THE GOOD OL' DAYS

vic · 2012-03-19T11:02:56+00:00

by unknown author... WE WAS BRUNG UP PROPER ! "And we never had a whole Mars bar until 1993"!!! CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL MY FRIENDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE 1930's 1940's, 50's, 60's and early 70's ! ? First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos... They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, raw egg products, loads of bacon and processed meat, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer. Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets or shoes, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking. As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. Take away food was limited to fish and chips, no pizza shops, McDonalds , KFC, Subway or Nandos... Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn't open on a Sunday, somehow we didn't starve to death! We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this. We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner store and buy Toffees, Gobstoppers, Bubble Gum and some bangers to blow up frogs with. We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soft drinks with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because........ WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O..K. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of old prams and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes We built tree houses and dens and played in river beds with matchbox cars. We did not have Playstations, Nintendo Wii , X-boxes, no video games at all, no 999 channels on SKY ,no video/dvd films, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no Lawsuits from these accidents. Only girls had pierced ears! We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns at Easter time... We were given air guns and catapults for our 10th birthdays, We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them! Mum didn't have to go to work to help dad make ends meet because we didn't need to keep up with the Jones's! Not everyone made the rugby/football/cricket/netball team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! Getting into the team was based on MERIT Our teachers used to hit us with canes and gym shoes and throw the blackboard rubber at us if they thought we weren't concentrating . We can string sentences together and spell and have proper conversations because of a good, solid three R's education. Our parents would tell us to ask a stranger to help us cross the road. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! Our parents didn't invent stupid names for their kids like 'Kiora' and 'Blade' and 'Ridge' and 'Vanilla' and 'Tiger' We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL ! And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good. And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were. PS -The big type is because your eyes are not too good at your age anymore ?

Warren

Squonk wrote Although that didn't kill me, I think I developed in those two years from a rebellious teenager to rebellious adult ?

Honestly I grew up in those 2 years and when life smacked me with some huge things, I could deal with them with a bit more savvy.

Not that I enjoyed that stint either, I was a bit anti government of the day, so I had huge issues and spent a lot of time with the Military Police :-[

I haven't met many guys who don't feel that they got something out of their service, I'm just glad that I could use that time to further my studies, start working etc. instead of camped at some outpost for 8 months staring at the veld. I too would have had some major authority issues. ?

Lord-Fraquart

Warren wrote
"Ek kan nie meer nie, korporaal!"

Had that shouted in my ear by many a girl........ ?

Warren

Lord Farquart wrote Had that shouted in my ear by many a girl........ ?

:roflmao: :roflmao:

Nice ?

Bob-Dubery

Warren wrote I haven't met many guys who don't feel that they got something out of their service, I'm just glad that I could use that time to further my studies, start working etc. instead of camped at some outpost for 8 months staring at the veld. I too would have had some major authority issues. ?

I'm not sure exactly how different my life would have been if I hadn't done time in the SADF. Better? Worse? I don't know. Different, probably, but how? It did leave it's mark on me, but I don't know what would have happened if I took a different direction at that particular cross roads in my life. I don't waste a lot of time thinking about that - mainly because I can't KNOW how it would have been.

Warren

X-rated Bob wrote I'm not sure exactly how different my life would have been if I hadn't done time in the SADF. Better? Worse? I don't know. Different, probably, but how? It did leave it's mark on me, but I don't know what would have happened if I took a different direction at that particular cross roads in my life. I don't waste a lot of time thinking about that - mainly because I can't KNOW how it would have been.

Nobody knows how stuff will turn out. It's easy to think, "Oh, I wish X had never happened." It's much more constructive to get on with your life despite past adversity. I agree there.

However, there are lots of things I'm pleased about. I'm glad I was born here instead of, say, Somalia. I'm glad I have an affinity for making music, because it gives me an avenue of expression that is deeply personal and special. Blah blah you get the idea.

If my life was different? I like to think I'd make the most of it, of course, but that doesn't stop me being glad about certain things that I did or didn't have to do.

flatfourfan

I only got to do one years service as during my second year, conscription was removed. I honestly didn't mind it as I felt that I was doing my duty. I do hoever remember getting endless crap because I'm a soutie. Funny how the fact that I was born in the UK and was raised in South Africa was a topic of endless debate amongst my peers. I could however praat die taal like a local though......lol.

Squonk

Warren wrote
Squonk wrote But I preferred the world where you actually had to put some work in to develop skills and character!

I don't think this has changed. If anything, it has become tougher to differentiate yourself in a world where simply being clever is not enough to elevate yourself above your peers.

The landscape is just different: before you would simply accept whatever you read in the library as the truth, whereas researching stuff properly on the web requires some serious critical evaluation and cross-referencing. If you're a sportsman, you need to be stronger, faster and smarter than ever before. Maybe not in the caber toss...

I feel similarly to you regarding the sense that there is a "loss of innocence", like kids have to learn so much so soon now. However, there are still plenty of opportunities for kids to be kids, it's just no longer as simple as opening the front door and letting them loose on the neighbourhood.

Not to hijack this thread about the current state of the world ?

@ Warren, I was only making commentary on what I see in the Workplace(and mine in particular) and as you know I work in a large corporate and I have noticed the decline in skill levels, attitude and initiative etc over a 25 year period, but it might be different in the real world out there.

I find that a lot of the younger folk(Whatever Cultural preference) want everything today, they don't want to develop skills that take time e.g. Computer Programmers who use search engines for code and then cut and paste, and then lose that skill of actually knowing how to code in the first place through trial and error.

Sport - today's sport is processed, scientific and financial. Maybe records are bettered, but at a cost to the people who follow sport.

Jesse Owens had so much talent that he broke 4 world records in a day! These days Usain Bolt would have to consult his Psychologist, Personal Trainer, Agent, Dietician, Bank Manager, his Sponsorship deals before he runs ? I am not saying that Usain Bolt is not as good as Jesse Owens or vice versa, but there is that Magic that's gone from Sport.

Who wants to follow English Football if only four teams are only capable of winning anything? Swansea will never be able to win trophies unless some Arab Airline buys them out ?

"For the love of the Game", doesn't really hold up these days. I watched a program on the 1981 Springbok tour to NZ. There was trouble with the sleeping arrangements and the team had to sleep in the change rooms at one of the stadiums, imagine today's Rugby Players, their agents would demand danger pay or something? ?

majestikc

I'm no "old guy" and the scary thing is if you go back just over 10yrs ago that was kind of the way things where to a large degree, in the late 90's mostly only sales reps had cell phones as it was a step up from a beepa, I only got into internet (dial up 5kbps) early in the 2000's, iPods where only released in 2001, in the early 2000ndies there was no facerapebook or Skype or xbox or twatter or bbm or whatsapp or youtube, dstv was only in the home's of the luxurious, when I left school not even 10yrs ago I stopped smoking because cigarettes being R6 (R8 maybe, can't remember) a pack was "bullshit", Sat and Sun where nice relaxed days, I think most shops closed around 1pm on Sat and the corner greek cafe stayed open until that time on a Sunday if you were lucky. I think Mtv was still playing music then as well. So it's mostly just the last decade everything's become so watered down and pussified.

flatfourfan

majestikc wrote I think Mtv was still playing music then as well.

wow that's ages ago

« Previous Page