100 Things Your Kids May Never Know About

[Wicked98Snake]

You must be poor

I actually have 3 Box360's in the house just not for him. Super Nintendo games are a little better for a 5 year old. I'm sure he would love Mortal Kombat and Grand Theft Auto but he'll have to wait at least a few more years, lol.

[Silverback]

I actually have 3 Box360's in the house

[Wicked98Snake]

More like Geek status, lol.

I just need one in the crapper now!

[Grimpala]

I actually have 3 Box360's in the house just not for him. Super Nintendo games are a little better for a 5 year old. I'm sure he would love Mortal Kombat and Grand Theft Auto but he'll have to wait at least a few more years, lol.

Solid

[JC316]

Old games are AWESOME for younger kids....

We have a 7 year old who requires surgical means to remove the Gameboy from his hands....

Considering the games are around 5 dollars a pop at Movie Trading Company, if he breaks\loses a game or the Gameboy, we are out next to nothing.... pretty cool deal if you ask me....

Old games are awesome anyway. I can burn a week just playing all three Donkey Kong Country games.

I actually have 3 Box360's in the house just not for him. Super Nintendo games are a little better for a 5 year old. I'm sure he would love Mortal Kombat and Grand Theft Auto but he'll have to wait at least a few more years, lol.

GTA maybe, but I have both MK1 and MK2 on SNES lol.

[Blame Canada]

My first gaming system was Intellivision.

[Gargamel]

My first gaming system was Intellivision.

For me it was Pong... yes, Pong...




Before that was Electric Football!

[Cannon88]

Having to manually unlock a car door.

Both of my cars are done this way.

[ram57ta]

Both of my cars are done this way.

My 79' Monte Carlo had manual door locks until I went to a wrecking yard and tore the entire pwr door lock system (wires, solenoids, actuators) out of a newer Cutlass Supreme and installed them.
My parents bought me and my sister a brand new Atari 2600 for christmas in 1978 or so....and we wore out COMBAT. First game I bought was Asteroids.

[Gargamel]

Both of my cars are done this way.

Same here....

My daughter couldn't figure out how to lock the door or roll down the manual window... LMAO

[Wicked98Snake]

Electric football was the SHIT, I bet I still have mine in my grandma's attic

[Gargamel]

Anyone else remember this?

[Frank]

What a flood of memories.

I remember Diamondback's Hutch's GT's and when a Mongoose wasn't some cheap junk. I would LOVE to find a late 80's Mongoose in good condition. Remember their heavy duty spokes? Or what about mag wheels? Toss them in the freezer to unwarp them, but get them out before your Mom finds out. Brakes? Cool bikes didn't have brakes. Helmet? What for? Have a flat? Well, I better go buy a tube or patch kit if I want to keep up with my friends and all the fun. Dad showed me how a couple of times, then it was on me to fix it. I didn't whine about it. All of us kids knew how to do it and if someone didn't, you fixed it for your friend or lent him your sisters bike so he didn't miss out on the fun that you and 3 other buddies were going to get into. So what if it had pink tassles coming out of the handlebars. He'd just have to swallow a little pride and learn how to fix a darn flat himself so it wouldn't happen again.

A typical Friday evening Dad got home from work a little sweaty with the scent of BO/gas/diesel (I miss that scent) and cooled off. I was usually there or within sight eager to see him when he drove in the driveway. Sometimes I ran up and gave him a big hug in front of all of my friends and there was no shame in that. It was a HUGE deal if he happened to pull down the street in his blue/white Mack 18 wheeler then all the kids came running and climbing in it. No, this would be a typical day though. Mom would have plans for shopping so after a brief cool-off, cleanup we'd load up and go shopping.

I remember having to drive to K-Mart in Balch Springs or Gibson's in Seagoville or other stores to get every day household stuff, not groceries. Most stores had their own cafeteria. Sometimes we had a real treat and had supper there. I don't mean a franchise had set up shop in a store like Subway or McD's. I mean the STORE employed a cafeteria staff and they COOKED the meals and you set at a table. It was like a Furrs, Luby's or WYATTs. There were other places with more like a diner counter like WOOLWORTH's at Big Town Mall, but I digress. I remember having chicken-fried steak at K-Mart's cafeteria in Balch Springs and loved it. There was no electronic gadget taking attention away from the world around me. After we get done eating, Dad wants to look at TV's so we walk over to Electonics which was a dark room with most of the light coming from the TV's to see all the Hifi's. Most of the TV's had rabbit ears and dials for UHF and VHF. Just outside was the counter showcasing the new Intellivision with the new voice device so you could play "B17 Bomber" and hear actual human like voices when you played, but today they only had Pitfall Harry loaded that I could play. I never seemed to get anywhere with it. The games were REALLY expensive at $20, $30 or more. There was also the Atari 2600 on display along with the ADAM new home computer system. I thought I was cocky because I knew just enough BASIC to change the prompt and colors on the Commodore 128 on display. About that time they just announced a Blue Light special in Sporting Goods! People drop what they are doing and trot over there. Ah...but they did not have what we really needed, so we'll stop by OSHMAN'S in the mall next time we go to Town East. Since it was hot out, Dad springs for cherry ICEE's.

Then we had to go to Kroger, Minyards, Safeway, Affiliated, Skaggs Alpha Beta, or Tom Thumb for groceries. and DONT forget to get your S&H Greenstamps for your little book. Mom might have it in her head we have to go to 2 or 3 of these stores to get the best deals and collect stamps. You knew they had the stamps by the big S&H Greenstamps sandwich sign out front.

We'd then have to stop in Skillerns or Eckerds for medicine. If we just needed something inexpensive and quick, we would drive (or walk down several doors in the strip mall.) to the M.E Moses or Mott's 5 & 10. There were actually things for 5 cents & 10 cents there. Mom would let the kids go to the toy aisle and mess around. If I didn't have any money, I didn't get anything. If I had not gotten my $2 allowance for the week I'd have to stand there and plead my case why I just "had" to spend it there. Depending on the mood, I'd pick up Tootsie toy cars (you know the ones cast from pot metal and brightly colored with black wheels) or I might buy some of those little paratrooper guys or balsa wood glider. If I was good, Dad (who had more of a sweet tooth) would let me pick out some double-bubble for 3 cents a piece or some cellophane wrapped goodness Mrs Baird's pastries like a cheese strudel or a french pastry.

At this point we need to hurry up and get home before the ice cream melted because our truck, like most cars around, didn't have A/C but we didn't really complain about the heat much as I can remember. Being that its a Friday evening, it was time to celebrate the weekend. We might RENT a VCR from the Mom & Pop video rental store since we didn't have one of our own yet. Maybe next paycheck. They were still around $250. We'd get home and I would help carry the groceries in. If one of my friends was standing nearby, he was expected to help. If we hadn't ate at the cafeteria Mom would start dinner. Sloppy Joe's and cheese dip....oh, and ice cream...if I didn't ruin my appetite by then.

[scootro]

damn good write up Frank! i enjoyed that

[DieselSmoke]

damn good write up Frank! i enjoyed that

Yes great write up! Brought back a lot of similar memories. Growing up in the outskirts of Odessa in the 80's we didn't have any major chains. No K-Mart, Kroger, Oshman's ect., it was Sac & Save and the fast food joints where Stars, Taco Villa and Texas Burger. But i remember my Mongoose w/ mags, thought i was the shit. Hell learned to be a mechanic by taking several bike to make one.

And renting a VCR made me chuckle alittle. I remember us doing that every other Friday which was payday.