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BH liberal

(121 posts)
49. My youth was spent...
Mon Dec 29, 2025, 08:14 AM
Dec 29

in a very small town in the Midwest. Can relate to the post above about kids roaming loose from breakfast to dinnertime, especially during the summers. We did all sorts of things that seem to be pretty rare now with the proliferation of helicopter parents terrified at the prospect of their children being snatched from playgrounds and swimming pools. Sports and physical activities were our main focus...all the levels of youth baseball, for example, that allowed for all skill levels to participate. Very few overweight kids at all...and, yes, they did at least get teased to no end or worse.

Our school was never very big on duck and cover drills, and I think the focus was as much on tornado protection as nuclear. One of our neighbors had a bomb shelter in their basement, but I was never curious enough about it to ask to see it. For many of us, our parents' relationship with alcohol was a greater source of anxiety. Not much to do for them in our small town...only a bowling alley, movie theater and a dozen or so bars and restaurants that served liquor within a 10 mile radius. Private parties on weekends centered around drinking were also popular. In fact, one of my first-ever memories was reaching up as far as I could on my tip-toes to grab off the kitchen counter a glass full of what I thought was Coca-Cola and taking a drink. Turned out to be booze and I gagged on it.

Most of my uncles served in WWII, yet I never heard one war story from them. One survived D-Day and subsequent duty in France and another participated in a handful of the Pacific island-hopping landings and survived them all. Alcohol became a big part of their lives as well. I started work at 12 years old in a grocery store for 25 cents an hour after school and on Saturdays 7 AM to 7PM. Watching what was happening all around me made me want to become independent as soon as possible. Bought my own used car at 15 and worked summers on vacation fill-in jobs on the railroad that my father found for me. Got out of there at 18, worked my way through college and rarely returned.

That was my 50's and 60's experience...

Recommendations

4 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

Interesting take FHRRK Dec 28 #1
Never wanted to stay home from school sick. multigraincracker Dec 28 #16
This is AI slop from a channel posting videos on different subjects every couple of days, with highplainsdem Dec 28 #36
How to vilify a generation with a broad brush... NotHardly Dec 28 #43
It's almost like the well of resilience we need is in our 1960s generation bucolic_frolic Dec 28 #2
What stands out to me PoindexterOglethorpe Dec 28 #3
We were free range kids... ananda Dec 28 #5
Yep. Just be home by dinner. Martin Eden Dec 28 #7
my HS School years, we'd get 20 or so social misfits to play baseball. A lot of LL kids that never made it to JV OAITW r.2.0 Dec 28 #28
I remember that. And I got to be 11 or 12 years old in the boys told me I couldn't play anymore because I was a girl. Walleye Dec 29 #55
Me as well, I played from early morning until it was too dark to see. CanonRay Dec 29 #62
They're AI graphics. No Black people, either. Imagine, no Black people in a video ostensibly about the 60s. AI slop. WhiskeyGrinder Dec 28 #9
So the message lacks legitimacy? OAITW r.2.0 Dec 28 #15
This video describes fairly universal themes through a lens that makes "60s kids" feel unique -- which is catnip for just WhiskeyGrinder Dec 28 #21
You are 16 dimensions above me in your moral perspective. OAITW r.2.0 Dec 28 #31
To put it simply: "Every generation after mine is terrible" Orrex Dec 29 #57
I never thought that. But thanks for contributing to the conversation. OAITW r.2.0 Dec 30 #79
It wasn't aimed at you; it was a summary of and agreement with the post above yours Orrex Dec 30 #82
I guess, becasue I have 2 in their 30's, I beg to differ. OAITW r.2.0 Dec 30 #84
Again, it's not targeting you, and in any case it's not universal at the personal level Orrex Dec 30 #85
I started feeling like something was wrong extremely on, and I admit I quit half way to the end. 1WorldHope Dec 28 #32
The narrator is speaking with a British accent, I'm pretty sure this is mostly about the UK FakeNoose Dec 28 #42
You are right about no black people, but of course there would PoindexterOglethorpe Dec 29 #44
Whaaat? There are plenty of films and photos of Black people from the 1960s. But this video was made in 2025 with 2025 WhiskeyGrinder Dec 29 #50
I graduated in 1967 and I remember quite clearly when our schools desegregated. Walleye Dec 29 #56
I graduated also from h.s. in 1967! I may have seen, probably did see, Blacks..... ColoringFool Dec 29 #65
We always had a good percentage of Black people living in Delaware. And I live right next-door to a stone cold racist Walleye Dec 29 #68
"And how many of us White girls would "make an exception for" Sidney Poitier?" WhiskeyGrinder Dec 29 #72
Exception To The 1960s Milieu's View Of Mixed-Race Relationships ColoringFool Dec 30 #73
Okay but you do see how saying there is a single Black man out there for whom you would make an "exception" to society's WhiskeyGrinder Dec 30 #75
I have always said the downfall and the weight issues with this Country started with the remote control for tv. a kennedy Dec 28 #10
Right. Because you get so much exercise walking PoindexterOglethorpe Dec 28 #12
Yah, those how ever many steps they take from right after super to bed time, what 4 hours??? a kennedy Dec 28 #13
I had lots of PE in my school. Formal and informal. OAITW r.2.0 Dec 28 #17
California required 1 hour of PE daily mainer Dec 28 #18
I hated it because I have thick hair and Tree Lady Dec 28 #20
No PE in school Diamond_Dog Dec 29 #54
It wasn't changing the channel where moonscape Dec 28 #14
Well, that is part of it. OldBaldy1701E Dec 29 #53
There were plenty of so-called "overweight" kids then. Don't kid yourself. valleyrogue Dec 29 #63
We didn't eat out, or fast food mtngirl47 Dec 28 #40
People took diet pills, especially women. Girls were fat shamed to high heaven, often by their mothers. valleyrogue Dec 29 #47
This is my life MoonlightHillFarm Dec 28 #4
Who is When Jekyll Meets Hyde? What research goes into these assertions? What are these AI-voiced claims based on? WhiskeyGrinder Dec 28 #6
I watched, I related. You didn't? OAITW r.2.0 Dec 28 #19
You related to it because you were primed to and it's designed to be relatable. WhiskeyGrinder Dec 28 #22
It's fundamentally wrong because it's made with unethical tools trained on stolen intellectual highplainsdem Dec 28 #25
I get what you are sayings....and yes, maybe a warning should warn the consumer that AI content is involved. OAITW r.2.0 Dec 28 #37
Yeah, I watched a little of their, 'Psychology of People Who Grew Up in the 1980s" video. progressoid Dec 28 #27
I was curious myself.... IcyPeas Dec 28 #39
Some are copycats. Some apparently operate multiple channels. Some are likely from content farms highplainsdem Dec 29 #46
Interesting reply. I too have noticed... Pluvious Dec 29 #71
Ok Boomers.... multigraincracker Dec 28 #8
I kept my 50 cents a week allowance in a metal Bandaid can... 3catwoman3 Dec 28 #11
This is AI slop, from a channel set up a couple of months ago that already has 26 videos. This sort highplainsdem Dec 28 #23
Thank you canetoad Dec 28 #33
More than 20% of the videos that YouTube's algorithm shows to new users are "AI slop" chia Dec 29 #60
I used to think you were way off base ranting about AI and posting too often about it thebigidea Dec 30 #77
Well, thanks. LOL. I'm sorry you haven't liked my tactics, but without a way to directly transfer everything I've highplainsdem Dec 30 #78
Ty for your dedication to ethics & to educating others with your vast knowledge & experience SheltieLover Dec 30 #83
Thanks, SheltieLover! You're too kind, though. I'm just trying to keep with the news about genAI highplainsdem Dec 30 #86
You are doing great work, HPD SheltieLover Dec 31 #87
Those who didn't live through it and try to defend 3825-87867 Dec 28 #24
Not everyone's Keepthesoulalive Dec 28 #26
As a witness of the actual 60's (and the bullshit this video is trying to turn into "Happy Days"), Conjuay Dec 28 #29
You are absolutely right. my mom's 1st cousin never really returned from WW2 and OAITW r.2.0 Dec 28 #41
Also a reality back then: thucythucy Dec 29 #59
I'm not sure canetoad Dec 28 #30
Every generation has its challenges. BarbD Dec 28 #34
De rec. AI slop. Shallow, sweeping, pop psychology generalisations. It's self-congratulatory fortune cookie-style cringe Celerity Dec 28 #35
YouTube is rapidly becoming full of AI slop like this. tinrobot Dec 29 #69
Interesting. H2O Man Dec 28 #38
I kind of relate Historic NY Dec 29 #45
Pre and post The Wizard Dec 29 #48
My youth was spent... BH liberal Dec 29 #49
I am curious, will we just assume AI is slop, or will cachukis Dec 29 #51
I remember all the things in that video but I question the conclusions it draws. Ocelot II Dec 29 #52
49'er Here. We Have Been Labeled, Vilified, Praised, Envied, Etc. Boomers are NOT.... ColoringFool Dec 29 #67
We are so unprepared for people using AI to manipulate us ThreeNoSeep Dec 29 #58
And after all that, Turbineguy Dec 29 #61
EVERYONE should see reply 39 from IcyPeas. highplainsdem Dec 29 #64
I can't find reply #39 Mossfern Dec 30 #80
Sure! Here: highplainsdem Dec 30 #81
Not quite. I grew up a poor Southern California urban kid in the 1960's. haele Dec 29 #66
I hated "Leave it to Beaver" Wifes husband Dec 29 #70
Some people love AI Patton French Dec 30 #74
I grew up in the 1960s RazorbackExpat Dec 30 #76
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