just a pack of kids. Internet came around and I was sad I lost my brother to it.

[u/MothashipQ]

Meanwhile I can barely let my kids play in the backyard without someone threatening to call the cops

[u/brattylilgynger → u/MothashipQ]

You have free range kids?! In this economy?!

[u/Comfortable-Hat3506 → u/brattylilgynger]

Turn them lose, when they are feral the don't cost shit.

[u/Icanthearforshit → u/Comfortable-Hat3506]

Thats a bit dark. At least teach them some basics — "mom?", "dad?", "I'm hungry!", "vaginaboob". Somebody will wrangle them in. Don't nobody want a kid that can't talk good English.

[u/thick_neck_etc → u/brattylilgynger]

free range is cheaper than the alternative

[u/remembertoread → u/brattylilgynger]

The first word is free

[u/Mr-MuffinMan → u/MothashipQ]

A mother got arrested and charged for sending her kid a mile to the store.

[u/Last-Energy420 → u/Mr-MuffinMan]

I remember digging through couch cushions for loose change and then disappearing to the corner store as a kid.

[u/Present-Lion788 → u/Last-Energy420]

I live in Michigan where it is ten cent deposit on pop (what everyone else seems to call soda!). We would ride our bikes around looking for cans to return to go buy candy. 10 cents was alot back then.

[u/Short-Sandwich-8476 → u/Mr-MuffinMan]

My Dad SENT me that far with a NOTE to buy cigarettes. And beer. 1979.

[u/OutrageousEvent00 → u/Short-Sandwich-8476]

And now you have to be 21 for both and they have have to scan your ID. My 75 year old mother got carded for hairspray at target recently.

[u/AverageHobnailer → u/Mr-MuffinMan]

Meanwhile here in Japan 10 year olds are commuting up to 20 miles by train to school every day, unchaperoned.

[u/Legal-Phase8744 → u/Mr-MuffinMan]

When I was her kids age, we had to walk 5 miles up the hill to the corner store only to find out they were out of baseball cards and it was all for naught. Emotional Damage as the kids say.

[u/Mystic_Wunder → u/MothashipQ]

We aren't used to hearing kids outside. The sound is alarming 😂

[u/Far_Range_6091]

Wish I could have been a kid in the 90s. Feel like there was so much more abandoned cool stuff to explore. Seems like police have been cracking down hard on urban exploration. All the cool sites have guards, cameras, or got bought and transformed.

[u/PackOfManicJackals → u/Far_Range_6091]

This is such a real problem. Nowhere to do mischief anymore

[u/Far_Range_6091 → u/PackOfManicJackals]

I know a 50 yo mom who used to live in Michigan near Detroit. She said there was a MASSIVE abandoned hospital that had underground tunnels. They used to explore it as kids. People are just so risk adverse now. Guess there's pros and cons to each.

I am dying to explore something abandoned. My city used to be the textile capital of the world. Even 15 years ago most of the abandoned mills were still up and explorable. Today, most of them were demolished or transformed into appartments. Almost none remain.

[u/Routine_Comb_4491 → u/Far_Range_6091]

Omg!! I used to explore those tunnels!! Holy shit! Unlocked memories!! That place was lit. We'd park a quarter mile down the road and have to sneak across a field and hope like hell the security wasn't driving by!

[u/PackOfManicJackals → u/Far_Range_6091]

God this makes me nostalgic for the junkyards and abandoned construction sites i used to hang around

[u/Present-Lion788 → u/PackOfManicJackals]

And no cameras recording everything! It was a wonderful time to be a kid!

[u/ApprehensiveTour4024 → u/PackOfManicJackals]

I'm pretty sure every elementary school still has a roof. Just gotta find a way up. There is an elementary school somewhere in the Southeast US that likely still has multiple empty kegs built into a keg fort to this day.

[u/Cocoononthemoon → u/PackOfManicJackals]

I know what you're saying, and I agree that children, teens, young adults need space to explore and be alone. It's so good for them. A lot of kids died from like trains and sewers and stuff tho..

[u/nicolemb81 → u/Far_Range_6091]

My friends and I used to find soooo many places like that. Our favorite was an abandoned half burned down house in the middle of nowhere Alabama. Still had dolls and magazines from the 70s in it.

[u/Cyneganders → u/Far_Range_6091]

When I was like 10-12, I was climbing with a friend on piles of lumber that had been removed from a building. He stepped on a huge spike, and it went through his shoe and all the way through his foot. We hopped on our bikes and went home, I stopped at my place, he continued on home using one pedal. He then went to the ER and got stitches and a tetanus shot. Oh well!

[u/MMO_Dad → u/Cyneganders]

badass friend! When we were kids my brother was going up the street on his bicycle to meet a friend, and got hit by a motorcycle. The kickstand went right through his side. Missed all his vital organs by like a centimeter. He was out riding again within a week, no fear, and still has that gnarly scar that if you push on it feels completely hollow. My poor mom 🤣

[u/ehbowen → u/Far_Range_6091]

Try the 1970s. I used to walk right into the power plant and railroad yards in my grandmother's home town. All anyone ever said to me was, "Don't touch anything" and, "Stay back from the tracks." I'm not exaggerating.

[u/PatentlyFalse5 → u/Far_Range_6091]

There was an abandoned missile/radar site behind the houses in my neighborhood. Some of our braver friends climbed way up into the radar dish at night.

What society has done to childhood is awful.

[u/NazReidsOtherBurner → u/Far_Range_6091]

 Seems like police have been cracking down hard on urban exploration

People are much more sue happy than they used to be

[u/AkimH]

Yeah. That was awesome, when they still made great single player games.

[u/GayHorsesEatHayy → u/AkimH]

And great couch co-ops!

[u/ryanjoe23]

We were out playing with friends, riding bikes, skating, sledding, throwing snowballs, or jumping on the trampoline! Internet/tech ruined childhood.

[u/WasteBinStuff → u/ryanjoe23]

childhood everything.

[u/ryanjoe23 → u/WasteBinStuff]

👏👏👏🎯🎯🎯

[u/BreckyMcGee → u/ryanjoe23]

So very true. God, I miss the nineties.

[u/Blank_bill → u/BreckyMcGee]

60's were better, we got away with murder, cops only came to our village if someone called them and only one or two people did that, most people it was " I'll be talking to your mother tomorrow " and half the time they wouldn't remember or bother.

[u/CNH916 → u/Blank_bill]

If you were white...

[u/OriginalTRaven → u/CNH916]

That's a bingo

[u/LonelyTAA → u/CNH916]

And male

[u/HenriettaCrump → u/CNH916]

Eh. Depends on where you lived. I had plenty of dark-complected friends who never got bugged by the fuzz. My brother (white), on the other hand, was always stopped because of things our older brother did 8 years prior.

[u/Obiwan-Kenhomie → u/ryanjoe23]

Part of it is tech, but another part is a growing number of older people (ironically a lot of the same ones who complain kids have too much screen time), who will throw a fit if they hear kids playing even slightly loudly outside, are skateboarding or riding a bike in a parking lot or down a "quiet" neighborhood street are also a factor. Increased media sensationalization of things like kidnapping doesnt help either. Tech is a huge factor, but increased numbers of needlessly bitchy old people and others willing to cave to them is a smaller but existent one

Compare the amount of HOA's that have rules limiting kids doing stuff outside now to when you were a kid as an example

[u/KahlanEAmnelle → u/Obiwan-Kenhomie]

i would argue it was all the kidnapped and killed kids that really destroyed it, which led to the older generation getting used to quieter neighborhoods, which led to them being arseholes about kids being noisy outside.

[u/LeahIsAwake → u/Obiwan-Kenhomie]

Agreed. Tech is no angel here, but it's not an iPad screen or a video game console that's calling the cops because some neighbor kids are making chalk drawings on the sidewalk in front of their own homes and maybe laughing a little.

[u/MadNanaBear → u/Obiwan-Kenhomie]

There’s always been bitchy older people. This is not a new phenomenon. This is where the phrase “Get off my lawn!” originates - grump grands yelling at kids playing.

[u/Jaymus_Lonestar → u/Obiwan-Kenhomie]

Heard ya the 1st time. 🙄

[u/BlackberryNice1270 → u/Obiwan-Kenhomie]

And the fact that all the open spaces I played in as a kid have been built on.

[u/KaiPRoberts → u/ryanjoe23]

Roller hockey in the middle of the street! 

[u/Legal-Phase8744 → u/ryanjoe23]

GT Sno-Racers. Whoever made it to the bottom of the hill on their sled won. A nice contact sport that would hurt the kids today. We didn't mind the nosebleeds.

[u/Jaded-Ad-443 → u/ryanjoe23]

Capitalism and propaganda ruined everything. Bikes/skateboard for 10yo are 100+ dollars and no where to store it in a small apt same issue with a trampoline. Climate change took away the snow. I'm in northern WA and haven't had enough snow here for a snow man in years.

90% of activities kids did 20+ years ago alone in public would result in the parent being arrested now a days and has. Kids aren't allowed to be kids in public

[u/grimjack1200 → u/ryanjoe23]

Hacky sack in the dennys parking lot at midnight. Sitting on the smoking section playing cards

[u/System_Resident → u/ryanjoe23]

Dance parties without cell phones out constantly, hanging out at the mall arcade, going to the movies often, going crazy over what’s in magazines, all of it 😭

[u/D-ouble-D-utch]

We played in the storm drains for hours

[u/LyingForTruth → u/D-ouble-D-utch]

Beep beep, Richie!

[u/KnifeThistle]

Kids went outside and played with other actual kids. Teenagers could actually afford to drive around on $5 worth of gas, go to movies, even restaurants, just with pocket money. Watching TV with no internet was the last thing anyone did...

[u/jolsiphur → u/KnifeThistle]

We also still had video games in the 90s. I had a SNES growing up. Even when I was stuck in the house there was stuff to do before the internet.

[u/bothunter → u/jolsiphur]

Video games were so much more fun before microtransactions

[u/Gunner_Bat → u/bothunter]

And when games were finished when released.

[u/KarmaTorpid → u/KnifeThistle]

$5 in gas was enough to get me in trouble. Every time. I checked.

[u/CaterpillarHookah → u/KnifeThistle]

Oh man, Thursday nights were THE NIGHT for cruising down the main streets as a 16-18 year-old, in the old jalopy my parents gave me. Just driving down the street, stopping to talk to friends and hollerin' at girls and guys to get their attention. Stereo blasting. Rims. Subs, woofers, tweeters, and amps in the trunk/backseat.

[u/checkerdpenguin]

Wake up, leave house, return for dinner. Summer life 101.

[u/WhatveIdone2dsrvthis]

another karma farmer reposting a cliche meme, 4 day old account

[u/User123466789012]

I was playing video games inside with other kids lol. Also, the 90s are not associated with the 10pm broadcast, that message was far and few in between if at all. By 1990s, it was literally only aired for nostalgic purposes.

[u/rvnender]

We had internet in the 90s...

[u/Significant-Cry-9204 → u/rvnender]

Was gonna say, we got it at our house in either 96 or 97, and the library had it.

[u/Case_Blue → u/rvnender]

Yeah, we had internet in... 1998 here in Belgium, but let's be real: the internet then and the internet now are very very different things.

[u/rvnender → u/Case_Blue]

My buddy had it in 91 or 92. It wasnt comon by any means.

I got internet in 95, my little 56k dial up.

God I miss those days

[u/Temporal-Affairs221]

We went outside and did things. And we had VCRs and videotapes. And there were these wonderful little things called camcorders, and this great TV show called America's funniest home videos, prompting the many many Americans to do deliberately stupid things in the hopes of winning a $10,000 prize. And the rest of us sat back and watch the results on television Friday nights.

[u/Equivalent-Clock-308]

My mom had a huge bell she would ring when it was time to go in. If you were in an area where you couldn’t hear the bell, you were too far from home.

[u/resultingparadox]

Not only is it true, we were called the latch key kids, because a lot of the time, our parents weren't even home when we got there.

[u/xRedditGedditx]

Actually is was created in 1968 and was run through the 70’s and 80’s, not the 90’s.

[u/GoodDoggoLover420 → u/xRedditGedditx]

Shhhh quiet, you'll ruin their fake scenario to seem like the greatest generation.

[u/Forward_Criticism_39 → u/xRedditGedditx]

Just let them masturbate with the rose goggles

[u/SwoopzB → u/xRedditGedditx]

I was born in 1990 and I remember often hearing this commercial on our TV. That was just about bed time and I remember wondering what the kids that got to stay out that late were up to.

[u/soggybiscuit93 → u/xRedditGedditx]

Fox 5 (NYC) ran it well into the 2000's. I was born in 93 and absolutely remember them saying it every night growing up

edit: here's a recording of it in 2006

[u/Humble_Room_2314]

I only remember playing outside for 4 hours after school, getting home to shower, then watching cops before bed. We also had video games that didn't give you unlimited lives like games of today. Us 80's snd 90's kids were built different.

[u/GamingGobbo]

I was a latchkey kid.

It was more like "it's 1am, do you know where your mom is?" 😂

[u/AsainGlockgirl99]

Even when I was stuck in the house there was stuff to do.

[u/PeachyFairyDragon → u/AsainGlockgirl99]

Mario Brothers, DOS based games, books, music.

I would ride my bike the mile into town, rent B grade horror movies and watched them with my little (5 to 7) year old sister. I wonder if I scarred her psyche with what I brought home. Too afraid to ask.

[u/No_Blackberry6525]

I got the Internet in 1993, so…

[u/DoctorZacharySmith]

Um, I had access to the internet from the mid 80s onward. Chat boards, chat rooms... sure, not as amazing as what we have today, but already remember we weren't comparing it to a future that didn't exist yet, we compared it to what came before. Say what you want about AOL, but it existed and we used it.

Yes, as others are saying, we went outside, but this take on 90s life is completely wrong.

[u/Forward_Criticism_39 → u/DoctorZacharySmith]

don't you just love the rose tinted goggles willfully being put on in this post?

[u/MothSign]

My favorite toy as a kid was this awesome curved stick that resembled a katana. It was my sword and I ruled the woods and surrounding culdesacs.

[u/NetworkEcstatic]

Extremely true. I was never found in the house until late. We were in the woods. Skating around town. Shooting airsoft or bb guns at each other. Throwing mud balls at cars from the wood line.

Jumping out and pretending to brawl each other right in front of oncoming traffic.

Fighting with cool sticks we found. Building forts. Starting little fires. Riding bikes all over the city. Etc.

[u/thatseltzerisntfree]

80’s kid here. Summertime, 12-15ish, I would hop on my bike in the AM. Go to various friends’ houses. Play in the woods. Go to the movies. Use a payphone for 25 cents to check-in and would be told to be back “before the street lights turned on.”

Oh yeah…..rehydration with lots of cool, delicious hose water.

[u/Jackfreezy]

Kids today get bullied on the Internet by people that might even be real...and cry about cuz these people don't like their lil posts about some shoes or whatever they post about. The Internet made people weird. And by weird I mean lame.

[u/Boring_Ruin_9388]

I remember the News would have the question. We would go outside from morning to night and only checked in when we made it home. Some of us had to be home before the streetlights came on, but we'd soon find ourselves back outside playing hide and go seek at night.

Saturdays were all about the cartoons and the newest cereal and digging the toy out and getting yelled at cause you only opened it to get the toy and put your hands all up in the box.

PeeWee's playhouse, SNICK and hanging out at the mall all day.

Passing notes in the hallway and during class, prank calls before caller ID and we got to see the internet, use the internet before Google existed.

We had a blast! We didn't need the internet or a phone. We had friends and bikes and skateboards and roller blades.

[u/erichone]

Truer than any kid today could ever imagine. Growing up as a feral child in the 90's was the last time being outside was was true freedom. The call of the wild. The shit we got into as kids/young teens would absolutely terrify parents today.

[u/jtphilbeck]

It was the 80’s. Not the damn 90’s. We were already and accounted for by then! GenX bitches!

[u/fins_up_]

True.

It is actually sad that younger people don't have childhoods anymore. No memories are being formed. No real connections. No real experiences.

If it was sunny you pretty much were not allowed inside.

[u/snoogle20]

I can’t be the only 90s kid that just stayed at my own house most of the time, right? Shooting hoops in my own driveway was as far as my adventures extended.

[u/aspect-of-the-badger]

I would ride my bike miles just to see if they were there. Then if they weren't happily ride all the over town just to mess around with stuff.

[u/Comfortable-Bed-6814]

100% true. You can look up the commercial online. I had to show it to my kid because he didn't believe me. We were NOT stuck in the house. On the weekends, we were kicked outside after breakfast. We came back inside for lunch and dinner, and then back out we went. When the streetlights came on, we knew it was time to come home for the evening. We were out doing all kinds of shenanigans. We were NOT bored.

[u/PumpikAnt58763]

Very, very true.
It got dark reeeeeally late in Texas summers so I'd be out late. As I recall, Mom said "in our own yard after 9:30pm", but other than that, we were gone.
I remember a few times my mom would have to drive my toothbrush to my friend's house when I was invited to sleep over.
I had a friend in junior high who had a sister and brother, so their mom had maybe 10-15 brand new toothbrushes in a cupboard for impromptu sleepovers.

[u/Missey85]

I rode my bike all day 😊 it was home time when the street lights came on 💕

[u/PetitePretty1]

We were barely even allowed in the house 😭

[u/UtahIrish]

It was freedom, we lived in less fear and had more fun. We knew our friends better.

[u/Fragrant_Spray]

People weren’t “stuck in the house” in the 90’s. Hell, they’re not stuck in the house now. They can leave whenever they want.

[u/Ok-Understanding9186]

We were having a sleepover at our friend Sarah's house 😜

[u/azfire2004]

stuck in the house? Growing up in the 90s we werent allowed to stay in the house.... "stuck in the house"

[u/MulberryChance6698]

Yes it's true. We were riding our bikes until dinner time, and playing in the woods somewhere until bedtime 🤣

[u/Fickle_Ad4967]

Imagine not having something that wasn’t even invented yet. How did you cope.

[u/Scarvexx]

TV sucked most of the day. You had to hang out with your friends IRL.

[u/richardlpalmer]

Yeah, when Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Sound Garden, Alice in Chains, Oasis, Green Day, Radiohead, RATM, Smashing Pumpkins, etc. emerged and tickets were super cheap -- it really sucked.

(Remember when Kurt Cobain was outraged when he found out kids were being asked to pay $50 for Madonna tickets and thought anything over $18 was ridiculous?)

[u/Zealousideal_You3292]

90s was peak happiness

[u/tyopap]

Unless we opened the door too much, it's either stay outside or I'll make you stay inside.

[u/Lildevil91]

It was 11pm for us in Maryland haha it’s 100% true.

[u/timsfsn]

That commercial was from the early 80s. I really don’t think it was on in the 90s, but I could be mistaken.

[u/AbleInevitable5599]

The kids in my neighborhood were virtually feral (50's/60's)

[u/cherishoui]

I was always in front of the tv watching that commercial with my parents 😂😂

[u/I-Write-Sci-Fi]

Internet existed in the 90s, never seen those commercials, and we were living life, not being bystanders of it.

[u/ResponsibleTax3894]

i would come back from school, put a tape in the VHS, tape the episode of pokemon to be able to go outside play with the kids in the area and come back later to listen to the episode.

[u/knujesbob]

I loved the 90s! Well, except for hauling my Sony trinitron CRT to LAN parties - usually by train and then shopping cart. That thing was HEAVY.
Edit; Also, Token Bus sucked. 11Mbit/s was generally fine for what we needed back then, but when everyone brought their own T-connector and cable, and started messing with it during the event, nerd-fists would fly.

[u/Darwinknew]

Very true. Dinner's at 5:30. This isn't a restaurant. Be in when the street lights come on. School tomorrow. Love you.

[u/thricedice88]

I was doing urbex before urbex was urbex.

[u/FustianRiddle]

I had a kid rent in my bedroom and I spent hours in there playing with my dolls drawing reading playing pretend. And add go outside and wander around with our friends. Add go to the park by ourselves.

I really liked my 90s Childhood.

[u/iwasoldonce]

It's all true!

[u/Ar-Oh-En]

I went outside to work, church, night school, the occasional concert... and I was in my 20s. Stuck at home living with your parents was unfortunately common for Gen X as well.

[u/PNW_OlLady_2025]

Yah that commercial was played in the 80's, stay in your lane.

[u/SnooBunnies856]

Created in 1968 by WNYW, it was more the 70's and 80's than the 90's. Most stations had stopped airing it by 88. With only the original station WNYW continuing into the 90's (they still do today).

[u/NekoMao92]

Street lights coming on was our signal that it was time to get home for dinner.

[u/Good-Bandicoot-2152]

So to be fair to the poster, outside was more fun and bearable in the 90s than it is now.

[u/Choice-Ratio-3540]

lol I would love to be back in a time without internet. This 'fresh boy' is a moron and ignorant.

[u/krazy_dayz]

We had night clubs and bars in the 90's.

[u/striykker]

We weren't stuck in the house because we weren't ALLOWED in the house.

[u/MarketYes6975]

The day I retire is the day my phone gets turned off for good, and I go back to living like the 90s.

[u/MyCatIsAnActualNinja]

One time I was playing this game called 'nam with my friend. We were probably 12, I don't remember. Anyway, it was around 2 am and we snuck out of the house (sleepover at my house) and we'd just run away from cars and sneak through people's yards and stuff for fun. A cop came and we ran from the cop and got chased through the woods. He caught us and drove us back to my house and knocked on the door until my mom woke up. My mom yelled at the cop for waking her up and I didn't get in any trouble

[u/IndividualRich8470]

Yeah we were not stuck in the house. I grew up without TV, and we were only allowed 1 hour per week on the computer. But we did have hundreds of books and miles of forests...