[pylon]

On CaptainCrunch's comments....

I think we had the same parents, lol. I grew up in the 70's and 80's, and some of the stuff we did by today's standards would land our folks in jail for child endangerment nowadays..lol.

One day me and my buddy were building a 1 foot bmx jump in the back alley, using my dads circular saw, of course unsupervised, and we are 10 years old...lol.

My old man comes out, starts checking our work, and says... "Thats a pretty sissy jump." So he takes over the project, builds this thing up to about 3 feet so it could clear garbage cans and makes a matching landing ramp. So this masterpiece jump is completed, and we start jumping. It was awesome, half the kids in the neighbourhood are lining up to try it, without bike helmets of course. So my dad, gets it in his brain, that he wants a go. He gets on my Diamond Back Pacer 500, runs at the jump at mach 6, launches way past the landing ramp, and faceplants over the bars giving himself 2 degree face roadrash, and I found out years later, a severe concussion.

IT. WAS. AWESOME! It was like having Evil Kenevil for a dad. It was also educational as well, as that day I learned that crazy glue can be an excellent substitue for head stitches.

Kids and parents are too pussified now IMHO opinion. And most kids are waaaaay too spoiled. Our parents let us take our lumps, and I think we are better for it.

-We played guns, with replica guns.
-Trampolines didn't have safety nets, and roofs were the appropriate launching pads.
-Problems between kids were solved between kids, not in courts.
-Teachers could scold you, and call you a punk and you parents would back the teacher, not sue them.
-I was taught to get over my fear of water by being thrown in the deep end of Canyon Meadows pool... by my mom...lol. (obviously she wouldn't let me drown, but it was a blunt lesson).

For years I resented my old man for roughing me up when I was acting out or did something bad. I realized many years later, that it made think about the consequences of my actions, before I disrepected an adult, or burned down the neighbours fence... whatever evil I was contemplating that day...lol. At 36 years old, even to this day I still call my boss sir, and address elders as Mr. and Mrs., not by first names, which was one of the prime lessons I learned. If it wasn't for a little hard justice by the old man, I honestly think I would have turned out a lot worse, and would definitely had not been a success story, and probably would have done some time, I was that out of control at times. In my moments of weakness now, it is still in the back of my mind... what would my dad think if I did this?