Best/Worst Times as a Kid

#126
#126
volfanbill said:
Fortunately my dad kicked his alcoholism a lot easier than most it seems. Sorry you had to watch yours struggle.

But the 90s were legendary. Still rode our bikes all over the place till the street lights came on, and got to enjoy video games and technology. Plus all that amazing 90s music
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Hell, I'm no kid anymore, but watching my dad struggle with it is heartbreaking.
 
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#128
#128
Best: Receiving a basset hound puppy (Sam) for my eleventh birthday.

Worst: Three years later, a teenaged girl, late to school and putting on her makeup while driving, lost control of the family station wagon and ran over Sam in a neighbor’s yard. I removed the chain collar from around his neck and wore it for a decade. My mother had his body cremated while I was at school.
 
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#130
#130
Spending a week just puttering around Norris Lake on a houseboat. Droped anchor in a different cove every night. Hanging that kerosene lantern on the back and watching the fish circle in the lit water. Getting home after a week on the water, laying in bed still feeling the rocking motion of the boat.

Best: learned how to swim.
Worst: Getting thrown off the top that house boat in order to learn how to swim😄.
 
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#131
#131
Okay. So this song came on the radio today. Dumbass song. Backtrack. I'm older, in Atlanta, still a kid. I'm driving the dude home after a one night stand. He said: This is our song. I thought: Are you deaf, dumb and/or blind?

Best: I dropped him off.
Worst: Got stuck in one of those reversible lanes. It wasn't reversible.
 
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#133
#133
Mom was the troop leader for Girl Scouts. We went to camp at Sky Wa Mo for overnights. We did our chores (for badges) then ran ape sh*t through the woods. Except when Mom was around.

Best: Put all the food we had into foil packets and cooked it over an open fire. Yum.
Worst: Trying to decipher images left on the canvas tents. Janice said one looked like a penis. Trust her to know.
 
#134
#134
There was a ravine behind our elementary school. The bad kids used to sneak back there to smoke cigarettes. I knew this because I was a good kid. Mom picked me up to go somewhere. Had to be somewhere because I always walked home from school. I had the hiccups. Bad. Mom looked me square in the eye and said: I know where you've been; I know what you've done. Marilyn Nations saw you.

Best: Scared the hiccups out of me.
Worst: Never figured out who Marilyn Nations was.
 
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#135
#135
Lake Tchukolaho: I was maybe 10. Sky was clear, sun was hot, and the lake probably wasn't much cooler. But, there was a sliding board. A big thing. You just had to wait for someone to go first to slick it up or else your legs would stick to the metal. Andy went down, belly first, and screaming like a banshee. His mouth was open. When he hit the end of the slide, he busted out a tooth.

Best: It was a really pretty day.
Worst: There was no EMS in Gordon, Georgia then.
 
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#136
#136
Juanita said:
Okay. So this song came on the radio today. Dumbass song. Backtrack. I'm older, in Atlanta, still a kid. I'm driving the dude home after a one night stand. He said: This is our song. I thought: Are you deaf, dumb and/or blind?

Best: I dropped him off.
Worst: Got stuck in one of those reversible lanes. It wasn't reversible.
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So nice of you to give him a ride after
 
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#138
#138
Y'all need to play this game. It is very cathartic. Doesn't have to be "kid" story. We are all kids.

So, no best or worse. Because I wasn't there. My ex went deer hunting with my Uncle CL and others. They got 2 bucks and were doing their sanctimonious celebration. My ex started swatting his legs. Lo and behold, he was standing atop a fire ant hill. CL said: That boy shucked his pants faster than I could whistle "Dixie." Fire ant bites are horrible.
 
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#140
#140
I was lucky to grow up in Oak Ridge in the mid-fifties to 70's. It was like nowhere else on earth, everything was new, schools, playgrounds, stores, streets, sidewalks everywhere and the largest swimming pool I have seen to date. Additionally, no one was from Oak Ridge except us kids, everyone was from somewhere else, a huge melting pot of people, no existing groups or clicks, everyone was welcome everywhere. In the summer I left the house at 9am and returned at 5 for dinner, running the woods or at the pool all day. One thing that sticks in my mind was this balding man coming to the pool with a huge bag of change once per month. He would sling the coins way out in the deep end and it was chaos for the next 30 minutes. Then the long line at the pool store getting snacks with our catch. Good times!
 
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#141
#141
VOLtaism said:
I was lucky to grow up in Oak Ridge in the mid-fifties to 70's. It was like nowhere else on earth, everything was new, schools, playgrounds, stores, streets, sidewalks everywhere and the largest swimming pool I have seen to date. Additionally, no one was from Oak Ridge except us kids, everyone was from somewhere else, a huge melting pot of people, no existing groups or clicks, everyone was welcome everywhere. In the summer I left the house at 9am and returned at 5 for dinner, running the woods or at the pool all day. One thing that sticks in my mind was this balding man coming to the pool with a huge bag of change once per month. He would sling the coins way out in the deep end and it was chaos for the next 30 minutes. Then the long line at the pool store getting snacks with our catch. Good times!
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Yep, took swimming lessons at the OR pool. Would go and stay all day as a kid. Dad/Y-12
 
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#142
#142
The best thing I liked about going swimming was the orange sherbet push ups. Had to do because they never had banana popsicles. It was always so hot the ice cream would melt down your chest before you could eat it all. Then, you jumped back in.
 
#143
#143
We usually camped at Apache Campground in Myrtle Beach. Mom would pack a tub of spiced gum drops for my brother and me. Because she recycled everything (before it was cool,) she put the gum drops in a tub labeled "grits." To this day, I still call gum drops "grits."
 
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#144
#144
Juanita said:
We usually camped at Apache Campground in Myrtle Beach. Mom would pack a tub of spiced gum drops for my brother and me. Because she recycled everything (before it was cool,) she put the gum drops in a tub labeled "grits." To this day, I still call gum drops "grits."
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We frequented the Lakewood in Myrtle Beach growing up - good times!
 
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#145
#145
Tybee Island in the early 60s. There was Chu’s, a general store near the beach. They sold everything from penny candy to toilet paper to clothing. They rented bicycles and operated a bumper car ride. If you needed gas, you went to the Chu’s on the main drag, but if you needed a can of corn or green beans, you could walk down the beach to the Chu’s near the sea wall. Chu’s is still there, though it’s a clothing store, now.
 
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#146
#146
VOLtaism said:
I was lucky to grow up in Oak Ridge in the mid-fifties to 70's. It was like nowhere else on earth, everything was new, schools, playgrounds, stores, streets, sidewalks everywhere and the largest swimming pool I have seen to date. Additionally, no one was from Oak Ridge except us kids, everyone was from somewhere else, a huge melting pot of people, no existing groups or clicks, everyone was welcome everywhere. In the summer I left the house at 9am and returned at 5 for dinner, running the woods or at the pool all day. One thing that sticks in my mind was this balding man coming to the pool with a huge bag of change once per month. He would sling the coins way out in the deep end and it was chaos for the next 30 minutes. Then the long line at the pool store getting snacks with our catch. Good times!
Click to expand...
Go aeiou said:
Yep, took swimming lessons at the OR pool. Would go and stay all day as a kid. Dad/Y-12
Click to expand...
Wasn't the OR outdoor pool billed as Olympic size?
 
#148
#148
Also, the campground would spray for mosquitoes. I remember sitting at the picnic table when the truck came by. The chemicals are probably why I am demented today.
 
#149
#149
Tin Man said:
Tybee Island in the early 60s. There was Chu’s, a general store near the beach. They sold everything from penny candy to toilet paper to clothing. They rented bicycles and operated a bumper car ride. If you needed gas, you went to the Chu’s on the main drag, but if you needed a can of corn or green beans, you could walk down the beach to the Chu’s near the sea wall. Chu’s is still there, though it’s a clothing store, now.
Click to expand...

Loved bumper cars and putt-putt.
 
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#150
#150
The carnival used to come to Kingsport every summer. Maybe it still does. I was about 8 so my brother was 6. We got on that swing ride that slings you around at a force that defies gravity. Wow. The operator thought he was being nice and gave us extra time.

Best: Mom was swatting the operator, screaming: Stop the ride!
Worst: My brother sprayed several folks with puke. Actually, that may have been the best.
 
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