DeepFryMechanics
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Dec 1, 2022 1:06 AM
DeepFryMechanics
97066
1001
40
Lampmonster
I used to ride to the beach and swim all day. That was before I got my boating license. At 13.
weerdo
Kids see less danger then they should.. and adults see more danger then they should.
RCSpotz
If you did it as a kid, you can certainly do it as an adult
amismenow
Yeah as long as my kids are with me I’d be okay. Preferably dogs too
Vilasenia
I do this all the time. I had to re-learn to not use my phone. I treat it like a landline. It’s nice.
cPol
Ignorance of a danger does not grant immunity from that danger.
putcleverusernamehere
(Acme Seatbelts has entered the chat)
FireSolvesProblems
I'm 34 & while I keep my phone with me so I listen to music, I do this frequently. It's damn nice.
TCGView
Grew up a latchkey kid and I still , on a whim, just go for a long walk. No phone, no ID, no CC. I just go outside and walk.
strikestwice
This is a pretty privileged outlook on childhood. For a lot of people childhood was the worst time of our entire lives. Having--
strikestwice
money/cellphone/keys is freedom for some. It means you're not reliant on an abusive a$$hole. Sometimes the deepest woods are your own house.
BobbieNell
Dude obviously never had to climb into his house through the cat door because he locked himself out of the house and parents were at work.
PennysWorthOfTea
Jokes on you: I was having full-blown panic & anxiety attacks as a kid.
etox24
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/more-than-100-arrested-in-provincewide-child-exploitation-investigation-in-ontario
StatisticallyInsignificantCanadian
Yikes. Detective buddy of mine used to work CP. They rotate out frequently, it's really hard to go home to your own kids after seeing that.
etox24
It was the numbers that hit me. Over 100 arrested, ages 18-86 (!). There must be hundreds of victims not accounted for.
Justanotherimgurbrowser
I can and do do that easily and regularly.
Dasnekones
Huh.. i can still do this comfortably. Granted an mp3 player for music or some form of entertainment is appreciated
tanebot
Oh you sweet metro area child.
BatLadyRielle
Wasn't allowed outside unsupervised, was abused nearly every day and had panic attacks every morning, but yeah sure.
BatLadyRielle
Yeah I have bills and responsibilities now but I also have freedom and bodily autonomy so fuck being a kid being an adult rules.
mksu
If I could simply walk to some woods and run around in them, doing that would be nbd, though I'd still take a phone in case of emergency.
NottSure0
I miss those days so much. The 90s were a magical time
Zahnradfee
Awesome??? As a kid?????
kellerstern
wow, you grownups really seem to be top notch pathetic.
UncleRat
You are either a person who goes back home when you find you don't have your cell phone, or you're a person who just catches their bus.
crossingdynasty
TR;DL Freedom is liberating but adults have responsibilities
moolapie
I mean I do that every day when I walk my dog...
OldJedi
I love that Bill has hair in this
CanisMaximus
Thankfully, here in AK, we can still let kids play in the street for the most part. I can leave my shit at home and wander off, no problem.
PraiseThePook
Kids aren't scared? Well didn't he live a charmed life.
twistplusfriends
I think he meant more like not scared of nuclear war or economic collapse like us grown ups think about
MiloBloomm
You heard him, get out there.
MiloBloomm
justsitting4comfortbutinscoolway
Read his age/it's that for everyone at one time. I know. It's scary, but a freedom/scary. Jesus, the days before cellphones......
SithElephant
'Everyone'? I see you were not badly bullied as a child.
MaxKorban
I agree. I didn’t wander far from home, but I sure as hell wandered. I long for that child-like freedom.
BreathBeStank
Plenty of parents locked their kids down, a big thing that existed is youth groups which besides their religious background were 1/
BreathBeStank
Designed to keep kids out of trouble once school let out. Keeps em supervised while parents are working. These have existed for a long time
CreateYourOwnNormality
I literally do this daily. And I'm not in a rural setting. I would imagine plenty of joggers doing it regularly too.
cardinal29
roadid.com Just a suggestion.
Sfingks
Same, I find every excuse I can to leave my phone and wallet at home, and go out for a bike ride.
SergeyPrkl
The meaning is a bit different though. One hour jog around corner... just doesn't count :D
StatisticallyInsignificantCanadian
If I let my kids wander the streets like I did in the 80's & 90's, someone would call Children's Aid and take them away. It was glorious.
Aaronb1138
CPS and similar are as ACAB as police and need to be disbanded and rebuilt with new leadership and standards. Power tripping asshats.
Atomic2
When I was 5-6 my parents would let me wonder the block. Once I went to another block and found a microwave someone had thrown out. My >>
Atomic2
parents were mad at first I left our block but then they went and got the microwave. My grandparents used it until they passed 15-20 >>
Atomic2
years later. //
OmegaZen
I dont know where you live but that doesn't happen often... kids go around town freely where I am. especially more low-income places
[deleted]
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drakesyn
There are a LOT of 60+ year old parents who should be in jail right now, I guess. Me and most of my class did this from 4th-10th grade.
SarcasticComment
half a mile at 8 years old. Depends on the responsibility of the kid, but that's 2nd grade. I walked that far to tennis practice in the park
KaptainObveeus
cop even said "had this been a bad neighborhood, he could have been kidnapped" ok so it's a safe neighborhood then according to you
MrBobSaget
wtf. I used to drive a dirt bike through neighbor's fields to my school 2-3 miles away when I was in 3rd grade by myself
Thorketil
JFC
Zoroasterisk
When I was that age, every day after school, I walked 0.3 mi to my house, then rode my bike 0.8 mi to my aunt's house. The world's gone mad
StatisticallyInsignificantCanadian
Seriously? Wow.
CatsIsTheAnswer
"It was glorious" as in "I did, Children's Aid took my kids and I've never been more happy"?
StatisticallyInsignificantCanadian
Heh, character limits. :) I have fond memories of exploring as a kid. Damn helicopter parents in my town won't let any kids do that now.
ReaperCDN
It's how you can tell it's a parent and not just a bullshit post about somebody pretending to be one. ;)
palmo
Survivorship bias. For many kids that didn't come home, it was not glorious.
HollerinAtTheVoid
The statistics show you are massively wrong. In the US, less than 1 percent of abductions are by a stranger. And 90%+ are by the parent.
HollerinAtTheVoid
“Survivorship bias” is if the statistics point towards this being a larger problem and people still think it’s safe
HollerinAtTheVoid
Survivorship bias is more like when a woman says that unknown men are just as safe to be around as an unknown woman
Nobody7713
I'm only in my mid-20s, but most of my childhood I was allowed to hop on a bike and ride up to basically my age x 5 minutes from home.
canigifinpaint
Latchkey kids would disagree
notyoubizness
How do you know? Were you one?
DarthWaiterSE
Yup, latchkey kid at 8, on my own program for nearly a decade; looking back, it was pretty formative in my love for reading and was 1/2
DarthWaiterSE
probably why I did so well in school because it taught me to look for answers on my own. It certainly made me much more aware in general.
Snooj
I wouldn't. It was great. Get home, eat what I want, watch Disney movies and play the C64 for hours. Felt like my own house.
ChernoGamma
My childhood home was not a happy one, just being able to exist without anxiety or conflict was amazinv
ChetTheRocketStedman
Hm. A 140 character limited comment just described my childhood ages 10-16 almost verbatim. I do still enjoy solitude. Wonder why.
gordy77
C64 was pretty great
ShimmerinStrider
Some of us weren't even given the latch's key.
HawkmanXLII
I wasn't. Back door was always open though. I grew up in a major city in the 80's.
TheBurpyPony
Just booted from the house and hoped someone was already there to let you back in... I miss being a kid sometimes.
feliscorvus
I had to climb in through a window. How we were never burgled is beyond me.
badpuppeh81
My mother's husband used to block the door and thought I was too fat to scale the side of the house, his look of confusion was great
apostlepk
It wasn't horrible for all of us.
Krytture
Never had a key, door was just never locked, and this was in the suburbs
Poopoopeepeevagina
What is a latch key kid? I've heard the term but don't really know
SlickWithaLimerick
Guess who was old enough at 11 to babysit 4 siblings, 3 of whom were triplet toddlers.. and they wonder why I don't want kids 27 years later
SlickWithaLimerick
Sorry, not changing another diaper. Ever.
YallNeedSlaanesh
Helping with my siblings definitely sealed the deal in at least waiting a long while before considering it.
ChareAndFlaff
A kid who's given keys to the house to let themself in and take care of themself while the parents are at work or otherwise away.
Atomic2
Kids that keys to their own home and come and go without parents being present. Where I grew up, this was pretty much universal.
StupidFreakingName
A kid who is often home alone, usually because their parent(s) work all day. Called "latchkey" because they have a key to let themselves -
StupidFreakingName
Into their house after school since there won't be anyone there.
littleswimming
kids that come home from school to an empty house hours. hopefully because both adults work. this was when my brother abused me.
Rogahar
I had the same childhood except for the last part. I'm sorry you went through that. Worst my brother did was be a bloody nuisance.
browsererror
At one point in the 80s there was what felt like a rash of child kidnappings. We now live in a Post Stranger-Danger world.
MD762708
This is a classic example of availability cascade (by the media, not you). I literally used it in class the other day.
cjandstuff
We had shows broadcasting into our homes every night, every horrible kidnapping and murder they could find. And now it's a 24/7 newsfeed!
loismustdie
The actual rate of it happening is now way less, but the level of fear of it is now astronomical.
mrsdowneyjr
But is it way less because there is less danger or way less because kids aren't unsupervised?
SarcasticComment
centralized news pushed sensationalism for views. it brought 1 instance several states away into your living room for profit.
freckledkink
I lived in an area where people trafficking was and is a problem. Kidnapping was a worry in my area in the 80s
SarcasticComment
the fear greatly outweighed the risk. Fox did the same thing when Trump called Latinos criminals and rapists.
ToSisPoS
But my own personal anecdote has none of this so these facts are invalidated!
browsererror
And I will now make a call for agreement to reinforce the tribe. "Hey, we all know that we grew up tougher than wimps these days, right?"
ToSisPoS
“Yes! And the beating and systematic alcohol abuse were a-ok cuz I turned out fine.”
browsererror
I can't grok the downvotes on this unless it is just people skimming but not comprehending.
ToSisPoS
Maybe the /s isn’t clear enough.
secondtalon
Kidnappings by strangers were down from earlier eras. What was new was the beginnings of the 24 hour news cycle and divorce. Family kidnaps
browsererror
Yeah, that's why I said "felt like" but full explanations don't work well in the comments section.
secondtalon
Yeah, but you aren't wrong. There *were* more kidnappings in the 80s than the 70s and 60s. But it was parents kidnapping their kids.
secondtalon
Or uncles/aunts/grandparents/cousins removing a kid from a situation they didn't agree with
secondtalon
Reminder that the 70s were when women started getting rights like "Could have a bank account in her name only" - so women escaped shitty >
secondtalon
marriages and could now survive on their own, but if there were kids - kids got "kidnapped" by the parent who didn't get custody, driving up
secondtalon
statistics. Of course, it was only around then that a parent taking a kid and fucking off to wherever even became a kidnapping.
secondtalon
Laws change. Around the time a husband could finally be arrested for raping his wife is when either of them could kidnap their own kids.