I'm so old....

[David G Baker]

I am so old I remember the one room school where I attended the 6th, 7th and 8th grade with K-8th students. There were three students in my three classes and most of the students in the other grades were from large farm families.

[David Weaver]

David,

I was at the receiving end of one of those "holey" paddles... from the middle school principle. I didn't deserve it (no kidding), but I believe permission was requested from my dad before the punishment commenced.

The art teacher in our school was about 4'10". She told us she had the holes put in it so she could swing it faster. I guess she figured she wouldn't be big enough to intimidate us, so she came up with gimmicks. I never saw her paddle anyone.

The principals paddle got used often. Kids got cleared out of the room to stand in the hall and the offending spankee got spanked, we could all hear the process loud and clear

I got spanked with a butter churn rod at home. I had no interest in learning about what other items felt like.

Relatives of mine kept a paddle under the front seat in their car and they'd get it out and use it. Times have changed a lot in 25 years - I haven't seen anything like that in a long time.

The big difference I notice here, and maybe it's from moving "to the city", is that kids at restaurants run wild. They're everywhere, and their parents might be 50 feet away at their table, letting the kids run loose, taking things off of other peoples tables, etc. That still rubs me the wrong way. it's not the majority of kids, but there are a lot more now than there were when I was a kid. I don't remember any "good" kids behaving like that, only neglected kids.

[Dave Anderson NH]

I remember getting our first TV when I was in 2nd grade, B&W of course, a DuMont.

I remember no one in the neighborhood ever locked their doors unless they were going away on vacation.

I remember baling hay at Grover Gerlock's farm for $.15 an hour at age 12.

I remember going to 1st grade in a 4 room brick 2 story school house.

I too remember Burmas Shave signs and going to visit the grandparents in Mass before the Thruway or the Mass pike were built.

I remember Mrs. Gardiner my 3rd grade teacher sending me to stand in the coat closet until I felt I could come out and behave. I also remember her going to get her coat out of the closet after the school all went home and finding me still in the closet. She ended up driving me home.

I remember being about 13 and feeling my oats and saying something vile to my mother. I also remember lying on my back on the floor looking up at her 100 pound 5ft 1 inches and wondering how I got there. Nothing was ever said to Dad and I never ever spoke like that again.

I remember some of us friends riding our bicycles in to the city of Rochester 8 miles away for the day and our parents had no worries about us.

I remember my Dad buying our first house on the GI Bill and the contractor allowing him to clean up the houses and lots in the new development for a year instead of having to make a downpayment. It was all done on a handshake.

[ray hampton]

I remember making a paddle for the teacher with a pocket knife , the teacher give me an "A for making the paddle and a padding for talking back to her
YES WE TOOK KNIVES AND GUNS TO THE SCHOOL

[Art Mulder]

The big difference I notice here, and maybe it's from moving "to the city", is that kids at restaurants run wild. They're everywhere, and their parents might be 50 feet away at their table, letting the kids run loose, taking things off of other peoples tables, etc

David, I have never, ever, seen kids taking things off of other tables at a restaurant. Nor have I ever seen young kids wandering 50ft away from their parents table. But your phrasing confuses me... do you mean you see that in a big city, or that you see it in a small town?

If anything, I think people are even more restrictive and protective of their kids then when I was growing up in the 70s. My 7yr old, for instance, would never be allowed to go off to the restroom by himself when in public. Either I go with him, or we send his older (11+13) brothers along.

[David Weaver]

Art, I see it more in the city, or maybe more accurately, the suburbs.

[Jim Rimmer]

I got one of those flyback toys - the wooden paddle with a rubber ball attached by an elastic string. When the string broke, my Mother kept the paddle and used it on me when I needed it.

[Dan Hintz]

The holes were for the whistling sound it gave the paddle as it whizzed through the air. I'm telling you, I think the principle wound up when he whacked me... I had a bruised rear for days. Bent over with elbows touching the table (no leaning away from these). Three whacks, with enough time between each to let the sting set in. After the first, you realized how much the next two were going to hurt. To this day, I swore if I ever ran into that principle, well...

[Michael Weber]

I remember when the Dead Sea was just sick.

thanks for that laugh

[Charlie Reals]

The holes were for the whistling sound it gave the paddle as it whizzed through the air. I'm telling you, I think the principle wound up when he whacked me... I had a bruised rear for days. Bent over with elbows touching the table (no leaning away from these). Three whacks, with enough time between each to let the sting set in. After the first, you realized how much the next two were going to hurt. To this day, I swore if I ever ran into that principle, well...

Not totally correct, the holes were more to create a suction effect which caused considerably more discomfort. that is also what caused the bruises. believe me I was an expert on this subject. I am making the same paddles to send to my grandson in afghanistan I'm writing Tali whacker on them.

[Rod Sheridan]

David, I have never, ever, seen kids taking things off of other tables at a restaurant. Nor have I ever seen young kids wandering 50ft away from their parents table. But your phrasing confuses me... do you mean you see that in a big city, or that you see it in a small town?

If anything, I think people are even more restrictive and protective of their kids then when I was growing up in the 70s. My 7yr old, for instance, would never be allowed to go off to the restroom by himself when in public. Either I go with him, or we send his older (11+13) brothers along.

Art, unfortunately I've seen the sort of conduct David is talking about, not often, however enough to make an impression......Rod.

[Charlie Reals]

I'm so old I actually just got off the phone applying for medicare and social security. I can truly say at 21 I did not think I would live to see it.

[Rick Potter]

I just remembered a few more.

I'm so old I remember playing mumbly peg with my pocket knife...at school

....I remember a neighbor getting the first tv on the block, and watching it through the picture window, standing in the snow, with friends.

....I remember getting 'swats' from the gym teacher at high school.

....I remember, as a young married, getting our first color TV just in time to watch the Rose Parade of 1967. It was one of the few colorcasts at the time, but within a year lots of shows had it. Got the TV at a scratch and dent Sears Outlet.....21", steel cabinet with dent, $400. At the time I made $618 a month gross. Just saw a 32" flat screen at Costco for less than $300.

....I remember when the new Interstate 10 went up Kellog Hill, and we used to play a game of 'how far up can we go without shifting down?'. Sometimes twice. Now any car can go up in cruise control.

Rick Potter

[Ed Breen]

I guess I'm old. I remember when Railway Express trucks were chain driven, the milkman and the iceman had horses pull their trucks. The 5 & 10 was real and smelled WONDERFUL! My graduating class had 13 of us. All the rest we've said and each day I wonder how I got to live this long???

[Bill Cunningham]

The holes were for the whistling sound it gave the paddle as it whizzed through the air. I'm telling you, I think the principle wound up when he whacked me... I had a bruised rear for days. Bent over with elbows touching the table (no leaning away from these). Three whacks, with enough time between each to let the sting set in. After the first, you realized how much the next two were going to hurt. To this day, I swore if I ever ran into that principle, well...

All my principals are now dead!! Hmmm maybe that don't sound quite right..ha..

I can remember when milk and bread were being delivered by a man with a horse and wagon, in Downtown Toronto. There were also horse troughs at every major intersection, and street cars changed direction, by the operator going to the other end..

My father used to get beer home delivered by a guy named George, who also ended up enjoying a beer at almost every house on his route truck route.

I can remember the day I went out to tell the 'iceman' that we now had one of those new refrigerators and would no longer need ice.. His reply was "Every one seems to be getting one of those.. I'm going to be out of business soon"

When they Tarred our gravel road, we would pick up pieces of tar to chew on.. (Chewing asphalt would never catch on )

You never really realize just how old you are, until your browsing through antique stores, and saying "I had one of those"