Why I embrace being a "boomer".....

[Baz]

I'll turn 71 in June.

Born in the 50's..."grew up" in the 60's.

What a time for a youngster to be alive!

[rfuerst911sc]

I am 4 years behind you but agree on your comments . It was a good time to grow up .

[oldE]

Yes indeed, Brothers! On our bikes ranging through the roads and backroads. Hot summer days spent in the river. 15 miles to the nearest town, but we biked that too, a couple of times.
We were so lucky.

Best
Les

[KFC911]

I loved the first four albums by The Police while back in college....

"I was born, born in the 50s...."

Thank you Baz

'60 here...

[Baz]

You're welcome, KC. And yes, Les......our bicycles were our freedom back then!

[Baz]

Life was so much simpler back then......and the family car was a big deal! As were family vacations!

[Baz]

[GH85Carrera]

I agree Baz! I grew up in the Leave it to Beaver era. Mom was home taking care of the house and us.

We ate dinner at 6:30, and I had to be at the table with clean hands at 6:30 or I missed it. After dinner I hopped on my bike and the rule was be home before the street lights come on. I could walk in the door just as the street light came on.

Dad was in the Air Force, so we moved a lot. I went to 11 different schools in the 12 years of school. I heard "class this is Glen, the new kid" a lot. I learned to talk to anyone anywhere, and to make friends easily and fast.

I never feared that there would be no food, or a warm bed to sleep in. We were not rich at all, and I always wore my older brother's hand me downs. When I was done with those clothes, they were worn out.

I never once saw my parents have a screaming argument like most TV shows or movies show. They were married for over 50 years before mom died. Their parents were married for over 50 years before death as well. I was shocked the first time I went to a friends house and he had no dad.

[cabmandone]

I've heard tell of such things. But alas I'm merely 53 years young.

Love the pics of the old roller skates that strapped onto a pair of shoes and the old skateboards! Had some of both growing up... naturally carried over from older siblings.

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

I agree Baz! I grew up in the Leave it to Beaver era. Mom was home taking care of the house and us.

We ate dinner at 6:30, and I had to be at the table with clean hands at 6:30 or I missed it. After dinner I hopped on my bike and the rule was be home before the street lights come on. I could walk in the door just as the street light came on.
.

Pretty much my childhood too except it was 6 for dinner. And if we didn't get home by the time the street lights were on, my mom would walk out into the alley behind the house and whistle for us. We were literally playin at the opposite end of the block but my friends and I would stop and they'd say time to go home Nick.

Side note Edit: I wanna know how long that Schwinn was stock before it was converted into a chopper?

[911 Rod]

Baz, your pictures are beyond cool!

[matthewb0051]

I was born in the last year of Boomers. Grew up in a town of approx 25k people. Just big enough but small enough to have people on the other side of town know you and call your parents if you acted like an idiot.

Grandparents lived in an 800 sq/ft house that they bought from the US Government during the Manhattan Project. The phone was in the hall and they would run to it when it rang on Holidays. Then the person answering the phone would announce for everyone to quiet down since the call was 'long distance'. They'd proceed to yell into the phone to cover the distance of the call.

It was a great place to grow up.

[creaturecat]

one month younger. it was great.

[fintstone]

It was a great time...especially if your family was middle class. But times were pretty hard for a lot of folks during the 60s/70s. Some rural kids did not even have flush toilets and running water in their homes. Many never had a bike as a child, GI Joes, even phones or television sets. They worked when not is school and many left school when they met the minimum age (16) to help provide for their family. Most of those just don't post on a Porsche BBS. There was a very clear line drawn by socioeconomic status. Heaven help you if you were born on the wrong side of town or were a rural kid going to school in the suburbs (or worse yet, the city). You were treated like dirt and could not identify with the kids that seemed to have everything (and were often excluded or were relatively unwelcome in school activities or social activities of your peers).

[Evans, Marv]

Though I clocked in toward the end of the "silent generaton," I remember those days fondly. Kids would be encouraged by their parents to "go play,' and they'd conjure up something to do in whatever environment they were in at the time. They didn't have media devices to sit and look at.

[Scott Douglas]

Baz my brother just recently bought a Winnie like the one in your picture to use as a bunk house at his place for guests to sleep in. His has a 440 in it.

Being as I'm a boomer too, I can relate to everything being said here. I was doing ok until my dad sold my bike to his boss without even asking me. I did get a JC Higgen's Sears 10-spd for Christmas that year, but it just wasn't as cool or the same as the balloon tired one I had before. It took awhile for me to appreciate it, but I did keep thru my college years. I probably still have some the Campy components that came on it.

[HardDrive]

Im not a boomer. I’m in my mid 50s, a kid in the 70s. I lived in a small town in Michigan. Grew up outside, riding our bikes for miles in the countryside. We came home when we got hungry or it got dark. I’m definitely thankful to recall a simpler analog time.

[creaturecat]

a segment of the boomers were also the ones that attempted to shut down the racist garbage, when they became adults. ....... look it up, Sunshine.

[URY914]

Ask every generation and they will tell you they grew up in the best generation with the best music and the prettiest girls, best cars, etc...

[fintstone]

There are always those that believe that the generations before them had it easy and ruined things for them...when they actually ruin things for themselves. This has been a popular excuse for the lazy and weak that make poor choices for themselves. It is easier than doing the hard work necessary to achieve the same results.

The ideas and ideals that make life worse for many in their generation are the very things they champion...then whine about the obvious ramifications. They complain because they do not now enjoy many of the things/ideals they and others like them worked so hard to destroy.

[fintstone]

Originally Posted by URY914

Ask every generation and they will tell you they grew up in the best generation with the best music and the prettiest girls, best cars, etc...

I grew up in the 60s and 70s, but the 80s seemed best to me. Peacetime, lots of jobs/money/opportunity, good music, a slight relaxation of moral codes but not insanity. (much like the 50s were for many).