How did I ever survive beyond childhood?

[300UGUY]

Me, too! I had polio, measles, chicken pox, appendicitis, and probably some other things in addition to never wearing a helmet on a bicycle, and took some really bad crashes at high speeds downhill on a gravel road, not only NO seatbelts but we rode on the back of a flatbed truck (no sideboards or sidewalls like a pickup truck). I only fell off the truck going around a corner once. I fell out of trees, fell out of the hayloft in the barn, been attacked by roosters, bees, sows, and cows. Been bucked off a horse once, had a loose cinch drop me off a horse once, only been kicked by a horse once, bitten more times than I can remember, and never expected to make it to the age of 21.

AND NOW . . . I'm the oldest living human in my family on both my Dad's side and my Mother's side.:laughing:

Bird, you are allright, allright, allright!!

 

[Jstpssng]

You old guys crack me up! Polio? Appendicitis? Pfft, modern medicine addressed them a long ago.
How about the REAL things... WWII, Korea, Vietnam... you took each in stride also. :thumbsup:
Too bad we haven't a cure for those... we still have the Gulf wars, Afghanistan, and probably many others that us civilians doj't know about.

 

[MossRoad]

I remember climbing up a tree about 15' up, hanging onto a branch and going out about 8' from the trunk. Hanging under the branch, I swung my legs up and criss-crossed them over the branch. So, for about 2 seconds, I was hanging upside down by all 4s from the branch and then I heard CRACK!!! The branch snapped cleanly from the tree. No warning. No bending. I remember the THUD in my back when I hit the ground and I remember I could not move my chest to breath. Then it got dark. When I came to, I was breathing and my parents had arrived (this was a few houses over). Lots of neighbor kids looking worried. They put me on a cot and carried me home. I was back at it a couple days later. :laughing: To this day, I do not recall ever taking another shot like that. Just lights out! :drool:

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Wow, Jarts are outlawed? Guess that makes my set collectible. Sold 2 classic cars last year that didn't come with seat belts. Never had helmets to ride a bike. Second hand smoke. Guess I should be dead. I often wonder how I survived also.

That's funny. I recall my grandfather (born in 1880, died 1978) teaching me how to make a homemade version of Jarts using a corncob, a sharpened nail and some chicken feathers. He also taught me how to make a "dart" from a wooden shingle, a straight stick and a piece of butcher string; it was wicked. I made them both several times without mishap. I'm sure my Mom would have had a fit had she known.

 

[k0ua]

Those cedar shingle darts we made as kids were, or could have been deadly. I think they used to use something like that as weapons in medieval times. Oh well, I never killed anyone with mine, but the possibility was there. Dad showed me how to make them of course. He also made me a bow when I was about 8 or 9, I had to come up with the arrows myself though! I had slingshots too, the traditional Y forked, rubber powered one and also the David and Goliath big rock slinger kind. More weapons of war I guess. I was glad to get my first firearm of my own at 12, and put away all those really dangerous ancient weapons.:laughing:

 

[PILOON]

AND NOW . . . I'm the oldest living human in my family on both my Dad's side and my Mother's side.:laughing:

Same position here but dad had 6 siblings and I spent great part of my youth in boats or under water and professional water skiing as well as snow skiing.
I add motorcycles, airplanes (twice crashed) Scuba, Snowmobiles.
Never broke a single bone but then I am only a young 76.
My MD says stay off the roof and don't climb trees as a fall will land you in hospital where you'll get C-dificille and croak.
Last year I recovered my roof. (can't let tools get rusty
I will admit getting into my sports car is getting to be a chore and you said whaaaaat??? (Yep I am subscribed to the hearing aide forum.)

Recently met with 5 cousins (all younger) and they all sported white hair. They claimed they were the only ones that did not dye as mine is still dark 'pepper' with lite grey sides.

Still have a little ways to go, Dad left at 88 and mother recently at 98. It's gotta be all that mixed ancestral genes.

 

[oldballs]

Besides most of the above you can add, mercury in thermometers and in lab experiments, asbestos (?), lead painted houses and toys, no OSHA in the steel mill that I worked, no OSHA in the general laborer construction, no sex education, no school lunches, pocket knifes carried in my school, no antibiotics, no refrigeration, no air conditioning and whoppins' with a belt at home when needed and paddlin' at school if one really got out of hand. There were bullies, fist fights and no sensitivity training . But we did go to church, respect the law, our elders....all this without the aid of a lawyer.
Cheers,
Mike

 

[Bird]

Besides most of the above you can add, mercury in thermometers and in lab experiments, asbestos (?), lead painted houses and toys, no OSHA in the steel mill that I worked, no OSHA in the general laborer construction, no sex education, no school lunches, pocket knifes carried in my school, no antibiotics, no refrigeration, no air conditioning and whoppins' with a belt at home when needed and paddlin' at school if one really got out of hand. There were bullies, fist fights and no sensitivity training . But we did go to church, respect the law, our elders....all this without the aid of a lawyer.

Cheers,
Mike

All very true. I used to rub mercury on old silver coins, with my bare hands of course. That would make them look like new for a short time. And when I started to school, I carried my lunch, usually either scrambled egg or sausage in a biscuit, and a pint jar of milk that sometimes soured before lunch time since there was no refrigerator at school. And I never went to school a single day in my life without a pocketknife in my pocket. I was 19 years old before I ever lived or slept in a house with air-conditioning. Of course we didn't have indoor plumbing either until I was about 12 years old. Got our first TV when I was 14; could get 3 stations if the weather was right and the antenna was turned just the right direction.

And some folks refer to those times as "the good old days.":laughing:

 

[MossRoad]

I carried a cub scout knife on my belt in grade school. Heck, the nuns would ask me if they could borrow it once in a while! :laughing:

I'm curious about the shingle darts. Anyone got pictures?

 

[k0ua]

I carried a cub scout knife on my belt in grade school. Heck, the nuns would ask me if they could borrow it once in a while! :laughing:

I'm curious about the shingle darts. Anyone got pictures?

This is close.. The tail looks like the ones we had, but the head was much broader and way way sharper. Think spear point.. We made them dangerous!:shocked:

The Shingle Dart