So, I am trolling social, and I come across a hack video. These kill me because people actually believe you can take aluminum foil and shove it into a garlic press and make nails. Hahahahaha I wonder how many idiots actually gave it a try! We live in a society that celebrates those who have gotten lobotomies and punishes those who are true thinkers. It makes you wonder if the lobotomies happen during the pregnancies or voluntarily after puberty.
I did not grow up on social media it wasn’t a thing when I was a kid, dirt was. The word outside was king and being kept indoors all day long was a punishment. There was no tv at my grandmother’s camp and I didn’t care enough to miss it. There was a tv at my aunt & uncle’s home, but we rarely watched it. After school at my mom’s there was a small tv with bunny ear antennas that you had to wiggle to clear the channel and there were only a few channels. Typically, you would find us watching Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, Gilligan’s Isle, or some other fun show that made you laugh. We watched but really preferred being outside. As teenagers, VH1 and MTV taught us how to dance and dress and VJays were THE people on tv, we watched but really preferred to be out and about with friends.
I have friends with kids who are glued to cell phones, game consoles, laptops and rarely go outside, I don’t understand them. One freaks out if something in nature touches him. What I don’t understand is why parents are ok with kids being so socially disconnected, is it a tech babysitting thing? We rode big wheels, bicycles, skateboards, boats, etc., if it moved, we tested it. We climbed fences, gates, houses, trees, stairs, fire towers, basically anything that took us up. Once I climbed a pear tree that was a challenge because I was scared of heights. I was always told I’d fall and break an arm or leg. On the day I finally reached the top and was celebrating my victory, the branch I was sitting on broke and sent me falling. I reached out to stop the fall and touched a power line which projected me out of the tree and on top of the little girl who was sitting on a blanket below happily playing with her dolls, I broke her arm. For a couple of weeks my teeth hurt, and my elbow felt tingly with pins and needles like when you hit your funny bone in your elbow. It wasn’t funny but Jason and I agreed that I won that challenge!
We jumped from the top of a mobile home with an umbrella because, well you might be able to float down, turns out you don’t, you smack your heavy ass on the hard ground and walk funny for a week. We rode bicycles to Bronson’s Marina searching for big cookies and cheap cokes in the bottle, the kind with a rebate of 5 cents per bottle that paid for the next day’s cookies and coke, and we learned that great dane's love to chase kids on bicycles and some bite if they are quick enough to catch you.
We learned that even if you rescue a wild animal from certain death, they are not always your friend, in fact most will find an opportunity to bite the crap out of you or scratch you silly. It didn’t stop us from rescuing dogs, kittens, possums, skunks, a coyote pup, squirrels, an alligator, rabbits, birds, foxes, deer, or any other wounded animal. I once rescued a scruffy grey baby bird that turned out to be a gigantic turkey vulture with a 6ft wingspan when fully grown. Oscar would fly in and sit on the front porch with me and would eat meat and grapes from my hand. I’ve often wondered what the next renters thought of him when he landed next to them asking for a bite.
There was a gigantic pile of rocks at the entrance of the camp, all colors, and sizes. We spent hours culling through the little rocks searching for fossils and kept each one that we found.
We jumped into the lake from ropes, off of rocks, off piers, from boats, off stumps, etc, I Dare You was the only reason why.
My friends today are mostly online, we chat, share memes, photos, and little funny clips but we don’t sit on the front porch eating popcorn while watching a tornado come through. I’m sorry but watching a tornado on tv just isn’t the same thing as feeling the cold, wind, and pinpricking drops of rain on your face while thunder and horns sound off.
I see people every day watching life from their smart phones, which to me are dumb phones, and I wonder if they understand that they have become the game, the android or the avatar and I feel sorry for them. They will meet their mate if they are brave enough to find one on an app that you randomly swipe to see a fake photo. They will travel to foreign places via tik tok or some other app, and they will play the I hate reality game that the world has become finger pointing, judging, screaming about something they know very little about because they are afraid of leaving their virtual worlds and mommy's safe basement. They believe they know everything because Google says they do, they don’t. The things you learn from exploring and just being socially adventurous you can’t get from smart phones, google, game consoles or virtual electronics.
I’ve been to 32 countries, 50 states, the city, the country, rice patties, the jungle, the ocean, lakes, streams, dirt, and sand. I’ve met all sorts of culturally diverse people in their home areas and have eaten all sorts of food and treats. IN PERSON. I’ve seen things. Real things, the good and the bad. I suggest that you try it.
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