Been talking to some childhood friends lately and we got to reminiscing about all the idiotic things we did and injuries we caused each other. I’m talking fights, bike/motorcycle accidents, fireworks wars, mayhem and stupidity.

A friend I’ve had since 4th grade who’s still the best damn friend I’ve got has kicked my ass, shot me with BB guns and bottle rockets, kicked my ass and run me into a house on a sled. Keep it light hearted and let’s take a trip down memory lane.

Kneeboarding behind a boat going waaaay too fast causing me a "6 Million Dollar Man" style wipeout. Everybody had wipeouts like that. Lots of bruises, a little blood and all caught on video tape.

Tons of others but that one stuck with me because we were all there.

Bottle rocket fights with friends was great fun!!

Jumping off of roofs was pretty stupid but seemed like the thing to do at the time.

I had a friend in high school/ college whose parents had 300 acres. We got into tons of trouble out there. We had an old car hood we had acquired somehow, and every time we got snow we would hook it to the back of my Jeep and take turns towing each other around at ridiculous speeds while trying to throw the riders off the hood. I put one of my friends into a hay bale at about 45 mph. In hindsight we were really lucky there were no serious injuries, but that wasn't a concern back in those days.

BB gun fights-1 pump limit.

How is it we all had the exact same childhood?

Hmmm, plenty to choose from but here we go...

(1) Age 11-13, we were staying overnight at a friends house when a rival 'gang' of kids started knocking on the house walls at about 1am (parents were gone working). Half of us started shooting bottle rockets at them from 2nd story windows as the others snuck out back to surprise them. Quite a melee ensued. By the end of the year we were all friends after the ruckus. "Man, remember when you guys started shooting bottle rockets over our heads, then rushed us??? That was AWESOME!!!!".

(2) Ditch ambushes on kids riding by, usually using clods of dirt / mud. Hit plenty of friends hard, sometimes causing them to wipe out and then give chase. In the winter you used snow and would also attack passing vehicles.

(3) Trampolines well before the 'net' to keep you from flying off. While jumping on it with friends, you would try to push the others off onto the ground. Resulted in 1 broken arm but that was it.

Wars with slingshots was not the best of ideas. learned that lesson after a concussion and 12 stitches.

I had a good friend pick me up and drop me in a cow pie. It was late 60s, I was wearing white pants and a Paisley belt my girl friend bought me. They were not fit for wearing after that.

Very young memories where dirt claude fights. Climbing the cherry trees to the very, very top because that is always where the ripest were. Then could not get down.
Or climbing high up in the apple tree to watch the high school kids do their lunch time burn outs (really good ones)at the corner.

quote:

Originally posted by bcereuss:
BB gun fights-1 pump limit.

We all know that someone wouldn't abide, so we all gave another 1 or 2 just to even the field a little

Growing up on a farm with 2 brothers, 30 cousins, and a few uncles to teach us how to get in to trouble, there wasn't much that we didn't do. I could write a book and make a movie based on our lives on "the farm".
Here are some highlights:

My first bicycle was a dumpster dive find and had no brakes. I used my foot on the front tire to slow down and stop. 1 of my cousins got on it and went down a really steep hill....He ended up finding a big rock hidden in the grass: He must have flown 30 yards through the air as I watched his face of terror. Hit the ground so hard, I thought he died. Didn't move, couldn't breathe, and at 6 years old I ran crying to the house saying he was dead. The ass beating we both got for that was "memorable"

Apple fights (sharpen a sturdy but whippy sprout, shove apple onto the sprout, and proceed to fling at one another) *Bonus was using the apple bins as forts. Plenty of scars from broken slats and nails gouging us.

Car hoods for sleds (it would take at least 5 of us ranging from 6-10 years old the better part of an hour to pull it to the top of a hill for a 30 second ride)

We decided to make a "suicycle" Front end was an old Manco 3 wheeler front end which we welded to a chopped up old lawn mower frame. Found and fixed an old 5 hp Briggs with gobs of torque and an exposed flywheel my cousin Bryan still has a scar where it bit him

Playing in a 100 year old hay barn that was nearly fallen over was another not so bright move. Games played were hide and seek which led to "rock wars" and king of the hay bale which again, led to "rock wars"....I sent the youngest brother to the hospital for stitches with a baseball sized rock.

As we got older, BB guns and knives were given to us. Why anyone trusted us? I don't know but we all managed to keep our eyes, fingers, and toes so we must have done something right. Anyway, we shot a bull in the nuts with a bb gun at which time he ran our scrawny little asses up an apple tree and kept us there about an hour or so.

Each of us (boys and girls) alike were involved in fist fights, rock fights, and any other kind of fight you could have as a pre-teen with not much to do. Sometimes it was something stupid, sometimes it was for a good reason, but to this day, we are close as a family and would likely go to war for one another. I wouldn't trade all of the toys, gizmos, and gadgets in the world for any of the scars, beatings, or lifelong memories that we created.

I worked with several good friends at a golf course and we regularly hit range balls at each other while clearing the rough each day. Genius.

Fourth of July. Corn fields, apple orchard, Black Cats and acres and acres to play. Month of July green apples, bore a hole down through the middle with your pocket knife. Insert a Black Cat—our “hand grenades.” Brothers and cousins throwing them at each other.

circa 1956, teacher catches us 'tapping' each others shoulder while whispering in the back of the room.....center stage, "now show us what ya got"....we traded shots with each other until everybody had enough mayhem......I had very impressive arm bruises for a week.

Teacher (male) was actually one of the 3 best I ever had in my public school career.

Buddy & I recently reconnected after being long separated by life paths.

Two older cousins teaching me to water ski. The only instruction I got; "no matter what happens, don't let go of the rope".
Rod

We threw rocks at each other, sniped each other with slingshots and fist fought. Bike crashes were at high speed, spectacular and sans helmets. Teeth were often lost. Eyes blacked. Heads and faces gashed open. Knees and elbows were skinned. Universal medical treatment administered by my mother and other moms was to pour the wound full of Iodine and slap on a Band-Aid. Everyone ate peanuts and managed to survive. Neighborhood girls put up with very little shit from the boys and several actually kicked my ass. And were congratulated by their parents for doing so. I could eat for free at any of my friends houses and they at mine. All the neighborhood parents knew all the kids and networked. Often, a housewife would come out on the porch and holler "Yooper, you little shit! I am calling your mother"! This made my blood run cold, knowing my evil deeds would soon catch up to me.
And what did all this mayhem teach me:
1- There were consequences for stepping out of line.
2- Justice was swift and unavoidable.
Maybe we could use more of that today!
One of the worst things about becoming a cop in my home town was watching many of my neighborhood friends struggle with arrests, drug and alcohol problems and domestic abuse as they came into adulthood.
The fun of my childhood disappeared quickly. It made me sad.

See the trend here? Beat the shit out of your friends, get your ass kicked by your parents for being a moron, no modern societal problems.

quote:

Originally posted by Perception:
I put one of my friends into a hay bale at about 45 mph. In hindsight we were really lucky there were no serious injuries, but that wasn't a concern back in those days.

I've gotta wonder: were we all just tougher back then? I mean, kids just weren't so prone to injuries?

That said... there was jumping off the grandparents' porch rails, riding a Big Wheel towed behind a minibike (using jumper cables) on a gravel road (Mom was PEEVED over that one), and making bike ramps out of firewood and pieces of 2x4. Oh! And let's not forget the lawn dart battles.

Scrapes, bruises, bumps, and a lot of "betcha can't do this!" Great days, they were....

quote:

Originally posted by sigalert:
How is it we all had the exact same childhood?

This right here.
W/o helmets, no less.
I think this trained us that we are responsible for our own wellbeing.