What did you used to do for fun?

[ArrowCollarMan]

I've found that my generation is perpetually bored (myself included) and most of our time is spent on the computer on myspace, aim, weird and sometimes frightening internet sites or computer games (like World of Warcraft). Outside? What the hell is that? The only outside activities are either parties, the movies or the mall.

This makes me sad, I mean literally depressed sometimes, because there seems to be nothing to do. Is this a lack of imagination or have teenager's social activies (like dances) completely dissapeared?

To compare past to present I have to ask the question: what did all of you used to do for fun when you were young (or maybe you are young and have found something to do...if so FOR THE LOVE OF GOD AND ALL THINGS HOLY TELL ME!!)?

 

[mysterygal]

well, when I wasn't getting into trouble... I've always been big into reading, so that is what I did on a lot of rainy days, I went hiking a lot with my mother,or me and the friends would walk around town, hang out at the local park, hide ourselves in our rooms blastin music and giggling about the newest crush

 

[Rosie]

When I was a kid, I had a ball everyday. I went outside, played tag, freeze tag, mother may I?, hot beans and butter, we made up cheers, rode our bikes, threw things at the boys, made up songs, played in the dirt, went to the park, played handball, played hopscotch, made mud pies and cakes, climbed trees, climbed the awning on our house, when we stayed in, we played chess, checkers, other board games, played make believe, it was great. We woudl play tag in the dark in the basement, until someone ran into the bar and my parents made us stop. lol

When I was a teenager, it was mostly, going to the mall, having sleep overs, doing one another's hair and nails, listening to music, cooking, reading, just hanging out, talking.

Now, it's go to work, come home, complain about work, pay bills, complain about boyfriend or lack there of (depending), go to work, come home......

 

[The Reno Kid]

I was kind of lucky. I grew up in a small town that was a bit like Mayberry. I did a lot of hiking and fishing and that sort of thing. I used to have great fun with friends exploring caves and abandoned mine shafts. Sometimes I wonder how I survived. When I was in 6th grade, a friend and I decided to assemble a "reptile zoo" as a classroom science project. We managed to collect 22 distinct species of lizards (nearly all in pairs) and three different types of snakes. We kept them for a couple of months with only one casualty (one small lizard became lunch for a larger cousin). In high school, I played sports. I also read a lot. I was rarely bored as a kid.

 

[Sefton]

Most of my time was spent reading (I need to get back to that) and drawing. Other than that it would be riding my bike with friends. Boredom didn't really exist much when I was a kid. Teenage years is another story though...

 

[Lady Day]

When I was a kid, I had a ball everyday. I went outside, played tag, freeze tag, mother may I?, hot beans and butter, we made up cheers, rode our bikes, threw things at the boys, made up songs, played in the dirt, went to the park, played handball, played hopscotch, made mud pies and cakes, climbed trees, climbed the awning on our house, when we stayed in, we played chess, checkers, other board games, played make believe, it was great. We woudl play tag in the dark in the basement, until someone ran into the bar and my parents made us stop. lol

When I was a teenager, it was mostly, going to the mall, having sleep overs, doing one another's hair and nails, listening to music, cooking, reading, just hanging out, talking.

Now, it's go to work, come home, complain about work, pay bills, complain about boyfriend or lack there of (depending), go to work, come home......

HA! Girl, sounds like my childhood (including the dark basement freeze tag).

I lived in a neighborhood with a lot of kids my age, so when we were not bringing home stray dogs, and our fam telling us we couldnt have them, we would 'run away', as in pack a lunch and leave till dark, compain blah blah.
You know, kid stuff.

Id go outside and draw on a blanked under a tree in the back yard and pretend I was in medieval times a lot. Id paint on paper with nail polish, organize my crayons, do a lot of house planting, make up ghost stories about all the houses in my neighborhood, you know, normal kid stuff


LD

 

[PrettySquareGal]

I've found that my generation is perpetually bored (myself included) and most of our time is spent on the computer on myspace, aim, weird and sometimes frightening internet sites or computer games (like World of Warcraft). Outside? What the hell is that? The only outside activities are either parties, the movies or the mall.

This makes me sad, I mean literally depressed sometimes, because there seems to be nothing to do. Is this a lack of imagination or have teenager's social activies (like dances) completely dissapeared?

To compare past to present I have to ask the question: what did all of you used to do for fun when you were young (or maybe you are young and have found something to do...if so FOR THE LOVE OF GOD AND ALL THINGS HOLY TELL ME!!)?

This is a great post, and I commend you for thinking outside of the X-Box. My advice? First allow yourself to be bored by not playing more than an hour of games a day and limiting your time surfing the net, even here . You will feel uncomfortable for a while without any ready-made entertainment, but in time you'll reconnect with your imagination and motivation to make things happen.

One of my favorite Leave it to Beaver episodes is when Ward makes the boys go on a camping trip for the weekend, but they don't want to leave because they will miss their movies and comic books. Wally and The Beav manage to find a drive-through they can see from the woods, as well as a small town, frustrating Ward who wants them to learn the value of being outdoors. Finally, in the end, they come up with their own fun and don't want to leave.

This is not directed at you, but the general population who complains of boredom: It's your own darn fault. I had a teacher tell our class once that if we were bored, it was because we were boring people. While it didn't change the fact that she was a boring teacher, she had a good point.

Your generation is full of opportunity. You are all mostly healthy and able-bodied. Do some volunteer work. Take some after-school artsy type classes. Get involved with your community by attending local council meetings open to the public. Take a walk. Take pics- not for posting online but for the sake of taking pics. Help out some more around the house. Go to museums. Get a part-time job, because all honest work is good.

I worked after school. I did watch too much TV, but at least the shows were wholesome. I played Ms Pacman at the arcade, and Atari at home, but it wasn't for hours on end. I am grateful that there wasn't an internet while I was growing up.

That's my old-fashioned ornery advice.

 

[Strider]

When I was a young kid, I lived on a street that had no other children my age living on it, in my grandparent's house. I had recess at school to mess around, and we'd play make believe, or have "Clerks-esque" discussions about whatever we liked at the time (I remember Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles).

....

"So which kind of turtle girl do you think Michaelangelo would go for?"
"She'd be a party animal, just like him, but I don't think he'd bring her home to Master Splinter."

lol

As I got older, my motto became: "Stay out of trouble, but not out of mischief". I rode my bike, listened to music (albeit just two artists for the longest time), and drew my own comic books/strips. That was a lot of fun. I also got into going to the various conventions around San Diego during that time, so I would plan around those...work summer jobs to be able to go to them...hit the arcade...

 

[PrettySquareGal]

I forgot to add that I was a volunteer at the local hospital. I visited with children my age.

 

[Quigley Brown]

I grew up on a farm in Iowa (Grant Wood country). It was a historical farm (had one of the state's first corn dryers...probably not too exciting a fact for you city folk) and had the state's largest cottonwood tree. But the family line of the people who owned the farm sort of died out and they left a treasure trove of history up in the attic. I would stay up there for hours going through steamer trunks full of books, letters, a couple of diaries dating back into the late 19th century. I still have the diary of a high school girl kept by her from 1905-1906. Life for a high school girl wasn't that much different back then as of today....going to sports events and talking about boys. I wish I was interested in vintage clothes back than as much as I am today as there were lots...WWI uniforms and Victorian era mens and womens stuff.

I would also explore the nearby woods packing a lunch, notebook, camera and BB gun. I discovered an old dump back in there...a couple of rusted-out Model A Fords, old bottles and cans...

That period of my life really did have an influence on me, though. I went back a few years ago (my family had moved away back in the 80s) and was a bit sad that the house had long been torn down.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I was another "neighborhood kid", and played a lot of the same street games mentioned by Rosie, along with a few others that we made up locally. One I really enjoyed was a game we called "dingbat," which was a sort of baseball played in the street using a big playground ball -- it made a "ding" sound when you hit it with a bat, so that's where we got the name. I had terrible eyesight even back then, and couldn't see a baseball or a softball -- but a big red playground ball was perfect.

I also used to write a lot -- my friend from next door and I used to sit in a tree in her backyard writing stories, with me writing one page and handing it to her to continue, and then she'd write a page and hand it back to me. We came up with some pretty amazing stuff that way.

On rainy days, I'd play a lot of board games and things with my cousin -- she had Mystery Date, which my mother would never get me, and I'd jump at the chance to go down to her house and play it. We'd also go up in her attic and make costumes from the stuff we found there, or mess around in the kitchen cooking weird things and daring each other to eat them. Or we'd go around with my little portable reel-to-reel tape recorder making up our own radio shows.

I was also quite active in Girl Scouts until I was 13 or so, and when I wasn't doing something around the neighborhood I'd likely working on a proficiency badge project of some kind.

I was a fun kid, but when I hit my teens I got all sullen and awkward and didn't do much but work, or sit around and read, or stay up till 3 AM to catch an old movie on TV. That phase lasted till I was about 25, but I like to think I'm better adjusted now...

 

[Barry]

forts, tanks, stuff like that

Around age 7....

My nextdoor neighbor went away on vacation once. There was group of bushes behind his house and behind the bushes was a small area he was planning to plant some trees. My friend and I got some old broom sticks, a giant plastic sheet, twigs, branches, leaves, pine needles etc. and built a fort back there. I guess it was a mini-Sukkah of sorts.

Whenever I could find a large cardboard box I would cut a flap/window on all sides of it, leave the top sealed, and then flip it over on top of me. I'd look out the flaps and kind slowly crawl across the grass to my elderly neighbors yard and "spy" on them. Everyone seemed to think it was a riot because cars would drive by in my neighborhood and actually stop to watch a cardboard box "scoot" across the grass.

 

[Siirous]

Pick a sport... any sport

It really doesn't matter what kind, but go play a sport. When I was a teenager I played all kinds of sports (and actually stunk at most). I played soccer, than pick up football games, ice hockey lessons. I even took boxing lessons when I was older and out on my own (my mother heartily disagreed with me getting hit sparring).

Now if I have time I still golf, and I want to make time to go and ice skate more than I do. Hard to find good rinks in florida.

Basically it doesn't matter what you do, get involved in something.

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

I'm not one for TV or video games, and at different times (post high school) I have amused myself with various activities including:

Swimming
Running
Biking
Figure Drawing
History of Fashion classes
Volunteering at the MSPCA
Second job as waitress
Sailing Lessons
Flute Lessons
LSAT prep course
Law school applications

Well, the last two weren't as fun but they sure occupied my time pretty well!

 

[otterhound]

Take up an instrument and form or join a rock and roll band. It is a blast and good for getting chicks. It is especially good for those of us who stink at sports.

 

[Mr. Jason]

When I was a kid we just hung around. Riding bikes, walking, skateboards, etc. As I got older we got in more trouble stealing, vandlism, etc.

We always had fun.

As far as your generation being bored and spending a lot of time sitting in front of a computer. I started working on computers some time in highschool cause some of my older friends were doing it. One thing I never understood is why that particular group of friends would sit around and watch each other play video games. It bored me to death. I have always enjoyed programming computers and have made a good living at it but away from work I don't have much use for them, except maybe visiting the FL.

 

[Big Man]

Oh for the good ol' days ...

This is an interesting topic. I guess what folks did for fun depends on age (i.e. how "long ago" it has been since you were a child), as well as geographic region and also rural vs. urban (and probably a little socioeconomic influence thrown in there as well).

I was born and raised (and still live) in western North Carolina. Where I live is relative rural/small town. My Dad was principal at our school (K-12), and at that time the principal lived on the school grounds. Our house was situated between the high school and elementary buildings, so our "play ground" during and after school was wide open for possibilities.

In the primary grades (early 1960's) I remember playing games like Red Rover, Duck and Goose, and tag. After about the third or fourth grade, it was softball before school, at recess, and after school. Of course Cowboys and Indians, as well as playing Army occupied a lot of our time during the summer.

By the time of late elementary and junior high, while we still played softball, hunting was the big thing in the fall. Almost all the boys went hunting. I often times would go out before school and kill a bunch of squirrels, bring them home and have several of my buddies help clean them, then go on to class. People today would drop dead at the thoughts of a 12 year old with a shotgun on a school campus, but at that time it was no big deal (boy, have times changed).

When high school cam around (early 1970's), it was football and basketball on the school team. Hunting was still a big part of outdoor activities, and even the student bus drivers (yes, students drove the school buses "back then") carried their guns on the bus and got an occasional deer during season. Around 1971 I got into rock climbing and with a couple of my friends also into climbing put up several new routes on Table Rock and along the Carolina Wall in Linville Gorge by the mid-70's.

College years saw more climbing, backpacking, cross country skiing, and mountaineering. Then cam marriage, a family, a job and all the responsibilities of "an adult". My outdoor fun activities transformed into work with the Volunteer Fire Department and the Search and Rescue Team, so I still managed to spend a lot of time outside.

With my "good ol' days" 30 years behind me, I'm a little "long in the tooth" (not to mention too big) for technical climbing, so I have resigned myself to rescue rigging and Incident Command for rescue work going after all those "youngsters" who find themselves in trouble in the outdoors.

 

[Mr. Jason]

I was born and raised (and still live) in western North Carolina.

Not to get all Cackalacky on everybody but I went to college at Westren Carolina University and for a while was part of this group called "Special Friends." We would pick up an elementary age kid from their school in Sylva and help them do homework then return them home in the evening. One simester I had this great kid named David. He was maybe 9 or 10 and would just sit and tell me these stories of what he had done in the last week. He was always racing trains, playing with their pit bull, playing with the wild animals around his house, jumping off cliffs, etc. I'm sure 50% of it was made up but it was fun just to sit and listen to him jabber on. So next time you get bored talking with your friends on AIM head up to the back woods of NC and go train racing. Hell just get out of the house. Dig a hole, get in a fight, something. If you're bored then you're boring.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Reading reading reading mainly. And walking in the country, fishing, birdwatching (i admit it!) with my grandfather.

People of my generation (not too far divorced from your own, Arrow) were constantly complaining about boredom as well. I never understood it. There's so much out there to see and do. It just doesn't involve technology.

Someone mentioned sport. I heartily concur. Find yerself a sport and immerse yourself for a couple of hours every few nights. Soccer and rugby were mine.

bk

 

[mysterygal]

I wonder since as adults, being as busy as we are, that we now realize how great we had it?
There's nothing like going out in the woods for some nature watching, except, my dad had kind of a twisted aspect to it, he'd take his gun and taught me how to shoot it, at birds..I don't remember ever getting one. We'd always walk over to this stream where he lived and shoot at pop cans.
Even being a grown up, I love playing laser tag.