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Were You Cooler Than Your Kids?

ChiliPepperGarage

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We all know that kids today are messed up and how they've been indoctrinated into being little pussies living their lives on their phones. This is a generalization and of course not all kids are like that.

Here's a video showing how we used to live and how much cooler things were in the '60s, '70s and '80s.


Got me thinking about the old days and I dug out a few photos. Not really all that cool but definitely a different time and brings back some good memories.

I think this was either while I was in the Army or right after getting out in '79.

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My ex and me on my FLH Shovelhead and my '72 Corvette.

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Me and my best friend since school. Unfortunately, he passed away a couple years ago.

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NSRA Street Rod Nationals in Columbus, OH in early '90s in my '34 Ford (fanny packs were a thing then! :oops: 🤣 ).

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Me looking very Asian in early '80s.

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And this one is cool only because of the car.

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Post up your photos from back in the day and let's reminisce.
 
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stephenkatsea

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By the time I was 17 I was playing in a pretty successful rock band. We toured and played all over the country. Our 2 daughters always say, "Dad, There's no way you would have let us do that at 17." And I reply, "You're Right!!"
 
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rivermobster

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The old pics I have of me are anything but cool.

Gonna pass on posting those up! 😁
 

monkeyswrench

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I street raced, listened to metal, lifted weights and drank whiskey...
Cooler? Probably. Smarter? Not a chance in hell.
I'm glad I had my life, but I'm happy they have their's.
My parents probably always feared a phone call after midnight :(
 

Rajobigguy

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I guess it depends on your definition of cool. I built and raced cars, dirt bikes and sand rails so yes I was def. one of the cool youths. On the other hand my daughter has hiked across the Alps, helped the Rwanda gov. establish a new constitution and helped republic of Congo establish a plea bargaining protocol.
 

Baja 252

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I had fast cars, boats and his mom was a solid 9.5. He's into jet skis, sports gambling and owned his own business at 17. At 25 he exceeded my income before I retired and his fiance is a solid 9.5 too. But HELL NO, he's no way as cool as I was.;):cool:
 
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ltbaney1

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my little guy still shits his pants every morning, id like to think im cooler than him. my daughter (3yo) is loves driving her power wheel and going fishing and keeps talking about going camping with me. i think they are both pretty cool. my buddy sent me this pic the other night after talking about some of the stupid stuff we did and how cool we thought we were. guessing from the cast of characters this was right around 2003 / 4, making us all 18/19. lifted regular cab trucks, dirt bikes, beer and girls were all that mattered. now there is nothing wrong with that, but the shants and black socks we all wore makes me cringe. i can still hear my old man telling us we look like dumbasses.
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Englewood

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God no my kids were going to the river and desert racing motocross and hanging out in baja
Same...I wasn't half as cool...

However, I'm one of those parents that doesn't allow the iPad to raise my kids. We go to car shows, lots of sports, river, desert, etc. I didn't have a fraction of the experiences they've had.
 

nowski

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Our goal as parents wasn't to have cool kids, smart and educated was the goal and those degrees will last a lifetime. Our kids will always be smarter than us but for what it's worth Mom and Dad will always be cool in their eyes...
 

Nordie

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my little guy still shits his pants every morning, id like to think im cooler than him. my daughter (3yo) is loves driving her power wheel and going fishing and keeps talking about going camping with me. i think they are both pretty cool. my buddy sent me this pic the other night after talking about some of the stupid stuff we did and how cool we thought we were. guessing from the cast of characters this was right around 2003 / 4, making us all 18/19. lifted regular cab trucks, dirt bikes, beer and girls were all that mattered. now there is nothing wrong with that, but the shants and black socks we all wore makes me cringe. i can still hear my old man telling us we look like dumbasses. View attachment 1083447
Something tells me that you're mid 30s to early 40s...
 

samsah33

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I set the coolness bar pretty low, but no matter how low the bar is, my daughters still won't cross it: I'm very proud to admit that my 2 daughters are two of the biggest nerds in their respective classes. 😍😍😍 Funny how priorities change...!
 

Flyinbowtie

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All the pics of my glory days are 35mm or 110, and in albums. Wife was saying we need to scan a bunch of them after the move.
This is a hell of a good question tho.
I think those of us who grew up in SoCal in the 1970's had it pretty good. (Class of 1976 here), and I think things went downhill from there.
My kids grew up in my dream world, dirt bikes from the house, and lakes and rivers within 30 min. A national Forest 30 min away too.
I think it would be a toss up....but they didn't have the music, the girls in Dittos and bare midriffs in high school, and the general vibe of the times, and that....that was a big part of the magic that we had...and that they can't even imagine.
 

Shlbyntro

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All the pics of my glory days are 35mm or 110, and in albums. Wife was saying we need to scan a bunch of them after the move.
This is a hell of a good question tho.
I think those of us who grew up in SoCal in the 1970's had it pretty good. (Class of 1976 here), and I think things went downhill from there.
My kids grew up in my dream world, dirt bikes from the house, and lakes and rivers within 30 min. A national Forest 30 min away too.
I think it would be a toss up....but they didn't have the music, the girls in Dittos and bare midriffs in high school, and the general vibe of the times, and that....that was a big part of the magic that we had...and that they can't even imagine.


idk. class of 2008 here. my skool was full of girls that wore the tiniest of thin cotton skirts that you could see through if the sun was behind them, and if it happened to be a windy day..... 😍

we weren't 30 minutes from the river, but I never had any problem getting a couple "friends" to tag along for the 4hr drive
 

ChiliPepperGarage

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All the pics of my glory days are 35mm or 110, and in albums. Wife was saying we need to scan a bunch of them after the move.
This is a hell of a good question tho.
I think those of us who grew up in SoCal in the 1970's had it pretty good. (Class of 1976 here), and I think things went downhill from there.
My kids grew up in my dream world, dirt bikes from the house, and lakes and rivers within 30 min. A national Forest 30 min away too.
I think it would be a toss up....but they didn't have the music, the girls in Dittos and bare midriffs in high school, and the general vibe of the times, and that....that was a big part of the magic that we had...and that they can't even imagine.


I just use my phone to take pictures of my old prints. All the above posted photos were done that way.

Class of '74 here. Modern technology is nice but I'd trade it all to go back to the mid '70s (and know what I know now :D 👍 ). Or would it be better like Bob Segar said, "Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then"?
 

calkid

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Best guess is 1979 in our first motor home. We rode dirt bikes, had sand rails and raced sand drags in a wash behind Ontario Motor Speedway. Went to both Cal-Jams and enjoyed the hell out of life. Pretty much doing the same thing together now!
 

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ltbaney1

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Me too, I'm 37...I kind of used to dress like that, there still might be some Skin and Sullen shirts hanging up in the closet.
I hear ya. My best friend lived across the street from the guy who started F word industries. We had all the shirts and our trucks were plastered with stickers. Still keep in touch with him and have both some older shirts and a couple of his new ones.
 

ltbaney1

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what about the DCB??
Hahaha never had the coin for one. Old Millers, Schiadas, Howard’s were the boats growing up until my recent play craft toon about 2 years ago. Love the toon but want another “river rocket”.
 

was thatguy

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Hahaha never had the coin for one. Old Millers, Schiadas, Howard’s were the boats growing up until my recent play craft toon about 2 years ago. Love the toon but want another “river rocket”.

I’m getting a little old for my Miller.
How bad do you want it?
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rush1

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Cooler than me? no way, I had cars on the cover of Car Craft magazine , street raced and dragged race everywhere , But then again I cant complain my sons in special forces so he's definitely a Bad Ass
 

Clank123

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Driving the family ski boat in 1975 at 15 years old in the NDBA drags at Lake Ming pulling barefooters and racing in the 95-100 class Cool? No.
I was also a test rider for Kawasaki riding the first 15 Jet Skiis out of the mold for them in late 1972.
For a teenager growing up with waterskiing a couple times a week, ski racing, dirt bikes, boat racing and assorted street racing and other general mischief I had a cool childhood.
My kids did everything right, good grades, solid friends, loved the River…All the things a parent would want and not a single visit to the front door from a police officer with questions of what they were up to the night before, unlike when I was a teen!
They married fantastic spouses and are involved in their kids lives big time.
Am I jealous of you guys on here that had their kids follow you into the same interests that you have. Sure am.
But in a different way my Sons and Daughter(and their kids) are pretty darn cool.
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monkeyswrench

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View attachment 1083942
Driving the family ski boat in 1975 at 15 years old in the NDBA drags at Lake Ming pulling barefooters and racing in the 95-100 class Cool? No.
I was also a test rider for Kawasaki riding the first 15 Jet Skiis out of the mold for them in late 1972.
For a teenager growing up with waterskiing a couple times a week, ski racing, dirt bikes, boat racing and assorted street racing and other general mischief I had a cool childhood.
My kids did everything right, good grades, solid friends, loved the River…All the things a parent would want and not a single visit to the front door from a police officer with questions of what they were up to the night before, unlike when I was a teen!
They married fantastic spouses and are involved in their kids lives big time.
Am I jealous of you guys on here that had their kids follow you into the same interests that you have. Sure am.
But in a different way my Sons and Daughter(and their kids) are pretty darn cool.
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After reading your's, I believe you just hogged all the "cool" from your family's allotment!
What some consider cool, and others do, may be different. In this circle, holy crap! Somewhere, over time, "cool" evolves to different things and differently for others. What some consider crazy, like driving a hydro at 150+, I consider absolutely cool.
I’m getting a little old for my Miller.
How bad do you want it? View attachment 1083668
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My "want" far exceeds my means! As in most things, I have very good taste and a limited budget.


...and you're never "too old"!
 

HBCraig

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We all know that kids today are messed up and how they've been indoctrinated into being little pussies living their lives on their phones. This is a generalization and of course not all kids are like that.

Here's a video showing how we used to live and how much cooler things were in the '60s, '70s and '80s.


Got me thinking about the old days and I dug out a few photos. Not really all that cool but definitely a different time and brings back some good memories.

I think this was either while I was in the Army or right after getting out in '79.

View attachment 1083260

My ex and me on my FLH Shovelhead and my '72 Corvette.

View attachment 1083261

Me and my best friend since school. Unfortunately, he passed away a couple years ago.

View attachment 1083262

NSRA Street Rod Nationals in Columbus, OH in early '90s in my '34 Ford (fanny packs were a thing then! :oops: 🤣 ).

View attachment 1083263

Me looking very Asian in early '80s.

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And this one is cool only because of the car.

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Post up your photos from back in the day and let's reminisce.
The 34' with suicide doors! Sweet.
 

Nanu/Nanu

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My girls are definitely way cooler than me! But funnier I don't know I'm pretty darn uncoordinated haha and love doing things just to see someone get embarrassed or laugh their ass off. And I'm fat and ugly adding further to the hysteria.
 
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